Fellow metal enthusiasts,

I just bumped into this site showing shop hacks. They are too good,  not to share.

The only suggestion that I do not advise is lubricating screws with soap. Use wax.

Soap is hygroscopic. That is, it attracts water vapor from the air,  and that could loosen the screw, and/or cause rust, and stain the wood.

Try,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxviTLVjvDQ

Enjoy,

SLAG.

 

Some of those are great, even if you can't use them they get you thinking. Dad taught me to lube nails and screws with saliva by holding them in my mouth. 

Thanks for the link Slag, you de MAN!

Frosty The Lucky.

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Dad taught me to lube nails and screws with saliva by holding them in my mouth.

Hence the expression “to spit tacks” (at least according to an old-school upholsterer I once knew).

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

Hence the expression “to spit tacks” (at least according to an old-school upholsterer I once knew).

As a kid there was a guy in the local shopping center who had a shoe shine booth and repaired shoes. I used to like to talk to him and watch while he worked on a shoe. I asked him if he thought I could learn to be a cobbler but he said I wouldn't last.

He spit tacks too.

Frosty The Lucky.

Mr. Frosty,

Has said and I quote,

"… he said I wouldn't last."

Frosty are we alluding to your potential time span as a cobbler  or the last you are using to make/repair a shoe?

I wonder.

Very clever, impressive even ...

SLAG.

And that’s not the last time you’ll make that joke. 

Frosty & JHCC,

I always buy shoes that are built to last.

SLAG.

Frosty's tip reminds me of an old one.  A blunt nail rubbed on you hair will push it's way through delicate wood molding without splitting it.  The blunt tip acts like a punch rather than a wedge.  The hair oils lubricate the passage without any mess.

I met an old carpenter once who told me about how he worked with hardwoods like oak, hickory, ash etc. The night before a job, he would sit down with a container of nails and methodically take each one and lightly tap each one on a steel plate with his hammer to dull and flatten the point. He said that the blunt tip sheared through the wood and would not split it as with a sharp point, as rockstar mentioned.

Man, that had to be a tedious chore. It was obviously for small jobs!!

 

Blunting all those nails on a hard surface will work but could be slow. 

A quick grinding of each nail point will work faster for a whole mess of nails.  Multiple nails can be blunted with each pass by placing multiple nails in some sort of holding tool,  for a quick pass to blunt many of them at a time.

The slightly flattened nail will crush the wood fibers as it drives into the wood. That resembles using a punch on the anvil.

The standard nail has a sharp head that splits those cellulose fibers apart. This can result in a split that can propagate. And that is what we want to avoid.

Mr. Rockstar's suggestion about hair oil,  is a great idea. One that I did not know about.

Thanks.

Regards to the metal enthusiasts,

SLAG.

Frankly I think I could pick up a nail and hit it with a hammer faster/safer than to pick up a nail and touch it to the grinder---except perhaps for nails that are set up for auto feed in pneumatic or electric nailers where the hammer impact might mess that up but you could zip a strip or coil across a grinder fairly easily.

Slag,  I learned the hair oil trick from a carpenter who was mostly bald.  He liked to bait younger people in so he could wipe the nail on their hair.

 

My father taught me the side of the nose for spark plugs to get them to screw in easier. '60's/'70's

I’m not sure where I learned it, but you can wipe your finger on the side of your nose and then use it to knock down the head on a beer.  Too many years bartending and too many disgusted customers....

like buttering the inside of a bucket you are getting filled with beer to not waste any free board with foam.  Old Irish tenement trick from the late 1800's/early1900's  NYC

This I didn’t not know....but I’m better for having learned it!

One of my carpenter bosses would blunt a nail by standing it upright with the point up and tapping the tip with  his hammer. Then flip and drive. 

When I worked in the violin shop, we’d rub the tips of ebony tuning pegs against the sides of our noses to give them a bit more polish and shine. 

IIRC: Theophilus mentions using ear wax to buff enamels to get a bit more shine!

Whoops I was wrong; earwax was used in chapter 41 "Polishing the Niello"

"Then take some wax from your earhole and after wiping the niello smear the wax all over it with a fine linen cloth and gently rub it with a goatskin or buckskin until it is entirely bright."

Divers Arts, Theophilus, circa 1120 A.D.