Removing Brads/Staples

[LCHIEN]

Using a pliers to pull a brad through the wood is no feat of genius, and I'm sure many here have tried that so that's why I didn't suggest it. It can work fairly well in soft woods. This was a tip I'm sharing that is a benefit for those situations to keep brads from breaking off, or being able to work with a short brad that did break off, especially in hardwoods. If you don't drive many brads the first corrective measure may be using a pliers. If that works for you and you are satisfied with the outcome, there is no need to try this procedure.

In hardwoods, pulling a brad head through a smaller hole has its option to snap off close to the wood. Once the head is seated, and the brad snaps off close to the wood, getting it out is a bit more difficult. That procedure doesn't fall in the category "It's so easy a caveman could do it".

Where this procedure has a great benefit, is with removing staples. You won't be grabbing one or two legs with a pliers and be pulling it through. If you have a tip that works, it would be worthwhile to post it.
.

I have to admit, I've probably not tried it with hardwoods, but i know it works fine with cedar and pine - softwoods. If cabman says they'll break off in hardwoods, I'm tempted to believe him on that.

[LarryG]

Perhaps I'm alone in this, but this thread both troubles and alarms me. Shop tasks routinely test our imaginations and ingenuity, but I don't make a habit of using my tools to do things for which they were never designed. I am especially careful to shy away from practices that common sense tells me might be unsafe -- which IMO is the situation here, given that a pneumatic nailer is essentially a firearm. Even if I did these things, however, I'd keep them to myself. I would never describe the procedure on a public Internet forum and suggest someone else try the same thing, under the guise of offering a "tip." But, again, maybe that's just me. Even so, I would suggest anyone thinking about trying this "tip" to think twice before you do it.

Loring, I have used your method to remove errant air-driven fasteners from both softwoods and hardwoods, as well as from plywood and MDF, all with good results.

[shoottx]

There are special nail pulling pliers designed for that which I have, and invariably the brad will break off very close to the wood, leaving you SOL.
.

I have had my share of SOL.

Great Tip. I have used pliers, vise grips, wire cutters, hammers, and nail sets to try and get them out. So I appreciate the suggestion!

[bruce hylton]

I have tried most of the above mentioned methods on soft and hard wood. I now try to pull thru first with a six inch nipper with a one inch wide jaw that is rounded so that it rolls the brad or staple[after it has been nipped in half]out with very little, if any marring. When salvaging old finish lumber, it is usually bone dry and driving back the way they were driven in tends to split out the hole.

[iceman61]

I have tried most of the above mentioned methods on soft and hard wood. I now try to pull thru first with a six inch nipper with a one inch wide jaw that is rounded so that it rolls the brad or staple[after it has been nipped in half]out with very little, if any marring. When salvaging old finish lumber, it is usually bone dry and driving back the way they were driven in tends to split out the hole.

When salvaging lumber such as trim, it is better to pull "hand driven" finish nails on through the wood or trim from the back to keep from "blowing out" the hole. Now if I could just get my guys to realize this I wouldn't have to buy as much wood putty.

Mike...I'm going to try your approach out first chance I get to see what kind of results it produces on pneumatic finish nails. Sounds to me like it might be a great tip. Do you ever have the blow out situation doing this on trim?