Hand Nailing with No Hammer Kisses
George VondriskaMost of us might use pneumatic nailers, but every once in a while you’ve got to hand nail something. The danger with this is the possibility of hitting your project, instead of the nail. And hammer kisses aren’t all that attractive. Here’s a dirt simple, dirt cheap way to make certain that you won’t mar your woodworking projects when you’re hand driving a nail.
I use pneumatic fasteners all the time, but sometimes, you run into occasions where you just have to hand nail something. This is when I'm fastening the top of the planter to the base. And in order to do that, I wanna use this 8-penny headed nail so that the head has a good bite into the cedar and really holds it in place. Can't really do that with a finished nail. So my concern is that the cedar is really soft.
And if I have a swing and a miss, I'm gonna kiss that cedar and I'm probably gonna mar it. Another problem here could be you're working on projects with your kids. You're teaching them to use a hammer. And their hammer use is a lot like lightning; it never hits twice in the same spot. So here's a really easy way to not have a problem.
Take a piece of scrap, thin, eighth-inch or so. Cut that notch in it. Use that notch to surround the nail. Now, as I swing, if I miss, I'm hitting a scrap instead of my cedar. Stop before the head engages with that piece of scrap or you'll never get it out of there.
And then from there, we can finish that off with a nail set... to make sure that that nail goes in without the hammer ever marring the surface of that soft cedar.
After seeing your video, I came up an idea. Cut a 3" to 4" dia. circle, with a short handle as part of it. Would kind of look like a short, stubby handled fly-swatter. Drill a 3/8" hole in the center of the circle. Could be cut out of a piece of thin plywood door skin, or sheet metal. Just a thought.
George, another great tip, Thanks. Also great looking 'Cider' planter box, any chance there is video or plans for it?
Tip, if you do ding your wood a lot of times you can use an iron on a damp rag to lift the wood fibers of the dent back up. That tip came from Tommy off this old house, it works. I've done it on door casings from. Moving finiture, if you cut the fiber you can add wood glue to help set them back into place. I've also fixed broken rail spindles with wood glue by placing the spindle back in its place without cutting into it. Its not a strong joint, but it can go back together and look good.
Great tip, George. I keep a supply of old plastic gift cards around for the same purpose. They are also useful when using an air nailer to minimize the dimpling from the nailer.
I used to volunteer on Habitat for Humanity houses a few years ago...The Project foreman nicknamed me "Lightning" for that EXACT reason...