Thread: Recycled Hardwood

Originally Posted by NCArcher

Thanks Nick. I'm going to order one of those. Cant find one around here anywhere.



Thanks VV. My welding skills are ordinary at best but I will give it a go on some of the tougher, bigger nails. I would never have thought to weld something onto the nail

I'd be a little afraid I would "ebonise" the whole lot. I suppose while you were at it you could hook it up to the FWD and drag the nail out that way . I think the novelty of welding would soon pale after more than a handful of attempts

In all seriousness I have never had to resort to anything like that and I have literally de-nailed whole houses ending up with several 4 litre ice cream containers full of rusting nails. In fact I blame de-nailing for my ice-cream addiction (I just needed the containers initially, but then I became dependent ). Floor joists would be the worst housing component. Probably fifty or more nails per length but potentially a good piece of timber 150mm, 200mm wide or more.

I have primarily used a variety of pinch-bars, pincers and vice grips to remove nails. Occasionally I use claw hammers (pretty unsatisfactory) and other tools such as small chisels to get at the the head of a nail.

However I do like the links you posted. I didn't know such tools existed (I have to get out more) and now I want one.

Don't forget the humble block of hardwood to place under whatever lever you favour. It does make a dramatic difference to the amount of leverage you can exert.

Regards
Paul

my welding skills are also ######### but it doesnt need to be pretty for this

i only use the welding trick when I have had to cut nails off flush with the surface of the wood during demolition. I generally try and leave some nail exposed but sometimes its just not possible. like I said the advantage is you dont have to damage the wood with a chisel to get the nail out.

I have already pulled probably a hundred nails this way. its not as tedious as you might think. You just weld the sharp point of the previous nail to the flat head of the next one to be removed and repeat. you end up with a weird looking chain of nails attached to your starter piece of scrap the earth clamp just stays on the scrap.

each to their own I reckon.

The rusty nails I'm referring to have rusted in the wood - I think the joists have come from a house with a damp problem (house across the road built during 1st world war)

doesn't matter how much nail is grabbed they just refuse to budge hence the drill. Drill down beside the nail a couple of times and they then come out

Am going to try these when the school break is over but not to confident on how well they will work on 100 year old hardwood

I started de-nailing today. Was a bit hot though (38°C outside) so I only did a couple of boards. Nick I'm going to attempt to make one of those extractor drills tomorrow from a piece of S/S tube. Pretty sure I've got a bit of brake line laying around somewhere.

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

... but not much works on rusty nails in hardwood except to drill and chisel

Agreed. I've been trying to clean up some old beams today where the old joist toe and other nails have rusted through at least 50%. One of the big problems with probing and drilling is working out what (expletive) direction the (expletive) nail was driven in at.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

I started de-nailing today. Was a bit hot though (38°C outside) so I only did a couple of boards. Nick I'm going to attempt to make one of those extractor drills tomorrow from a piece of S/S tube. Pretty sure I've got a bit of brake line laying around somewhere.

I'm curious as to how it works out - I bought a couple when on special but really don't expect great things from them.

Originally Posted by Fuzzie

Agreed. I've been trying to clean up some old beams today where the old joist toe and other nails have rusted through at least 50%. One of the big problems with probing and drilling is working out what (expletive) direction the (expletive) nail was driven in at.

Murphy's second rule of nail divining states that when you think you have the angle worked out you suddenly determine he was a lefthanded carpenter! ... and everything goes out the window


On another note the 2 x 4s I'm playing with are very obstinate in not wanting to give up their nails. I'm thinking of ripping them in half and gluing the non nailed halves together thus giving me a nonailed 2x4

the leftover 2x2 with nails can be great bbq fuel (assuming no total fire ban)

It would depend on the nails. I tried one of the nail cutting contractor blades from Carbatec and it seemed like a good rip blade, but my joists were peppered with high tensile chipboard screws rather than soft steel nails and they chipped most of the teeth before I finished the job.

Fuzzie

Nail cutting blade - hmm might have to seriously consider that don't know about sparks being pulled into the dusty though

thanks for the link to your other thread - screws have been the bane of many a nail puller

The spark problem was on my mind also and I regularly checked the garage for a couple of hours after packing up. There didn't seem to be as many sparks using the contractor blade, possiby due to the low tooth rake angle, although I don't think the sparks ever made it to the dusty. I'd guess they had cooled down by the time they hit the dust hose connection and if still warm would definitely have been cold by the time they got through the hose run to the separator.

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

The rusty nails I'm referring to have rusted in the wood - I think the joists have come from a house with a damp problem (house across the road built during 1st world war)

doesn't matter how much nail is grabbed they just refuse to budge hence the drill. Drill down beside the nail a couple of times and they then come out

Am going to try these when the school break is over but not to confident on how well they will work on 100 year old hardwood

I got a similar set from Aldi Nick never though of that.

One way is spraying WD40 letting it soak and then remove the old way. Trouble is it leaves a trough around the nail area then pull with pincers.

Not sure WD40 would work but might give it a try just to see what happens

Oxy tourch or Butane heat them up and out the come or Chryo hit with hammer and they shatter last one dangerous as