This or that - cut the nails or the boards.

[88v8]

Old hardwood plank door fastened with clasp nails.
Need to take it apart for repurposing.
Some of the planks are fubar, but some I want.
I would also like to save and reuse some of the clasp nails.

If I cut round them with a hole saw I could save some of the wrought clasp nails, but can they be reused, or are they a one-time fastening?
No point destroying the planks to no purpose.
I could anneal the nails, but then I guess they'd need some retempering. Any experience?
When reusing, I could redrill the nail holes to a degree.
Hmmm.

Alternatively to save the planks I'd need to cut the ends off the clasp nails and punch them out.
I don't have a multi tool.
We haven't had a multi tool thread for a while. Have at it, chaps

Ivor

 

[Feltwell]

You NEED a multitool Ivor. This is clearly the perfect excuse, I mean good reason, to justify buying one :wink:

In all seriousness once you've got one - and I mean an oscillating multitool, not a Dremel type rotary tool (although they are useful as well and could also cut the ends off your nails) - you'll wonder why you didn't buy one before. So useful - especially for plunge cutting in-situ. Any job that involves cutting rot out of timber is made a lot easier, or cutting into anything to gain access, for example. Get a decent selection pack of blades.

I'm on my 3rd multitool now, I've worn 2 out! I had a cheapie corded CEL one, then a decent cordless Makita - which to be honest probably died through abuse, the gearbox went eventually - I've now got another 18v cordless LXT Makita.

 

[steveb]

Aye. Fein multimaster, corded. Why bother with imitations

best tool I have ever bought

 

[Cubist]

I used a small hole saw and my trust electric drill for this very same job Ivor and with considerable success. Heating the clasp nail before trying to straighten it will help to prevent stress fractures.

That said, a Multi Tool is really useful. :wink:

 

[MikeG]

It seems a shame to lose a door just to provide some wood. Do you have a photo?

 

[Me!]

Before making some new plank doors, I had a few practice attempts first at clinching some of the new but handmade rosehead nails through some offcuts of oak planks. Then when I made the last door, i discovered right at the end that I was one nail short of the required number!
So, I split my test bits of wood along the grain with an old chisel to get the clinched nails out of them again. I then heated each nail in turn with a blowtorch, hammered it straight, and allowed it to air-cool naturally. Those nails were then fine to use and clinch again without any further hardening or annealing etc.
I did pilot drill holes first for all my nails though to avoid the wood splitting.

PS. I do also have a multitool (Bosch - corded), and although I didn't use it for that particular job, it is absolutely fantastic.

 

[88v8]

It seems a shame to lose a door just to provide some wood. Do you have a photo?

It's currently entombed behind other stuff.

It will be repurposed as another door, but considerably smaller.
A door nearly the right size might have been a logical starting point, but it's elm. Old elm doors are hens teeth.

And oh that it were as simple as trimming the height, perchance removing a plank from one side.
But the lock stile bears the scars of locks bolts and bars many and varied, Mr Worm and Mrs Mouse aided by Mr Rot have visited some planks but not others, the hinges need to come off, the battens would be too near the top & bottom, really I need to dismantle it, reduce it to an evocation of a c18 DIY door kit.
It would be easier to start afresh. But why make life simple when it can be difficult.

The window fitter had one of those oscillating Makitas with him. Never knew such things existed. I'm somewhat locked into Ryobi as my cordless, I see they have something as well, the snappily named RMT1801M.

Dremel. I also feel that I need a Dremel. Ye Gods, there are a lot of attachments :shock:

Ivor

 

[Feltwell]

Dremel. I also feel that I need a Dremel. Ye Gods, there are a lot of attachments :shock:

I've had one for years, and the accessory that gets used 99% of the time is a very thin metal cutting wheel - the blades are about 3/4" in diameter and almost paper thin. It's very useful for cutting metal in-situ - such as cutting a slot in the top of a rusted phillips screw that has rounded off to get a flat bade screwdriver into it. Other than that, I very rarely use any of the others.

Maybe I'm missing out on it's potential - what do others use them for?

I get a lot more use out of the oscillating multitool, on the house especially - the Dremel tends to be used on vehicles more.

 

[Abi Cott]

I've used the engraving tool to carve my house number into the top of my wheelibin.

My full address and postcode are carved into the inside as well. £31 is a lot to keep forking out for a new bin. The carved numbers appear to deter the thieving buggers.

 

[livias]

Totally Agree! Feltwell. I read your post and thought that i could have written it myself
For me the Demel is an almost totally (but not quite) useless tool that i have had for years
And the case it came in drives me mad. why must the dremeldrill fit in the base, its plug must fit in the lid so it has to be shut supaquick so they dont fall out of their respective slots. To add insult to injury the case is hollow with holes inside so the various tools get lost in the body yaargh. They could not have designed it worse if tbey had tried

 

[Feltwell]

Yes, I've done my wheelie bins as well (we have 4!). That is another use I've found for it!

I do think the Dremel is over-hyped. I'd buy a cheap Dremel copy and a cut-off wheel and blades, but as for the rest of the bits and accessories I don't think I'd bother. Aldi do a cheap set every now & then which is worth the modest investment!

 

[noj]

Bosch corded multitool here - for plunge cutting rotten wood it's really the only way. And pretty much any other fiddly cutting job in a tight space. Once you've got one, you'll wonder how you ever coped without.

I bought the cheap Lidl version of a Dremel a few years back and it's really only ever been used to cut off a few nails (where a PO had nailed plasterboard to the inside of the kitchen, with such long nails they were poking throuth the remaining lath and plaster into the dining room!) and for the daughter to experiment with engraving some glass jars. Nice to have, but really not an essential