If you ever want to stump even a seasoned finish carpenter just ask how to quickly sharpen the cone-shaped depression in the end of a nail set! Short of ordering a special bur for a dremel tool, or using an arrowhead-shaped carbide tile/glass drill, it seems almost impossible to recut the nail-holding cone.
Simply use a tooth on a new 7-1/2″ framing blade and rotate the nailset with finger pressure for a few minutes until the cone is sharpened to your liking. Probably any carbide blade with a sharp tooth would work, but there is a chance of chipping the tooth that is directly proportional to the amount of pressure put on it. Altering the angle of attack between the tooth and set will adjust the cut to fit the cone angle. Simply avoid the temptation to use a cordless drill (too aggressive and often produces off-center cuts) and go easy on the downward pressure to produce great results with imperceptible wear and tear on the carbide tooth.
Cheers,
Don
Replies
Or you could just use a blunted finish nail in your drill.
DCS Inc.
"He who xxxxs nuns will later join the church." -The Clash
uhhh. or buy a new one for five bucks.
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
theoretically if you busted on tooth each time you sharpened your nail set off a typical 24T blade that blade could sharpen 24 nailsets....
if ya bought one each time thats $120 bucks.... if ya could keep that one blade handy for all those years ;)
you making good progress on that house?
you making good progress on that house?>>>>>Yeh, Might be done before i die..LOL. Actually things are rollin' pretty nicely now that its the finish work. Just working inside now which I'm sure I'll regret this winter but we mainly live IN the house so its nice getting it done. Its looking totally awesome!!When I saw this thread I thought..."now I've heard everything"! Kinda like a thread I wanted to start called, "How's your time being wasted"? Hmmm...had one guy that worked for me....hmmmm.
Hows married life?
BE well 4
andycThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
not married just yet, Nov. 5th.
glad the house is progressing well.
sorry for the highjack, now back to you normal programing.
Good tip Don.
But, sadly enough, I think I always lose them before they get the chance to get "dull"!
Nail sets must be expensive out there, eh?
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
LOLThe secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..
I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,
I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you
and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
....at least I didn't start a post about how many times a disposible earplug can be run through the washing machine. *grin*
Great tip Don! See my post msg=62112.9. While in the shop we have lots of metal working tools that make short work of fixing a nail set out in the field I am almost never without a full loaded dremel set up and I happen to carry a bit that can handle that but that's a great tip. I'm a pretty seasond carpenter but I never would have thought of that.
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how about a 16D. works for me
OK, I gave it a try. I must be uncoordinated or something.
Every time I tried to get a tooth to dig out the little concavity at the tip the next one would come along and get in the way. I also had problems balancing the saw with one hand, while keeping a finger on the trigger, and holding the nail set with the other. I figured I would make it a little easier I taped the safety interlock down.
Holding it in with my foot didn't work out at all. After the second time I had run out of unimportant things to feed to the saw. Some duct tape and peroxide closed it nicely and the deeper gouges will likely fill in after a few months. On the up side I had been thinking of having a vasectomy. Saved a couple of hundred this way. Happened so fast I suffered none of the normal anxiety associated with this sort of operation. At least the first time. Had to fortify myself with strong drink before trying again. Real men, after this I hope I still qualify, are not deterred.
Bleed cuss and learn. Taping the safety made it a lot easier and saved wear on the groin. But it was not without incident.
Went through most of a roll of duct tape stanching the blood from gouged fingers trying to feed the set into the blade before it dawned on me: Maybe beginners should use a stationary tool. Cut down the number of variables. So I broke out my table saw. It seemed to work a little better. I found that if I fed the set in slowly I could fairly consistently get the tip to meet the tooth, as per the instructions. Major progress. And two out of three times I could remove the set with a pair of Visegrips. Only once did it go deep enough into my belly to require surgical intervention. I still probably could have dug it out but the first two shots made the area a little tender and the blood loss made focusing harder.
When I got back from the hospital I got thinking that maybe I should stand to the side. This also allowed me to rest my forearms on the table. A small but important step in the learning process and it only cost me $1000. At that point.
By feeding the set in slowly I could meet the teeth but it made the set jump around. So I figured maybe I need to push harder. Cut a dandy groove in a finger, twice. Figured I wasn't pushing hard enough still. Tried again and severed the forefinger and half the middle.
$20,000 and three days later the fingers are reattached and they say it might heal in nine months or so. Got home and learned some valuable lessons:
Always wipe the blood up before going to the ER. If you don't want the table to corrode and the feral dogs to tear up your workshop. When I got back I got charged with animal abuse, I laugh at your fine and community service, because I left the saw plugged in and one chewed on it. First thing I had to do when I got back was to bury the rotting, fly blown corpse of the dog. Not easy with your hand in a cast all the way to the elbow. Learned another lesson: Don't laugh at a fine and community service. At least not in front of the judge.
I feel like I have given it a shot. You must be more talented than I am. For the life of me, and it is getting close, I just can't get the hang of this technique. Maybe you could help me out with a few pointers.
I really want to learn to maintain my $5 nail set. So far I'm over $25,000 in the hole so I feel like I have to master it now. Otherwise I would look like a complete fool. How about helping a guy out with a few tips.
Bruised, bloody, stubby and broke, but real popular behind bars, in Florida.
4Lorn1, I think I found the root of your problem: Your saw is rotating too fast. One way I found to slow it down is to use a motor rated at 240V and run it at 120V. This will cut the RPM's way down. Not only will this improve the chances of getting the tip of the nailset on the blade tip, but also it will lower the projectile speed and bodily injury rate.
Cool tip. I knew I could count on you guys. LOL.
That was funny.
You need to spin the nail set when sharpening it. I use a holehawg for that since it runs at 300 rpm, which is the optimal speed. To prevent injury, I only use a Ryobi Radial arm saw, which has a locked up armature, so the saw is not actually running. Watch your hair when using the holehawg.
Doncha hate it when that happens...?
That puts the cost into perspective! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
*chuckle*