How to use a hammer to hammer in nails? Lifehacks + Video

How to use a hammer and drive nails correctly? It would seem that it is difficult to hammer in nails, but for some people this procedure is extremely difficult. And sometimes, when you urgently need to hammer in a nail, according to the law of meanness, there is no person nearby who could do it,

... so we want to give some advice to novice craftsmen on how to hammer nails correctly.

How to drive correctly

1. Hold the hammer by the end of the handle and watch the head of the nail as it hits. In this case, the nail will not bend and will not go to the side, and you will not miss and will not hit your fingers.

2. Long nails should be held in the middle with pliers to avoid bending when hammering in.
3. Do not try to hammer nails into oak or birch boards - it is better to use self-tapping screws, or first make holes when using a drill and a small drill at the driving place.
4. The tip of the nail should be greased with machine oil (if not, then sunflower oil).

5. Do not try to drive a nail into or near a knot, but first make a hole with a drill.
6. Do not drive too many nails in one line, otherwise there is every chance of splitting the board.
7. If you need to nail a piece of wood into hard-to-reach places, then first you should hammer in all the nails at the right points so that their ends protrude from the opposite side for a couple of centimeters, and at the same time the doer should be held on the floor or workbench, and only then can work begin.

8. For different nails we use different hammers, and the most common (carpentry) hammers can be of several sizes - MCT-1 has a handle length from 25 to 28 cm, a working element length 9 cm, weight 250 grams, and it is suitable for driving parcel and wallpaper nails up to 4 cm long.MST-2 has a handle length of 30 to 32 cm, a working element length of 11 cm and a weight of 500 grams, suitable for driving larger nails, but in general it is the same multi-purpose hammer.

   MCT-3 has a handle length from 30 to 32 cm, a working part length of 12 cm and weighs 800 grams, also multi-purpose. MCT-4 has a handle length from 35 to 37 cm, a working element length up to 13 cm, and weighs 1 kg. It is great for driving large nails, 8 to 10 cm long, and for dowels into the wall. All of the above does not mean that you cannot pound the MCT-4 parcel nails, it is just that "your" sizes are much more convenient to use.

9. To drive a nail into a thin bar, the tip should be bored, and then it will not split the bar.

10. The less you hit the nail, the more firmly it will stick to the surface. You should start with 3 or 4 wrist strikes, and when the nail deepens a little, you should drive it with 2-3 elbow strikes.
11. Strong connection can be considered, in which the nail will be deepened into the object by 1/2 the length of the nail.
12. If you want to nail closer to the edge of the board, you will need to compact the wood at the hammer. You can do this by using a hammer and punch, and then the edge of the board will not crack.

13. To deepen the head of the nail into the surface for further plastering and to keep the surface from dents resulting from hammer blows, punch holes should be used - attach them to the head and knock with a hammer.
14. To be able to drive a nail into a hard-to-reach place, take a bolt, screw a nut onto it so that it protrudes beyond the end of the bolt for a couple of threads, and then attach the bolt with the nut to the nail and you can hit.

15. To nail a radio or telephone wire, first pierce the wire in the middle with a nail so that the nail does not touch the wires of the wire. Next, press the wire against the wall in such a way that you hold it in a taut position and hammer in nails, while you should not touch it (the nail). Do not hammer the fastener to the end - the cap must protrude 0.

    1 cm above the wire.

16. Keep in mind that it will be much easier to hammer a nail into wet wood than into dry wood.

So, when you have learned how to use nails correctly, we propose to consider what hammers exist and for what work certain varieties are used.

Hammer - construction and basic materials of manufacture

The first hammer appeared a long time ago, and this is one of the very first tools that people use for their own needs. You have all seen hammers, held in your hands and know that a simple tool consists of two main elements - the head and the handle.

The first part, that is, the head, has an asymmetrical shape, since one part has a sharpening, which is called a wedge, and the second is slightly convex or flat, and this is the firing pin.

It has great strength and area to withstand multiple impacts on hard surfaces. The wedge-shaped portion is required to split something or for embossing, and its shape allows for greater impact force due to a small contact surface area.

In the center of the head there is a special hole in order to attach the handle, and it is called "rider" ..

. Usually it is made in the form of an oval or round hole that smoothly descends into a cone shape. After attaching the head to the handle, the part that protrudes from the hole must be wedged so that it can fully occupy the inner cavity of the insert, and this attachment helps prevent the head from falling off.

In order for you to be able to provide high strength and durability of use, the head is made specially from high-strength metals by forging, milling or casting, followed by heat treatment. Special hardening modes make it possible to obtain high strength and tough core.

The hardened surface layer reaches a thickness of approximately 0.3-0. 5 cm. This structure provides high hardness, but at the same time helps to protect the head from brittleness. To protect the head from corrosion processes, it is covered with galvanic layers or special types of paints are used.

The versatile material for creating a hammer handle is wood. The fact is that the material is durable, will not slip in the hand, and is designed for long-term service, and if you suddenly break the handle during use, it can be easily replaced or even made by hand. It is important that the grain of the wood from which the handle was made are perpendicularly lower than the head. In this case, if a breakdown occurs, you will not be injured. Not all types of wood are suitable - beech, birch, oak, ash, mountain ash, maple or hornbeam are ideal for making a part.

Aspen, pine, spruce and alder will not work.

There are handles that are made of plastic or metal, and modern hammers are produced with fiberglass handles. This is one of the new materials that has proven itself extremely successful in use. It differs from the others in that it does not slip in the hand and helps to reduce the force of recoil from a blow. The metal handles are hollow inside, have the shape of a circle in cross-section and for the convenience of work they are covered with rubber.

Handles made of plastic, fiberglass or metal have two advantages over wood - over time they do not dry out or swell from contact with water. Choose everything depending on which material is more convenient for you and which is more pleasant to work with. The main thing is that the handle is lighter than the head and has the desired length.

Hammer and scope

Locksmith

The construction of a locksmith's hammer is the most common type of working tool. It is used for driving nails into concrete walls, breaking, straightening and bending parts.

The sharp edge in the form of a wedge makes it possible to hammer in a nail with small heads and carry out work even in hard-to-reach places where the wide part of the head cannot fit.

The striker of a metalwork hammer has not only a square, but also a round shape in the form of a cross section. Square types have a certain drawback - if during the impact you twist the hammer, and the inclined angle falls on the surface of the processing material, then dents will remain on it. Especially such defects will upset during the assembly of new furniture.

Since locksmith's hammers are designed to deliver multiple blows, they must be made of durable material.

Chrome vanadium steel is ideal for you, which is characterized by increased hardness, and this will help to avoid breakage of the firing pin or deformation. The weight of locksmith hammers fluctuates, it all depends on the number. There are five numbers, the first being 200 grams and the fifth 800 grams.The weight should be chosen depending on what type of work you plan and what is the physical strength of the worker. The length of the handle, according to average data, is from 30 to 40 cm.

Joiner's hammer

The design of this type of hammer has one distinctive feature, namely that one of its ends has a special slot, which comes with a different angle of separation and slightly curved edges. Such a split is required in order to remove nails from the surface, if necessary. Hammers with large groove angles are also called Californian, and with a smaller angle, European.

But not every carpenter's hammer is made in the form of a nail puller on one side, since there are ordinary wedges at the end, and perfectly flat strikers at the other end. The handle can be made of wood, plastic, or metal with a plastic coating that will serve to prevent slipping in the hand.

These hammers are not percussion hammers, but precision instruments. The head weight ranges from 100 to 800 grams in 50 gram increments.

Joiner's hammers look extremely simple - the hammer is made of tool steel and a wooden handle, or has an ergonomic shape and additional functions. For example, the handle can be made of a high-strength material such as carbon or fiberglass, and the hammer is made of titanium or other steel with a special anti-corrosion coating and special heat treatment. In the role of an additional function, there can be a holder for nails, for it will make it possible to perform work with one hand.

The structure itself can be prefabricated or foldable, which makes it compact and convenient.

Sledgehammer

This type of hammer is the largest, most powerful and heavy. The weight of such a tool can be up to 10 kg, but there are also more serious models, the working weight of which starts from 16 kg. They are used when a high impact force is required, but low accuracy, for example, dismantling partitions, old tile coverings, crushing stone and concrete, driving posts into the ground, driving wedges and other hard work. The tool head is made of very strong steel through forging and further heat treatment in the form of hardening to the required hardness, and also has the shape of a conventional hammer or parallelepiped.

The handle is large in diameter, and in length compared to other models is also larger, so you will need to do all the work with two hands.

How to use a sledgehammer? In fact, everything is simple, the main thing is that there is good physical fitness. The length of the handle will be directly proportional to the weight of the working part of the tool and the higher it is, the longer the handle will be, which can reach 1.2 meters in length, but usually it is not more than 0.9 meters.

The cheapest sledgehammer models have a wooden handle, but sometimes they are all-metal.

The hole into which the handle is inserted is tapered, and the handle is inserted from above and does not require riveting. This assembly method helps to eliminate the possibility of sliding off the massive head of the device. When working with a sledgehammer, you need to be very careful, as the tool is traumatic. There are several types of sledgehammer, but the most popular is the blunt-nosed sledgehammer, which weighs from 2 to 16 kg, as well as the pointed or longitudinal sledgehammer, which weigh from 3 to 8 kg.

The preferred option for the handle is a rubberized one, which will be more expensive than a wooden one, but the tool will lie securely in your hand and dampen vibration from impacts.

Mallet

In this type of hammer, we also include straightening models. They are required in order to level iron products that have been subject to deformation, for example, for drainage systems, roofing works and others that are associated with sheet metal. By the way, this tool has a certain peculiarity. The striking part of the hammer is made with an internal cavity that is filled with fine shot or sand.

Such a structure will make it possible to extinguish the inertia of the hammer when struck. During work, the mallet will not bounce off the surface, therefore such hammers have received another name - "inertia-free". They are made of rubber or polyurethane, and certain models are completely made of metal with replaceable heads made of soft materials.

Mallets are required for joinery and locksmith work, specifically for straightening, fitting or leveling large elements made of wood or soft metals. The striking part of the instrument is made of hardwood or rubber.

Rubber is used both white and black. White mallets are preferable, as black rubber strikes on a light surface can leave dark streaks. The material for the handle can be metal, wood or plastic, usually the handle has a round cross-sectional shape. Depending on the purpose, mallets come with a different shape of the striking element. For carpentry, the tools are barrel-shaped and cylindrical, and for locksmith mallets, one side is wedge-shaped.

The advantage of such hammers is that they will not leave marks and dents on the treated surface.

When choosing a mallet, focus on what type of work you are doing. If the actions are to be precise, then a tool with a low weight, from 0.22 to 0.45 kg, will be enough for you, and if you require a high impact force, then you should pay attention to tools weighing from 0.

9 to 1 kg. The price of these hammers is different, but you shouldn't buy the most expensive tool.

Life hacks when working with a hammer

Our whole life consists of little things, so we offer you to get acquainted with the important little things in the field of repair, namely the features work with a hammer. Such tips will be useful to anyone who works with this tool constantly or occasionally takes it.

Finger protection

Whoever has ever used a hammer knows exactly how unpleasant and painful it is when you hit a nail, but on the finger.

To stop this from happening, use a clothespin or comb. Such a simple nail holder will not hurt your fingers and will help you complete all the work much faster.

Kitchen Assistant

To make it easier to make chops, you can use the following method - take electrical tape, a hammer and a fork. Attach a fork to the hammer, wrap everything with duct tape and use to beat the meat.

Screw wedge

To make the iron part of the hammer sit on the handle more tightly, cutouts should be made on the wood.

Saw off the handle to size so that it does not stick out from above. Next, drill a hole in the top of the handle for the M6 ​​screw, as well as a blind hole for the barrel. On the other side, make a small hole so the keg can be pushed out if necessary. Saw through the handle from above to 1.4-1.

8 cm, you can make one cut. Next, assemble the hammer and wedge the handle with the screw.

Making a rubber hammer

If When laying tiles, you urgently needed a rubber hammer to tap the coating to avoid voids, but you did not have this at hand, you can take a rubber pad for round pipes and put it on a hammer, and then use it successfully.

Nails

To avoid holding nails during work, use rubber bands for money on the handle of the tool, and if the nails are long, take two elastic bands at once.

Holes in the hammer

There is a trick for professional builders - drill a small hole in the hammer, and then you can easily bend the part nail, without the use of extraneous tools.

In the name of the holiday

If you do not have a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine for the holiday, you should use a screw and a nail hammer - put the screw product into the plug and pull it out with a hammer.