Nail puller notch

jake pogg said:
Woodcraft,there's a World of difference between the wire,and the square-nail(even a cut-,vs forged-square nail....).
Yes sir,i do realise all that-i forge nails(and axes....:)...

The use of nails,in the centuries before the Industrial revolution was incredibly different,it'd take too long to go into it.
Pulling nails just wasn't a concept,trust me.Even though a couple of Roman claw-hammers do exist in museum collections,even the hammer-claw is a very late comer to the building game...Different joinery entirely....(we're speaking VERY broadly,of course).
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I would imagine the 14th century shipbuilders would have found the nail puller very handy on the hatchet as they used the many many nail like fasteners used in 14th century shipbuilding.


Feel free to go into great detail on the different uses of nails then and now, it's the internet, it won't take long at all;)
 
I'll go into technicalities,just for case,briefly:

Wire nail,round in section,and pointy,Splits the wood fibers when driven.Looking from above,it now occupies an "eye"-shaped crevice,contacting the wood on two sides only,and even there-minimally.Thus,very pullable.

Square nail,forged especially,is forged to a chisel-point.Upon being driven,the point is oriented Across the grain.The chisel-point severs wood-fibers,also Bending them downward.But even without that,the forge-scale,+ the 100% contact-area of the nail,will make it pretty much impossible to draw.
The head,of course,is minimal,and uneven,and made of soft iron,and will never take the strain....

(but that's not even touching on Joinery itself,it's principles....).

(BTW,kinda hate to be a know-it-all,just happen to be interested in all that,as a smith,for a long time now,coupla decades...:(
 
And,yes,in shipbuilding in particular,the iron fasteners were probably the LEAST desirable....

Iron is a foreign object imbedded in the structural member,almost one can say a stress-riser,a concentration of force.The ship timbers move minutely,further weakening that system.
The ideal here is the Even-ness of distribution of forces,where they don't reach a critical point eny one place....

Thus-the so-called Trunells....(literally-tree-nails....Pegs....).The fastening of choice in all the most critical areas:Keel,Fore-post,stern-post,clamps,beams....
 
You're of course quite correct with those Novgorod finds.however,those(i think),are for the tiny,shoemaker-type jobs,tacks,rather than nails.Upholstery,saddle-making,smaller jobs altogether.
 
Pipehand said:
I have a few rigbuilders/carpenters/shingle/half hatchets that have the "nail pulling notch", but don't see how any of them can practically be used to pull a nail unless the nail was left unsunk, or a duplex nail. It would also stress the handle in exactly its weakest direction. Is there some forgotten use for the notch, or a special technique that has been forgotten. Are the notches there because "that's the way we've always done it", and maybe hatchet makers aren't hatchet users? Or is it like the karda on a kukri- a symbol whose meaning may be cloudy?
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Well you can't use a claw hammer to pull a sunk nail either. The nail notch is there for exactly for what it is called. It does indeed pull nails.

Dispite its name the Rigging axe was the hammer of choice for framers before nail guns became common place and the rise of the California framing hammers.

When a nail hit a knot or we had a user error and a nail was bent before it was sunk the best way to remove it was to simply send it on its way. This was accomplished by swinging the bit parallel to the nailing surface. Much like you were hewing. The bit of the axe would cut into and grab the nail and the momentum of the swing would remove the nail. You just had to be sure you didn't send it in someones direction. That is the quickest and easiest way there is to pull a nail.
 
Hatchets were and are multi purpose. Handy on the job site, in camp and on a trapline.

People don't think about this kind of thing today with all the tree hugging, leave no trace type stuff that has been drilled into peoples heads but nails were common in camp for hanging things on, making tripods, pot hooks, clothes line etc...

A hatchet with a nail pull lets you leave the hammer at home and retrieve your nails when breaking camp. Many of the camp tasks do not require a nail driven in flush so they are easily removed with the nail pull.

Using nails on a trapline was also not unusual. Many traps came with a small flat nail with a hole through it attached to the loop at the end of the chain. This allowed you to anchor the trap by hammering the nail into tree, stump, root, log etc..
Nails could also be used to anchor meat baits, build platforms for under ice beaver trapping and a variety of other such tasks. A hatchet on the trapline with a nail pull makes sense.

The nail pull style located on the bottom of the poll as seen on the Marbles #10 Camp Axe and the CAC camp axes are easier to use and better at the task than the more commonly seen Scout hatchets with the notch between the eye and heel.
 
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From an article titled "Hatchet Nail Pullers" by James D. Gamble
Chronicle of The Early American Industries Association, Vol. 41, 1988, p. 66-67

"Early axe/hatchet nail pullers were shaped like a three-leaf clover. The nail head was put through one of the round holes... This form of nail puller was prominent on the axes carried by the Silver Miners' Guilds in Saxony, from about 1450 until 1750. This pattern was also used throughout Eastern Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries… The next step in the evolution… was a "simple V-shaped slot"… Later versions of this slot ["keyhole slot"] are often found in hand-forged shingling and lathing hatchets that were made until the 1840s... The latest development was to cut a slope around the slot ["tapered slot]..." [Claw hatchets are said to date back to around 1800.]
 
Similar nail notches as the ones Steve mentions are found on some flat bars today.

BTW the nail notches are faster for me than a claw. Especially if they are smaller nails (like 8d) and there are many of them to pull. They clear the notch with a simple flick of the wrist.
 
jake pogg said:
Pipehand,i agree:There MUST be a clear,sound reason for these notches,but unfortunately it seems to be lost in time and history.
(With all due respect,all the above explanations are a stretch,and an adaptation,especially since these notches,in time-line, go Way beyond wire-,or any other pull-able nails....).
I've tracked similar discussions among some European axe-freaks,and these notches go back to 14th c. or beyond...No clear consensus there,either,especially as the shape of many notches,their inside profile,is varied and weird,ranging from square to assorted conical section as of almost of a cutter of sorts....(but most often quadrangular,so would be very limited as a "claw"....).
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I never said they were ideal but when that's all you've got on you, and you're two stories up 'banging down a roof', they do prove themselves to be pretty handy. By the mid 80s 'flat bar' nail lifters were standard fare in shared nail buckets along with throwaway hooked roofing blades. A mere few years later staplers and air nailers took over the business and roofing hammers too 'went the way of the dodo' except when it came to roof repairs.
 
The nail puller below the poll of the Tommy Axe doesn't work well becauseit's too far from the fulcrum (top of the poll). With the smaller hammer face (poll) of the claw hatchet the fulcrum is closer and the nails pull easier.

As 300Six noted, the Estwing I-beam bar was/is the fastest nail puller - at least for certain nails. I used to strip concrete forms full of 8 penny duplex nails with my Estwing bar. It would fling 'em lickety-split. One of the guys used to call me Mr. Speedbar.

The nail notch I cut in my Fiskars handles 16 or 8 duplex well.
Fiskars%201.jpg
 
Pipehand said:
I have a few rigbuilders/carpenters/shingle/half hatchets that have the "nail pulling notch", but don't see how any of them can practically be used to pull a nail unless the nail was left unsunk, or a duplex nail. It would also stress the handle in exactly its weakest direction. Is there some forgotten use for the notch, or a special technique that has been forgotten. Are the notches there because "that's the way we've always done it", and maybe hatchet makers aren't hatchet users? Or is it like the karda on a kukri- a symbol whose meaning may be cloudy?
Click to expand...

To further answer your question you are correct in the nail notch going in the weakest plain of the handle. If a guy uses the nail notch to pull 16d nails it is not going to last long.

I would go through a few handles every year. Part of the problem is in the head design. Over strikes while driving nails chip the handle just the below the head, weakening it and leading to it breaking. Vaughan has changed their design probably in part to address this issue and now they have a collar, similar to a hammer. Not sure how the other manufactures are doing their's these days? Far as I know Vaughan is the only one left. They always made the best one anyway.
These are both Vaughan's.
P1010018_zpsfkpqsfln.jpg
 
Thought of one more use for the nail notch. It is an indicator! When you see an old Scout type hatchet that has been sharpend down to the nail notch, it is an indication that the hatchet is beyond saving as it is ground past the hardened/tempered zone.

Seriously, I appreciate all the replies, and the arcane links and research. No special lost art, just what it looks like. The nail pulling notch.
 
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