The nail puller is a narrow-profile tool with many uses. Hand nail puller from a half-inch pipe and an old file Making a nail puller with your own hands

  • 16.06.2019

In the process of construction work, it becomes necessary not only to build any structure, providing it secure fastening, but also to dismantle the building. In the latter case, you will need to quickly remove the fasteners - ordinary nails. You can do this with improvised tools, but it is better to use a more convenient device - a nail puller.

Purpose and design features

A nail puller is used to extract nails from wooden, plastic and other structures. There are many varieties of this device, but in the general case it is a handle, at the end of which there is a curved wedge made of durable metal.

The wedge ends with a slot, i.e. has a split tip. This groove captures the nail head and then removes it.

With a stronger fastening of the nail in the surface of the workpiece or other construction object, the tool handle acts as a lever. Loaders often use a nail puller as an assistant to lift heavy loads, and carpenters use it to dismantle wooden structures.


This tool belongs to the manual category, although there are also models of an electric nail puller. You need to choose taking into account your financial capabilities, the range of planned work and the required ergonomics in use.

Hammer with nail puller function

This is a universal type of tool that can be used not only to extract nails, but also to drive them. Therefore, the nail hammer has two different ends on the working nozzle:

  • rounded head of a classic hammer;
  • a pointed part with a slot to perform the functions of a nail puller.

The metal part of the hammer is made of high-strength steel. Many models are equipped with a rubberized handle. It is a compact and mobile tool. Thanks to the short handle, it is easy to carry and have always at hand.

However, on the other hand, this feature does not allow you to fully use the tool as a lever. In addition, the working slot does not always allow you to get under the hat, and the wooden handle is less durable compared to full-fledged crowbar-type nail pullers.

V professional models hammer with the function of a nail puller, one-piece forged design, always with a rubber handle. High-quality rubber helps to effectively dampen vibration.


crowbar nail puller

In the classic version, the extraction device is a solid steel rod with flattened ends turned in different directions. The nail extraction slot can be at both ends.

But the nail puller mount is especially popular, the second wedge of which is flattened and looks like a blade. This end can destroy structures, lift floorboards, disassemble fastened boards.

Crowbar nail puller can be 400-1500 mm long. Reinforcement is used for manufacturing, as well as a round or hexagonal rod having a diameter of 10-25 mm. With an increase in the length of the tool, its thickness and strength increase, but the weight also increases.

How to choose an instrument

There are many designs and modifications of the device, which is clearly seen in the photo of the nail puller. When choosing, you need to pay attention to the following parameters:

A flat tip that must be strong and sharp. It is made from high quality material, while other parts can be made from less durable materials. The presence of a special protective paintwork or anti-corrosion coating on it is welcome.

The length of the tool depends on the type of work performed and their complexity. To disassemble large structures, furniture, doors, a tool with a longer handle up to 1-1.5 m is required. But for minor manipulations, for example with drawers, you can limit yourself to using short nail pullers 30-50 cm.


Weight of the nailer. Heavier tools will require less effort from you when dismantling or removing nails. A nail puller reinforced with a more durable material allows you to disassemble even large structures without the risk of damaging the tool. But the work will be tedious.

You need to select the weight for yourself, so that with a minimum of effort and fatigue, you can effectively do the job. The optimal weight is 1 kg.

Making tools at home

It is not necessary to spend money on the purchase of equipment. You can manage on your own. To learn how to make a nail puller with your own hands, we recommend that you study our simple instructions:

Pick up wire from steel of different diameters. For small nails, you can take a not very thick wire, and for thicker ones, a reinforcing bar is also suitable.

In the process of processing the tip, one part of the wire should be flattened on the anvil with a hammer. Reinforcement can be cut at the desired angle. A hacksaw makes a small slot for nails.

The edges are processed with a file and various defects are removed.

The nozzle is bent. First, a bend is made on the thicker part of the nozzle before the beginning of the thin section. And then a bend is made at the flattened end. Harden the workpiece if possible.

The nozzle should be processed with a file, and then polished. The nozzle is attached to the selected handle.

The nail puller helps facilitate many demolition jobs. Right choice tool will allow you to carry out manipulations quickly and efficiently. At the same time, you need to remember about the ergonomics of the tool, ease of use.

Photo of a nail puller

Crowbar nailer is convenient fixture for removing nails from various structures. It greatly facilitates the dismantling work for the master. Helps to resolve the issue of removal of nails quickly and efficiently. In turn, this is an ergonomic tool, despite the fact that it belongs to the category of a manual device, there are also models of an electric nail puller.

If you pay attention to the photo of the nail puller, you can understand that this tool is a curved wedge with a forked end, with the help of which the cap of the removed nail or other element is captured. It is made exclusively from high quality metal and has a long arm.

Scope of application

Despite the simple device, the use of the tool is necessary in the construction industry. It is used wherever the task is to extract objects from different surfaces, and it also helps movers to lift heavy loads. Carpenters, locksmiths, builders use it to solve everyday issues. Also, the nail puller can be used not for its intended purpose, but for the reconstruction of the premises, the analysis of unnecessary structures, frames.

Varieties

In the classic version, the tool looks like a rod made of steel with cut ends, while they can be on both sides of the nail puller.












The length of a standard fixture is from four hundred to five hundred millimeters, the diameter is from ten to twenty-five millimeters. If the length of the product increases, then the strength, due to the thickness, also increases, although the weight is added.

One type of tool is a hammer with a nail puller function. It has a short handle which makes it easy to use. This is a very versatile type of fixture, since a nail puller can not only extract elements, but also hammer.

It has a design consisting of two different ends. On one working surface there is a round hammer head, and on the other a classic pointed part with a forked wedge.

The main part of the models has a non-slip rubberized handle. The only drawback is that the possibility of leverage of this device is limited.

The nail puller has gained particular popularity in the sales market among consumers. Its design has a second wedge resembling a flat blade.

With its help, you can dismantle wooden floors, raise building devices, reconstruct boards. At the same time, the other end perfectly performs the function of pulling out nails and other unnecessary elements.

To purchase the best nail puller, you need to determine what kind of work you need a tool for. In any case, before buying, pay attention to the following properties of the device:

First, the nail crowbar must be made of high strength metal such as tool steel, which is not prone to warping. Although the tool best quality made from titanium. Of course, they are significantly overpriced.

It is desirable that the tip be covered with a special protective paintwork or anti-corrosion coating. This will make it as strong and durable as possible in use.

Secondly, the length of the tool matters. Give preference to those models that will be necessary for your work. So, for disassembling bulky structures, a device with a handle up to one and a half meters is required, and if necessary, small dismantling work, a short nail puller up to fifty centimeters long can be useful.

The force of its impact on the material will also depend on the weight of the tool. A heavy reinforced nail puller can destroy large structures, but the work will be tedious.








Making a fixture

You can not buy, but make a nail puller with your own hands. How to make a tool yourself, we will further consider step by step:

  • 1 step. First, choose a wire made of steel right size depending on the diameter of the nails to be removed.
  • 2 step. Next, process the tip of one part, flatten it with a hammer, then cut a slot for further removal of the elements.
  • 3 step. If defects have formed, and notches, remove them with a needle file.
  • 4 step. The next step is to bend both ends of the nozzle. Start with the thicker part of the instrument.
  • 5 step. If possible, it is recommended to harden the fixture. Polish the product and attach to the handle.

So without much difficulty, you can independently make such a necessary thing as a crowbar nail puller.

Photo crowbar nail puller

O metal processing is carried out not only in factories: when repairing a car, home mechanization, inventory and equipment, not to mention construction work, you have to drill, forge, sharpen and cut.

Of course, if you need a complex part made of special steels, it is better to order it in a specialized workshop - http://zelmatik.ru/, where metalworking is carried out using powerful presses and precision machines. But, if right now you need a simple part or a device made of iron? It even costs a penny, but until you find it, the day will pass! This is where knowing the techniques of working with metal will help.

You will be able to make the desired product from waste scrap metal, having a minimum of tools, literally “on your knee”. Let's see how to do it and what is needed for this.

What will we work

Tools that have already become familiar in the household:

  • powerful;
  • welding machine;
  • electric grinder.

We will add an anvil, a gas cutter (included) and a powerful vice.

All this can be borrowed, but it is better to buy. On the farm, such universal devices will come in handy more than once.

The anvil can be made from a regular rail. At the rail trim on one side, we form a point with a grinder, then we drill holes for fastening with a drill and a working hole, for what it is, you will see further.

Klupp and (or) a set of dies with a holder for M10 ÷ 18 threads will significantly expand your capabilities.

You can not do without hand tools:

  • a hammer and a small sledgehammer "cam";
  • pliers;
  • metal scissors;
  • pliers (can be ordinary carpentry).

We process metal, hardening

Before we find out what can be done on the farm with the simple set described above, let's look at some of the properties of the metal.

Various rolled products, fittings, parts from mechanisms, that is, almost any steel available to an ordinary person, becomes malleable and ductile with strong heating. It can be flattened, bent and twisted as you like.

However, after the metal has cooled, it often becomes more ductile than it was before, but less hard and durable. This is especially noticeable when you work with springy steels, for example, an automobile spring.

The reason is the slow cooling of the workpiece during operation, during which the so-called "vacation" occurs. In order to restore hardness and strength to the metal again, it must be hardened, i.e. heat up again and cool quickly.

This building tool is rather anti-building. The fact is that with the help of nail pullers they do not build, but break. It is intended primarily for disassembling fixed connections. wooden structures made with nails. At the same time, with the help of a nail puller, you can also perform other dismantling work: beating off plaster, dismantling brick walls and much more.

Nail pullers come in a wide variety of designs, but they all have common feature. At least one of their ends has a flattened area in the form of a narrow blade with a widening slot. When pulling out the nails, the upper part of the protruding nail is inserted into this slot and using the nail puller as a lever, resting against the nail head, it is easy to pull it out. In hardware stores you can find a very large variety of nail pullers and we want to talk about all of them.

Types of nail pullers

crowbar nail puller

This tool is a classic nail puller tool. It is made entirely of steel. Structurally, it is a piece of steel rod, the ends of which are bent in different directions, and one or both of them are flattened and slots are made in them for pulling out nails. Along the length of the crowbar, the nail puller can be either of a small length - 40 cm, or very significant - up to 1.5 meters. Accordingly, the longer the nail puller, the thicker and stronger it is.

Previously, these tools were usually made independently from improvised materials. Usually, various shafts from mechanisms and machines were used for these purposes. If you see such a homemade nail puller - take it without hesitation. The fact is that this is a truly eternal tool due to the very high strength qualities of the material used. All the same, the shafts are made of high-strength steel. They used to make nail pullers usually familiar from factories that had access to powerful presses, or in forges that can be found in the vastness of Russia at the present time.

Those crowbars - nail pullers, which are now sold in stores, are of course worse. First of all, this is due to the fact that standard rolled metal products are used for their production. Currently, for the production of crowbars - nail pullers, reinforcement, a round bar or a hexagonal bar with a diameter of 10 mm to 25 mm are used. Despite the fact that some manufacturers still harden the ends, this tool wears out quickly and is easy to bend if you try to break a powerful building structure.

As an example, I will give own experience- as a result of using a small modern nail puller, the slot developed to such a state that the nail heads in it simply stopped holding within two days. And this is taking into account the fact that with it I pulled out only about 1500 nails 30 mm long from the wooden floor (I tore off the old fiberboard).

Nail pullers made of reinforcement are a little stronger, but they can very quickly rub calluses on your hands if you do not wrap the handle with electrical tape, for example. Round and hex rod nail pullers are approximately equal in strength. Checking the strength of a nail puller is easy enough. Take a nail approximately 120 - 150 mm long and try to scratch with the tip working part tool (blade with a slot). If the scratch turned out, and even deep, do not take this nail puller. There will be little sense from him.

Coming up with this design, manufacturers first of all took care to give the tool versatility. So two tools in one. Structurally, this is a classic hammer, usually with a rounded head, the sharp part of which is made in the form of a working part of a nail puller. On the one hand, of course, this is convenient, especially if you are sitting on the top of the roof, hammering nails and it took you to pull out one nail, which was bent from an unsuccessful blow.

At the same time, it is inconvenient to use a nail puller as a dismantling tool. It is not always possible with its help to crawl under the head of a nail, and it also has a less durable handle - made of wood, and the lever is much shorter than that of a crowbar - a nail puller.

As a material for the metal part of hammers of this type, forged tool steel is usually used, which usually surpasses the material of modern classical nail pullers in strength. On sale you can also find a tool of this type completely made of metal with an ergonomic rubberized handle. Hammers - nail pullers are usually used in plumbing and carpentry.

As recommendations, we advise you to have three types of nail puller in your tool kit: a hammer - a nail puller, a small classic nail puller 40 - 50 cm long and a powerful crowbar - a nail puller at least 90 cm long. The hammer can be used in construction work when you need to pull out one or more unsuccessfully hammered nails, with the help of a small nail puller it is convenient to pull out upholstery studs and remove the cladding, but a large tool will be needed when dismantling powerful building structures, pulling out large nails or staples, as well as dismantling brickwork.

To drive in a nail, no special experience is required, every developer can cope with this task, another thing is to correctly pull out a hammered nail. If the hat is flush with the surface, then it is recommended to know some of the subtleties of this work. And a lot depends on pulling out nails on which tool you choose. It is best to use a titanium nail puller for this purpose, which will handle the nails best.

Purpose of the nail puller

There were times when it was widely used wooden nails, for this, they first drilled holes in the boards that were suitable in diameter, and after that they connected the structural details in a similar simple way. Such nails were called pins. However, the pin could not be pulled out. And today these products have been replaced with metal fasteners that have wide caps. In the manufacture of wood products, it often becomes necessary to pull out improperly hammered nails.

They are easy to pick up with a puller - a special tool with a flattened end, where there is a wedge-shaped slot, which is convenient for gripping a nail. After hooking, you also need to pull out the fastener, which is tightly compressed by the fibers of the tree or wedged in the concrete panel, so a forged nail puller should be used. The leverage helps, so all nail pullers are made quite long, and near the toe there is a bend that acts as a support. The material is also of great importance, so tools for pulling nails are often made hardened.

Claw hammers perform the functions of an ordinary carpenter's hammer or act as a nail puller. Such a tool will help to hammer in a nail, and easily remove an unnecessary one if it is installed incorrectly. Today there are similar hammers with different handles: wooden, metal, rubberized, fiberglass.

Thus, the purpose of a manual nail puller is to pull out nails. And the scope of its use is quite large. With it, you can gently and easily pull the nail out of the floor or baseboard. Regardless of the description of the nail puller, it is used when disassembling a variety of buildings, wooden structures, boxes and containers. The nail puller is an indispensable tool for movers, carpenters, other technical workers and home builders.

In addition to the main function that the nail puller performs, its other functions are also known: pulling out nails using a flattened end with a slot, breaking asphalt, ice and frozen soil, lifting various objects, opening boxes and other surfaces fastened with nails using a pointed end. The solid profile, which is equipped with a nail puller, successfully allows you to dismantle building materials.

Nail puller design

The nail puller is a lever-wedge hand-held device for pulling out nails driven into the material. A nail puller is produced in the form of an independent tool or a tool that is combined with tools such as a crowbar or a hammer, as in the photo of the nail pullers.

A nail puller is a curved metal wedge, which is divided in two by a working groove, which is designed for the process of capturing and holding when pulling a nail by the “hat” from the material. The action of the nailer is based on the action of the wedge on the surface - the fastener and the material into which the fastener is hammered, and on the principle of leverage when pulling the nail. The principle of the lever has been used by man since ancient times, when it was necessary to break off a piece of stone, lift a heavy object, which required remarkable efforts.

This building tool at one end has a curved flattened platform with a slot that expands, and at the other there is a straight pointed stake. The second end is often simply flattened and pointed. Depending on the requirements for the tool, the nail puller can be different sizes. The price of nail pullers on the market also varies. The length of the nail pullers ranges from 320 - 1000 millimeters, and the weight is 0.6 - 4 kilograms. The choice of the size of this construction tool depends directly on the size of the nails with which it will work.

Most hammers that come with the optional nail puller feature have a rubber grip that makes them feel like a glove in the palm of your hand. Heat treatment is also used for increased strength of nail pullers. high carbon steel, which is a common instrumental material. There are also nail pullers with a wood handle and an iron tip. But it is not recommended to get carried away with a variety of form factors, in a tool for extracting nails, the main thing is the flat surface of the blade, which is brought under the cap, and its level of strength.

Making a nail puller with your own hands

Any owner needs a good nail puller no less than a saw, a hammer or an ax. Therefore, it is useful to know how to make a nail puller at home. We suggest you make a set of three nail pullers that will help you pull out any nails and fasteners.

A nail puller for pulling out small nails is best made of steel with a high carbon content so that its working part can be hardened. To do this, take a steel wire 0.5 mm thick, then straighten it on the anvil and flatten the working end a little.

Make a shallow cut with a hacksaw along the axis, process the edges of the cut with a needle file. Bend the working part of the tool in a vise. It is customary to make a bend in two steps: first in a place where the workpiece is thicker, and then closer to the working end. Delete small dents that were formed from the vice, with a file. Then sand the working part of the tool and, if possible, polish with a polishing paste.

It remains to harden with a future vacation. After this manipulation, grind the working part of the tool again and polish it. Attach the resulting workpiece to the handle. Do-it-yourself nail puller for small nails is ready!
Nail pullers for large and medium nails are usually made of reinforcing steel. Just remember that the working part does not need to be flattened. All rough handling pre-swipe on an emery wheel.

Handles are not required for such nail pullers. To pull out a long nail with an ordinary nail puller, you have to put various objects under its base, for example, a piece of board, which is not very convenient. Improve your nail puller by welding an additional part at a distance of 6 centimeters from the working one.

Using a homemade nail puller

Now you should learn how to properly use a homemade nail puller. Using this tool is quite simple. Depending on the diameter of the nail, you need to select the appropriate home-made nail puller from the set and knock out the pre-wedge part of the tool with a hammer under the hat.

When the nail enters the slot of the working part, move the handle towards the wood - the nail will come out a little from the hole. Place a low block to support it. After that, the nail will come out a little more. Now you can grab onto his hat with pliers.