How to Remove Finishing Nails and Brad Nails from Wood - Woodworking & DIY 

Your video saved me today! I have a very small, foldable stool from the 1930s; it is made of some extremely hard wood -I don't know which- and was manufactured in the now disappeared Yugoslavia. One of the parts had broken and I wanted to replace and fix it but the super tiny -headless- nails holding it were almost impossible to pull out and I didn't want to damage it more. Oh! It was also very glued together with what I assume to be hide glue -given its age. Your video was a groundbreaker for me! I followed your instructions and was able to remove the mini nails. As for the glue, I very gently and lightly soaked it with white vinegar and about one minute later, the glue gave way. Now I just have to finish the restoration work. Thank you, sooooo much, it was brilliant!!!! 🌷🤗

Thanks for this video. I have six chairs to take down and reglue and met up with nails at each of the joints from a previous repair. I was stumped till your video; after your video I went and bought some mini pliers and cutters and went back at it with confidence and joy

Dude!!!! You completely described WHY brad nails are hard to get out clean. And then you proceeded to tell us how to recover it clean you are a GOD. Thank you for this video. You saved me a lot of time!!

Great video. I'm taking off 40 year old paneling. Those tiny finishing nails near the frame of the door and other tight place brought me here. Never too old to learn at 77. Thank you.

Too bad a lot of old furniture repairmen haven't watched your videos. They nail up the joints, making it difficult to do a proper glue job. Thanks for the great video. I was stuggling with some nails and you provided me with just the right information.

I recently purchased old furniture and was looking for tutorials on nail removal, your video was very helpful, Thanks from Chennai- India.

Thank you SO much. I’m doing my first ever project with wood and I looked this up because I nailed a pivotal piece backwards! I thought my project was doomed. Thanks again!

I'm an upholsterer and do my own furniture frame repair. Years ago, I would contract out all frame and refinishing repair. Eventually there were no more people to do this in my area, so I had to learn this additional trade. I have successfully repaired many pieces over the last 30 years, but know there might be a better way to do something, so appreciate your efforts in making these videos. On fully upholstered pieces, I'm not concerned about cosmetics, but structural integrity. On exposed wood pieces, I need to tread more carefully. Hopefully, your videos will prevent some from nailing their furniture when repairing. Certainly will make both our jobs much easier!

Amazing to find actual real content is still being made for RU-vid. Thanks for sharing

Just what the doctor ordered. Great video amd now I can pull out some pesky finishing nails. Yay

You're a life saver. Refinishing an antique office chair for daughter to take to college, and the mini wire cutters worked great, thanks.

Thanks for the tips. I pulled several dozen brad nails and save very old walnut pieces from from my childhood furniture. The wood will be used to make a gift for my wife.

Another concise video Scott. Thanks for sharing. A hot soldering iron held on the head of the nail (or screw) makes it expand and loosen itself after it's cooled again. Particularly good with screws.

Such a useful little video. Thank you! Will be looking at more of your stuff.

Real good stuff. One thing I've found useful is to grind the nippers or diagonal cutters so that the edge is right at the surface meeting the wood, rather than the way they come with a ">

Using the drill for this application was new to me. I normally use a small chisel or gouge to make some room around the nail head.

Super helpful video. Had about 50 copper nails to pull around a door, where old metal weatherstripping was attached. Nail heads were basically flush. Ended up using a small angled side cutter used for electronics to grab the nail head and lever it up. Resulted in minimal damage - much less than if I had drilled holes around it which was my plan B.

Thanks for sharing. What a class!!!

Thanks! I was hoping for a more elegant way to remove the nails/brads without damage, but it is what it is. Your demonstration has been valuable, and now I will proceed knowing that I will have to do some damage repair when I have completed disassembly!

I've had success using a plug cutting drill bit (as small as I can manage around the nail). This allows me to grab the nail, but also makes a more uniform hole that is easier to plug after. Thanks for the video though. I find it very relaxing to watch.

Thank you very much for sharing. Helped me out of a problem I had no idea how to do easly. Can't thank you enough for sharing.

I was going to resort to have someone come in and cut the wood to remove some wood cabinet valance, which most likely would have caused noticeable damage to adjacent cabinets. I didn't want to destroy the original cabinets as they are hard wood. This probably saved me from causing irreversible damage - thank you for showing your methods!

Very helpful and informative. You must have some patience to do this every day. I love how you're using your Grandfather's tool 👌. Thanks for sharing x

Goodmorning: I have to remove staple gun staples from my Canvas. I was so lost on how to do it..!! This video is exactly what I needed. It was such a helpful tutorial. Thanks guys.

Thanks for another excellent video. I have found determining the angle the nail was driven in makes extraction much easier. Using older pliers with dull edges helps avoid accidentally clipping brads off. I look forward to your video on removing broken or stripped screws

Not sure if someone's already mentioned it here, but you could file a small groove into the diagonal cutter (it would look like a hole when the diagonal cutter is closed) to keep your diagonal cutter from pushing back or sliding off the nail when trying to grip it. Just make sure the groove isn't bigger than the diameter of the nail or nail head haha

Thank you very much!! Extracting those nails will be easier.

Thank you for this video! I'm having to remove some very old shelving and wooden boards that was used to support it and of course it used finisher nails. I thought about taking a crowbar to it but I didn't want to damage the wall, so this saved my bacon! Thanks!

Restoring some old dutch furniture at the moment, this was very helpful! That's from Amsterdam.

Very helpful! I have a chair in which the glides have come off, leaving the nail heads, which scratch the floor. This should enable me to remove them.😊

Farriers’s nail pullers and nippers are also great for this. The large nippers have a large head that will do minimal damage.

Exactly what I needed to know today! Very helpful, thanks so much!!

The best thing I have found for finish nails is a pair of old dental pliers. They will grab around the nail instead of just flat pliers or wire cutters. I have several pairs.

Nice tips. Remove some nails can be a nightmare! Thanks Scott.

I was wishing there was a drill bit that could just drill straight through the nails :D here I go... It's gonna be a slow process! Thank you for the video sir

Wow! It took 2 seconds to put those brad nails IN(bap, bapbapbap), and 20 min. to take them out! Actually, 2 h---o----u----r----s to get them out if you dont have all the right tools! I know, Ive done it!!

Love the format and style. Thank you and keep doing whatever you're doing!

A 'friend' helped me out over the past weekend by 'stabilizing' my 100 year old chair set with a similar onset of brad nails. He was on the third chair before I realized he had found my brad nailer and was happily popping each chair with 40 to 50 each.... So far, it's taken me 12 hours to remove the brads, take each chair apart, and reglue ONLY 2 of the chairs. Remember, when you "think" someone knows how to do something, it doesn't necessarily mean, they do ...

thanks for the video , i were able to remove 24 big nails from a side reel from my bed to rearrange it for my mattress

Thanks for "awl" the tips! 😁 I'm trying to restore some beautiful old Baumann "bistro" chairs I scored for cheap, and those finishing nails are driving me crazy. Hopefully some of your tips will help out!

Thank you for helping me understand the process. I am looking forward to my next "buried" finishing nail! I also picked up some of your recommended tools.

Excellent video and thanks

Great video . . . I also like to use needle nose vice grips. Happy New Year!

Vamplier and Engineering brand pliers are excellent for their ability to pull out nails like this, with little showing above the surface, and to unscrew old screws with stripped heads. Both brands are made in the same factory in Japan, but the Vamplier tools cost more and have more bells and whistles. Be sure to get the size that is comfortable in your hands; Japanese hand tools tend to fit smaller hands, but you have the option to get larger versions if you need them. Amazon in the USA sells both brands; the same may be true in Canada, but I haven't checked.

Thank you so much for details that is more important than over all work done. It really was very helpful. thanks again!!!

Thank you so much for this video. I wasted an hour trying to hammer some nails backwards out of a chair I'm trying to restore...tried this and they came out in 2 minutes. You're a saint!

Learned something new today! Thanks!

Great tips. Thanks for making these videos. They have been much help to a beggining woodworker.

Very useful videos. Thank you for sharing.

Fantastic video with some great tips thank you.

Another a** saved… 🙏🙌. Thank you sooo much.

Very informative. I'm from Australia by the way. I really enjoyed your videos

Thank you! So helpful.

Thnx Man this is reallllllly helpful

Why would someone be that destructive to a chair!!!? Great Job!

Excellent explanation and demonstration. It was very professional and very helpful. Subscribed.

This was so helpful. Thank you!

Thank you!! Very helpful!!

That guy didn’t use a nail gun for those brads he used a nail assault rifle lol

I'd also add to this video the option of sawing off the back of the nails with a hack saw

Really good tips here. FYI the medical clamp is called a “Spencer Wells” 🇬🇧

Thanks for the helpful video!

I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.

Great ideas thanks.

This is the makers equivalent to watching people pop pimples. The only difference is, if we're watching this, odds are we're tearing our hair out over how much work it is to take out something as simple as a brad nail

that was so helpful

Thanks. This helped a lot

So interesting and helpful! Thank you 🙏

Excellent video, thank you. I'm struggling with a chair repair that someone had previously repaired by shooting it full of 18ga brad nails. What a mess.

Thank you!

For full time restoration work may be your need grinding custom grip on couple wire cutters/pliers.

Thank you

Really helpful

FYI the link for the diagonal cutter no longer works. Thanks for the excellent video.

Thanx

Thank you for the helpful tips

My mom used finishing nails on vintage vynal covers😍😍 guess they’ll never get a case again

being a woman I have not so much strenght so to take the nails off, I heat them with the bit of my solder. As it retracts, the iron is quicker than the wood. then your " hole " is bigger and easier to take the nail away.

1:06 Thank you

Thank you again. I am pulling nails from cypress siding because I am dealing with termites in a studio. Looking for ways to remove nails rather than trying to drive the nails through the board into the studs…usually leaving a mess! Btw:Your link to the micro diagonal cutters doesn’t work. Ordered the six inch Irwin…

Excellent advice thank you. Just one question, once the nails are out how would you fill and clean the messy holes again?

So I have learned nails are the bane of my existance as I buy second hand furniture to customize/ redo. This was helpful, still debating whether I am going to try to get these tiny brads out since I am only trying to take them out to be able to paint the piece and I know it would be better for me to take it apart first so that later if I want to remove one of the dividing shelves or what not it would be easier..... I don't think I will ever put an nail in a piece every again unless there is no other option. If I were to take out the brads (they are super tiny ones) and used the drill method, how do I repair it? using a wood filler or putty? or is there a better way?

Awesome info! Thank you!

I would like your advice. I had to remove a oak banister rail on a landing because I had to replace a damaged shoe rail. I had to cut the two 10D finish nails that attached the banister which was notched, to the side of the Newel Post. I used your technique of drilling 2 small holes immediately adjacent the nails and removed the nails with a pair of diagonal pliers and a pair of vice grips. I now have re-nail the banister to the newel post and it looks like I will probably need to nail it in about the same are. I am thinking of applying glue to bamboo wooden skewers and driving them into the nail holes (which are separated by 1/4 inch) in the newel post so the new nails will be tight. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thank you patient teacher

Thanks! Now I won't screw up an heirloom I'm repairing.

Wonderful! I've been looking for a solution for how to take out the broken glides from the legs of the chair I'm restoring. I think this might just do the trick! Now, how do I repair or what do i do with the holes that were made by the drill? Epoxy?

Thank you for this video! I'm having to replace the casters of an antique chair; the metal thing which holds the stem is nailed into the wood and there is no way to pick it up and remove it Do you have any suggestion or made any video related to this question?

Your drilling trick just saved a precious piece of trim. Thanks so much. Follow-up question: The existing yellow glue looks great. OK to yellow glue over it? (Pretty sure I know the answer...)

The other problem with brad nails is that they have a coating on them that melts as the friction of being driven in occurs. This then bonds with the wood making extraction more difficult.

Hello Scott. I am attempting to remove the nail from scenario 2:50 till 3:36 If i use a drill bit for the holes what would i use to fill or repair them? Would it be wood filler or JB Weld Epoxy?

Going to attempt to repair a wood dining room chair, but once we get the finishing nails out and successfully reattach each mortise to the tenon, do we need to replace the finishing nails? This table and chair set was given to my sister by her late husband and only ONE chair is broken! I dare NOT damage it so, any guidance you provide is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Don’t forget elbow grease! 😉

Thanks for these tips and tricks. My question is how to get the nails out when they are driven in at 90 degree angle to the join and on a part that is visible?

I’d love to know how to remove nails in sliding drawer bottoms.

Awesome video as usual but I have to say I’ve never heard them called diagonal cutter... I’ve heard side cuts or wire cutters (though I don’t think that’s a good term for them) but I’ve always heard and called them dykes

Hi there. Thank you so much for sharing this. I wanted to do a make-over on my vintage secretary desk but then discovered that the back of the desk is stuck with these brad nails of which I had no clue how to get out. After seeing your video I still have one question: how do you fix the holes you drilled to get the brad nails out and make that damage look pretty again?

instead of drilling all those holes , try making a miniature hole saw out of a roll pin or small hollow tube. sharpen the end with your driemel cut off blade.. Spin it in reverse for removing broken off screws

thanks so much!

I fell asleep watching this and had to go to hospital to get the timber with the nail pulled out of my face😂🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪