Fast Fix Friday: How To Remove a Stubborn Nail

So, I've been messing around with pallets quite a bit lately.  Soon I will post some of my projects and show you how I made them.  You'll be tempted, of course, to take on the projects yourself!  This is one Fast Fix Friday you won't want to miss when you do decide to take on a pallet project, whether one of mine or someone else.

Ah, pallet wood, glorious pallet wood!

I'm going to show you how to remove a stubborn nail that has been cut in half with a sawzall.  But you can apply this method to other projects as well.  Here is what the board looks like after I've separated it from the pallet with my sawzall:

The nail heads are on the other side and pounded in beneath the surface of the wood plank. So the traditional method of pulling it out with a hammer is out.  You'll notice that the bottom nail is actually flush with the plank and the top nail, not so much.  It is actually crooked and buried under the surface of the plank.  To remedy this situation you'll need two things; a hammer and some kind of small screwdriver....okay, okay, there is actually a tool that you can use for this purpose.  It looks like an ice pick with a screw driver handle, please don't ask me to tell you what it's called because I don't know.  But I happen to have this el cheapo, tiny flat head screwdriver kicking around and it works just fine.  And since I've never used it for anything else, I'm using it for this!

Okay, ready?  Place your ice pick thingy (or tiny screwdriver) on the tip end of the nail and give it a couple of love taps with the hammer.  When you flip your board over you'll see that the nail head is now exposed and you can slide your hammer underneath it and pry it out of the plank.

If you are starting with a crooked nail tip simply slide your tool under the nail at about a 45 degree angle and tap it with your hammer until it is standing straight up.  Now you can use the hammer to bang it out.

And SUCCESS!  Now I'm left with nothing more than these charming holes in the plank that will add some character to my final piece.

Fill the holes you say? Never!