# Looking for nondestructive Nail puller



## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I have a slide hammer nail puller as shown below that I got from my dad 50 years ago. As far as I’m concerned, it is the best tool ever for pulling large nails with a minimum damage to the wood. 

The problem is that I need it right now and it’s in Arizona and I’m in CA. Home Depot has it on their website for $36, but I don’t know if it is in the local store. 
Amazon has one for the same price and I think I can get it in a couple of days, but the thing is I don’t want double tools and I was wondering if anybody has any other suggestions that I could pick up tomorrow at Home Depot or Lowe’s.










I do not like cat paws because they completely destroy the wood plus, I already have one of those as well also in AZ.
So if anybody has experience with a nondestructive 8d nail puller please share it.

Oh I have to go to bed now but I'll check back in the morning Thanks


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Best nail puller I've found .....*

https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Bush...t=&hvlocphy=9016999&hvtargid=pla-420553285186


It's not a true "cats paw" which have larger round heads, but this one is pretty non-destructive. I have it in several sizes and you have drive it under the head from opposite sides, lift as you go to get minimum damage. I have an old slide hammer version like yous posted from my grand father as well, probably more than 50 years old... I donno?


Remember a claw hammer with the rounded claw gives you more starting leverage than a ripping hammer. I use a wood spacer under my ripping hammer to increase the leverage. A great ripping hammer:


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Thanks, I’m going to look around the big box stores this morning and see what they got. I only have a couple of day here in CA so I really can’t wait for anything to be shipped. There are some interesting nail pullers on line, but I just don’t know if I can pick one up today.

I built a shed about 15 years ago and I originally designed it to be taken apart with screws if I ever wanted to move it. Well I have it all apart and most of it loaded on a trailer, but I didn’t anticipate the floor being so heavy. I was a lot stronger 15 years ago and I can’t pick it up now so I need to break it down, but I want to reuse everything exactly the way it is. I would have used deck screws if I had known back then that I wouldn’t be as strong now. 

Anyway, I don’t want huge holes in the floor around each nail hole and I nailed it to spec with a lot of nails. All I really need is to get under the head to loosen the nail enough to get my claw hammer under it without gouging out the wood. If I were strong enough, I’d pick the whole floor up and bang it loose from underneath. Well if I can’t get it apart without destroying it, then I’ll have to pick it up on the next trip and bring my slide hammer puller.


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## Pineknot_86 (Feb 19, 2016)

Their website should have a place that shows if it is in stock in the local store. Never seen one before. Learned something today.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

All you have to do is put a putty knife or a piece of steel under the pry bar to protect the surface.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Steve Neul said:


> All you have to do is put a putty knife or a piece of steel under the pry bar to protect the surface.


No your not understanding. I need the head of the nail up enough to grab onto. A putty knife is not going to let me get below the surface of the wood to grab the nail. 

The slide hammer nail puller Jaws that I have int a photo above does penetrate the surface of the wood on each side of the nail and the leverage force hold on to the nail to pull it out. Now it's not perfect because it does penetrate the surface of the wood making a small indention on each side of the nail, but it is minimal damage which is easily filled in. Most people don't like the slide hammer because they just can't grasp the concept and almost always smack their finger or just can't get it to work plus it is bulky to carry.

I have the perfect tool just not with me and I want to buy something that can lift the nail just above the surface so I then have an option of a claw hammer or wreaking bar to finish the job.

I fiend talked me into buying a cats paw say it would dig in to pull the head out which it did, but left a huge scoop out of the wood and sometimes even splitting the wood entirely. I still have it, but I never use it unless the wood is heading to the fire pit.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Pineknot_86 said:


> Their website should have a place that shows if it is in stock in the local store. Never seen one before. Learned something today.


If you need to remove a nail with minimal damage, this is the tool and its been around for ever or at least 70 years that I've been around. It is bulky and hard to not smash your finger the first couple of times. 

Most of the guys I worked with way back when I was in the trades didn't like them because they wouldn't fit in their tool belt and they were either building something new or demolishing something that was never going to be used again so they didn't care

Just wanted to add that this is for framing nails like 8d or 16d nails, not for finishing nails or other small nails


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Sleeper said:


> No your not understanding. I need the head of the nail up enough to grab onto. A putty knife is not going to let me get below the surface of the wood to grab the nail.
> 
> The slide hammer nail puller Jaws that I have int a photo above does penetrate the surface of the wood on each side of the nail and the leverage force hold on to the nail to pull it out. Now it's not perfect because it does penetrate the surface of the wood making a small indention on each side of the nail, but it is minimal damage which is easily filled in. Most people don't like the slide hammer because they just can't grasp the concept and almost always smack their finger or just can't get it to work plus it is bulky to carry.
> 
> ...


If you can't get to the opposite end of the nail there isn't a way to prevent marring the wood. About all you can do is drill around the nail with a hole plug cutter and remove the wood around the nail where you can get diagonal cutters or something to the head of the nail. Then when done make a plug to fit the hole.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Steve Neul said:


> If you can't get to the opposite end of the nail there isn't a way to prevent marring the wood. About all you can do is drill around the nail with a hole plug cutter and remove the wood around the nail where you can get diagonal cutters or something to the head of the nail. Then when done make a plug to fit the hole.


Sorry Steve, but you obviously have never use a tool like this before.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Ok, I was able to pull half of them out already by prying it up off its blocks and raising it up high enough to attack it from below. There was at least a 100 nails altogether and I still have a little less then half to go. So I quess i don't need a nail puller after all.

The worst part was all the Black Widow spiders. I killed 6 or 8 really big ones, but there were hundred of babies running around that ended up in my clothes. My legs are on fire with all the little bites worse than mosquito bites.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Sleeper said:


> Sorry Steve, but you obviously have never use a tool like this before.


You still have to get the head of the nail up high enough for that tool to grab. That's where the damage comes from.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

Steve Neul said:


> You still have to get the head of the nail up high enough for that tool to grab. That's where the damage comes from.


No you don't it has 2 jaws to straddle the head then you slam the sliding hammer down to drive the jaws into the wood below the head. Then tilt the tool toward the leaver to grab the nail and pull out. When your proficient with it, it's all done in one motion. I can pull a hundred nails out in a very short time


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## _Ogre (Feb 1, 2013)

i've had one of those slide hammer nail pullers for ever, from way back when i was young, with kids, broke and used a lot of reclaimed wood. very handy for disassembly or deconstruction. 
sadly i seemed to have lost it to my son-in-law, who is young, with kids, not as broke as i was, and uses a lot of reclaimed wood :grin:

we built this chicken coop from pallets, used tin and reclaimed plywood
only buying 2 sheets of plywood for the floor


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## NoThankyou (Mar 21, 2018)

I had a problem with a nail gun leaving nails above the surface due to bouncing when used in an awkward position.

My solution was vice grips. Just lock the vice grip onto the nail and just bend the nail out of the wood. But always use the non movable jaw side as the fulcrum as it is better rounded.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

NoThankyou said:


> I had a problem with a nail gun leaving nails above the surface due to bouncing when used in an awkward position.
> 
> My solution was vice grips. Just lock the vice grip onto the nail and just bend the nail out of the wood. But always use the non movable jaw side as the fulcrum as it is better rounded.


I would loved it I could use vice grips, but what can you do when the head is below the surface and nothing to grab on to. There was at least a hundred nails to pull.


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## JIMMIEM (Oct 12, 2014)

woodnthings said:


> https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Bush...t=&hvlocphy=9016999&hvtargid=pla-420553285186
> 
> 
> It's not a true "cats paw" which have larger round heads, but this one is pretty non-destructive. I have it in several sizes and you have drive it under the head from opposite sides, lift as you go to get minimum damage. I have an old slide hammer version like yous posted from my grand father as well, probably more than 50 years old... I donno?
> ...


 I bought the Jefferson Extractor (#1 rated in the video). I was removing corner trim boards from my house that were installed with spiral shank nails. I was on a ladder for most of the work and it was very difficult with a cat's paw and claw hammer......couldn't get enough leverage. The Jefferson worked great....excellent grip and leverage. Worked well for removing finish nails from interior baseboard. The curved based is good because it pivots/rolls over the contact point and does minimal, if any, compression damage. The curved base design lets you get a lot of leverage in a short arc. The tools is tough. Highly recommend it.


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

The best nail remover that I have ever owned is my Air Locker https://www.amazon.com/Air-locker-professional-Nailer-Remover/dp/B003X2QM3G It almost never misses, and knocks the nails out without any effort. I learned to wear gloves and safety glasses and work over a trash can because the nails fly and bounce all over when they come out. Just place it over the point of the bent nail and use it to straighten the nail, then pull the trigger and the nail is out. 

My son is doing major renovations to a house and I have been cleaning up the removed boards and trip so they can be used again or trashed safely. My Air Locker has paid for itself many times over on just this one job. I think I have most of the nail pullers mentioned above, but haven't used any of them since getting the Air Locker.

Charley


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

CharleyL said:


> The best nail remover that I have ever owned is my Air Locker https://www.amazon.com/Air-locker-professional-Nailer-Remover/dp/B003X2QM3G It almost never misses, and knocks the nails out without any effort. I learned to wear gloves and safety glasses and work over a trash can because the nails fly and bounce all over when they come out. Just place it over the point of the bent nail and use it to straighten the nail, then pull the trigger and the nail is out.
> 
> My son is doing major renovations to a house and I have been cleaning up the removed boards and trip so they can be used again or trashed safely. My Air Locker has paid for itself many times over on just this one job. I think I have most of the nail pullers mentioned above, but haven't used any of them since getting the Air Locker.
> 
> Charley


Now that looks interesting and I don't already have one of those. I would like to see it remove nails though


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

CharleyL said:


> The best nail remover that I have ever owned is my Air Locker
> Charley


I just watched a video on the use of this tool and found out that it ONLY REMOVES nails on boards that have already been removed. IMO this tool DOES NOT REPLACE the Slider Hammer Nail Remover so it is pretty much a useless tool for me. Thanks anyway.

I needed to remove the nails first in order to remove the plywood. Anyways I got done what I needed done.


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## CharleyL (Jan 13, 2019)

No, it won't replace a slide hammer, if that's your choice for dismantling, but it will clean up boards and plywood after they have been removed. I use pry bars and hammers for dismantling and removing the wood, then use the Air Locker for removing all of the nails from the wood, so it is safer to handle and can be re-used or discarded safely. To me, a slide hammer tears up the area around the nails too much. I would much rather pry the wood free and then remove the nails. For me, it's much faster, and there are no gaping dents left around each nail location from the slide hammer. We each have our way, but I'm convinced that the pry bar method followed by the Air Locker is easier and faster, and does less damage to the wood being removed. 

Do you use a slide hammer to remove nails from trim? I used to pull the finishing nails out through the back side of the trim pieces so as not to damage the face side, so that I could re-use the better pieces. I did this with a nail remover like the one with the yellow handles in the photo above, but I used it for framing nails too. Now I remove most nails in trim and framing lumber with the Air Locker after the boards have been pried free with hammers and pry bars. I have a special wide profile kind of heavy duty putty knife that pries trim free really well, leaving the nails to be removed quickly and easily with the Air Locker and there is almost no damage to the trim boards at all. 

Charley


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

I don't use it for trim, only 16d and 8d framing nail and also sheeting nails. Trim is so easy that I pull the trim off with a small thin pry bar and knock the nail through with pliers then grabbing the heads on the other side to pull them out. It's so easy and fast that it would be ridiculous to drag an air hose around to do it. Hell I would have the nails already pulled before the compressor even filled up with air. I pulled all the base board trim for the entire 5 bedroom house and removed the nails in a little over an hour maybe 2 hours at the most

This time around I was pulling 4'x8'x3/4" T&G sub-flooring so I couldn't get to the edge to pry it up first and had to pull all the nails before removing the plywood


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## ajdragon (Jul 26, 2017)

Sleeper said:


> The worst part was all the Black Widow spiders. I killed 6 or 8 really big ones, but there were hundred of babies running around that ended up in my clothes. My legs are on fire with all the little bites worse than mosquito bites.



Your more of a man then me, I would have put a full hazmat suit on before doing what you did. As it is I put several thick layers of clothing and jackets and full face ski masks on before ever crawling under my house to do repairs. Lucky for me I live in Washington state where there are NO black widows, just little fake widows.


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

ajdragon said:


> Your more of a man then me, I would have put a full hazmat suit on before doing what you did. As it is I put several thick layers of clothing and jackets and full face ski masks on before ever crawling under my house to do repairs. Lucky for me I live in Washington state where there are NO black widows, just little fake widows.


I have funny story about spiders if your interested. I think I told this years ago, but I wouldn’t be able to find it now. Anyway back when I was an electrical contractor a very close friend who was a Builder got into a jam financially while in the middle of remolding a house so all of us subcontractors volunteered to help. I was already doing the electrical, but the plumber quit and walked off the job so my friend got his brother-in-law who was union journeyman plumber to help out. The only problem was that he did not know how to layout a job, it was always done for him so all he had to do fit all the pieces together.
I had seen so much plumbing in my construction days that I stepped in, made up a materials list and laid it all out for him just as a favor. In return my builder friend wanted to have another relative be my helper free of charge so I sent him under the house to push wires up from below and staple them. 
Now this guy was a big biker type that belonged to a pretty tough MC club, but I heard a blood curdling scream as soon as he got under there. I didn’t know what to think, maybe a foundation wall fell on him crushing his legs or maybe he got bit by a rattlesnake I just didn’t know so I ran down there as fast as I could and found him outside shaking and screaming that he quit. He said he was attacked by a giant spider so I ran in to find a little daddy long legged spider walking across the wires.
I just couldn’t stop laughing as this big bad ass mussel guy riding off on his Harley flipping us off. :vs_laugh:


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Sleeper said:


> I have funny story about spiders if your interested. [...]


My father was as hard and tough as they come ... but he was deathly afraid of spiders. 

I learned that fact when I was just a little kid. I used a jar from the kitchen cabinet to capture a large black widow spider that I found in the "jungle" part of our yard. That really cool spider was so jumbo that I had to show it to someone. I brought the jar inside to show it to my dad.


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## faith michel (Sep 10, 2017)

Sleeper said:


> I have funny story about spiders if your interested.
> 
> 
> Please don't tell me a story about scorpions spiders or snakes @Sleeper...
> ...


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## Sleeper (Mar 24, 2009)

faith michel said:


> Please don't tell me a story about scorpions spiders or snakes


OMG I'm so sorry Faith, but I think I just got bit by a black widow this morning on the back of my neck. I had a spider web wrapped around my head this morning and then a mosquito was attacking my ears so I just assumed it was a mosquito bite. I can't see it, but it feels huge and hurts just like a spider bite. I'm going to have my wife take a photo of it when she gets home so I can see if it is


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