Removing nails

[1947workboat]

I saw a post that showed a tool or a method on removing the nails on a striped plank hull. I have many about 30 per rib that need to come out. I have removed the bad wood and need to remove all these nails. If anyone can remember that post or share some good ideas that would be great. Thanks

[ssor]

All of the tools that I have seen for removing nails were for use in landlubber carpentry and would not be acceptable on a wooden boat. Some how you must get under the head of the nail before you can pull it and the wood gets in the way.

[Gary E]

Well... yeah the wood IS in the way, but the tool removes it,,, then ya got a big divit to fill...

[capt jake]

this one?
web page (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006668)
Or this one?
I think you want this one. (http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007736)

[1947workboat]

I can get to the sharp end of the nail and bang them out but i'm afraid on damaging the planking. I just came in from removing the puddy on all the nail heads and I will need to wait for my wife to help. I am going to have her try and hold a hammer on the head as I bang it out from the inside of the boat. We'll see what happens...

[Kim Whitmyre]

I use a set of flat-nosed nippers when I'm pulling nails; obviously if you can get the head of the nail out far enough to get the bevel of the nippers under it, you will do less damage to the surface of the wood. Since you can get to the nails from behind, just tap them enough to expose the head, then use a piece of scrap under the shoulder of the nippers to prevent dents.

Kim

[ssor]

I might be inclined to drill the heads off and pull the plank and then go after the nails. I often encounter nails with the heads so badly rusted that they pull off and leave the shank of the nial in place. The only choise then is to remove as many of the nails as I can and then the plank. But the plank isn't pretty when I am done.

[Paul Silverman]

I've removed about two to three thousand nails from my 1" cedar on 2x2 oak frames- a 1942 boat fastened with iron nails. The technique I use is to use a small catspaw, hammered deep enough to grip the nail. Because cedar is so soft, it needs protection from the lever end of the catspaw. I protect the wood using the flat handle edge of one of those small flat pry bar that is used to remove wood baseboards. Before I insert the catspaw, I use a chisel to tap a deep line on the wood on the other side of the nail. I learned the hard way that this prevents the wood from splitting out when the catspaw does its work. The result is typically a relatively shallow square hole in the plank which I fill with dowling and thickened epoxy.

[StevenBauer]

I like these:

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item/Woodworking/Assorted/60k2106s2.jpg

http://www.leevalley.com/images/item/Woodworking%5CAssorted%5C60K1501D1.gif

Lee Valley's got 'em.

Steven

[Del Lansing]

It sounds like you have removed the rotten ribs/frames and have planking hanging with pointy ends of nails sticking out, correct? If that is so, and you have picked out the putty then center punch the head of the nail and drill it till the head falls off. Then you can use a pin punch and tap the nail on through without enlarging the counter sink hole. Or just grab the protruding end and hope it pulls out intact, depending on the degree of rust/corrosion on the nail shank.

[Nicholas Carey]

If the frames are out and you've got access to the business end of the nails, take a angle grinder fitted with a cutoff blade and cut the nails off flush with the inside of the planking.

Then get a partner in crime armed with a backing block with some mass to it. Drill a cavity in it that's deep enough to contain at least part of the nail. You'll need a hammer and suitably sized punches. Your partner backs you up on the outside of the hull and you drive the cut-off nail out from the inside. Once the nail has emerged from the outside of the plank, you should be able to grab it with a nail puller (not a catspaw) or maybe a pair of pliers and get it out.

It a long slog, but if you do it right, you should have minimal damage to the plank.

[pipefitter]

[ 09-08-2005, 02:37 AM: Message edited by: pipefitter ]

[TimothyB]

Lots if ways to pull a nail, but what if you can't pull it?

Yet again, Jim Trefethan comes to my rescue...

Basically, he suggests drilling out the entire nail and head, because the wood immediately around the nail is probably not in great shape. Then, you epoxy in an end grain hardwood dowel. No hard hammer blows needed, nor any swearing.

The way he suggest drilling out the nail is by getting steel or moly tubing of exactly the right size and filing triangle points on the end. Sharpening it after every use. I imagine with quite a bit of persuasion you could remove the drilled plug without going through the whole frame, but epoxying or resorcinol gluing in a dowel all the way through should handle it a lot easier.

Of course, this only works if you have beefy enough frames and planks.

I guess if you didn't want to enlarge the fastener hole in the plank you could drill off the head (carefully) before you then detached the plank and finished the job.

[ 09-08-2005, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: TimothyB ]

[wyndham]

If you can get at the pointy ends why not just drill out the heads and pull them through from the inside? It will do less dmage pulling them in the direction that they were driven than trying to back them out.

[1947workboat]

Thanks for all your great advice. I will give it shot and see how I make out.

[GregH]

Well- since I'm just a "landlubber" (to quote Mr. ssor) carpenter who uses tools that are apparently not fit for boatbuilding, I guess my suggestions for removing nails without damaing the wood are also not appropriate for use on your sacred wooden boats. BTW, I'd be interested in knowing just what kind of tools Mr.ssor uses for his boatbuilding- certainly not such common items as hammers, screwdivers, etc.

[ssor]

Greg H, The tools used for assembly are just fine but when you are trying to take something apart without causing more damage than necessary some of the nail pullers that are meant to be driven into the planks to allow a purchase on the head of a nail make very ugly marks. I try not to make work for myself by applying brute force and ignorance. If all I need to do is replace a couple of planks in a residential deck then I don't care what they look like when they come off.

[Pete Dorr]

YES - found it

At one summer job I had access to a good nail puller.

It will damage the wood a bit but not as bad as a catspaw will. I think for either of these I'd keep a thin piece of metal (old scraper) under the lever arm.

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/hand_tools/crescent/nail_puller.htm?E+coastest

It's a beefier version of the one at lee valley

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46447&cat=1,43456,43400&ap=1

[Canoeyawl]

http://www.vandykes.com/images/products/02224848-lg.jpg
web page (http://www.vandykes.com/print/02224848/)