Denailing Lumber

My dad is an old carpenter.  He taught me how to take the nails out of lumber so that he could reuse the lumber for other projects.  This is another way to be GREEN,  Save the planet and all, and even save you some money in the long run. 

Tools Needed:  Claw hammer, safety glasses, wrecking bar, punch and vice grips

Step 1 Easy Beginning Instructions

1.  Lay the board on the grass with the nails sticking up through the boards.
2.  Use hammer to pound the nails back through the board.
3.  Turn board over and use the claw end of the hammer to remove the nail.
4.  Put all removed nails into a bucket for disposal later.

5.  Important:  Try not to let your sister get in on all the glory.  (Please see the picture and you'll understand what I'm talking about)......

Comments

[orangewolf22]

i was seriously just doing this yesterday. nice job!

[yoyojoeco]

same!

[yoyojoeco]

shweet!!!

[caitlinsdad]

Good job! Taking out a lag bolt or screw is extremely hard if you don't try to screw it out. If you don't have a wrecking bar, use a block of wood under the claw hammer to give it more leverage. Get a cat's paw tool - smaller version of a wrecking bar end with pointed tips to dig into the wood to get around a stubborn nail. Wrecking bars scare me because the other end can dig into you if you slip.

[JuCo]

sidenote: try to avoid using those wonderbars for this kind of thing. they're great for what they are, but i had to spend a couple hours taking the nails out of some trusses and that flat bar is not nearly comfortable enough in your hands to use it constantly for that long.

[caitlinsdad]

Have you seen the Fubar wrecking bar? Cool and comfy but still pointy on the handle end.

[JuCo]

that actually looks amazingly useful for being, what looks like, such a light tool. (and finally fatmax makes something i like... i hate their tape measures.) anyhow, it's nice to have a wonderbar around for drywall. as long as it's a real "wonderbar" and not just a flat pry-bar.

[kill-a-watt]

+1 on the cat's paw. They can be a lifesaver when you are pulling brads or nails without heads. It even works on those ring-shank nails. Also, get a few blocks, maybe a 1", 2", and a 3" to put under the hammer if the nail is partly out. That moves the fulcrum upwards. Sometimes you can clamp a vise-grip onto the nail, and then get under that to pry upwards with the crowbar. This is a great job to hire out to responsible kids. Often the labor cost is too high to make this worthwhile otherwise, hence the free salvaged lumber. It would be neat to go over the board quickly with a metal detector to see if the wood was safe to throw in the thickness planer.