Do you straighten bent nails?

[dwasifar]

My dad was a dedicated amateur carpenter, and if he bent a nail, he would put it on a brick or whatever, pound it straight, and reuse it. Sometimes he would also do that to old nails pulled from whatever he was taking apart.

For myself, I don't do that because a) it doesn't seem like it's worth the time, b) they tend to bend again in the same spot, and c) unlike my dad, I have a compressor and various nail guns. Dad was a Depression-era guy and didn't like to waste things. Maybe I just never figured out how to drive a straightened nail well enough to avoid buckling.

Any nail-straightening guys still out there in 2021?

 

[TTMotorsports]

If I'm pounding it in and it's part way in and bends I will straighten it back up but sometimes I just smash it flat and put in another next to it and never had an issue but I don't both straighten them out they are cheap and I always have a box of them available.

 

[RivennHewn]

At the rate things are going, we’ll have a new crop of nail straighteners coming along real soon

 

[Metal-Marc]

I don't even remember the last time I used a hammer to drive a nail.

As a kid in the early '70s we would roam construction sites to pick up discarded nails, straightnen them up and use them to build tree houses.

 

[Chapter21]

I prefer screws whenever possible. I don't even bother reusing those if I remove one...

 

[four.cycle]

If I'm on a ladder, hell yes.
If I'm fixing a fence and I can straighten and re-use a nail instead of walking into the garage and hunting for a nail, hell yes.
Otherwise, hell no.

 

[didit]

Sometimes, depending on what they are being used for, how many I need, how far am I from the hardware store, how soon do I need them. I use to use a lot on concrete forms that had to be knocked down, re-used, the nails pulled to build new forms and I straightened lots of those if they weren't mangled too bad.

 

[brownsmustang]

You're still using nails?

 

[RVDan]

Not anymore. It used to be normal and the only way. Nails, screws, nuts, and bolts, all came from big buckets, drawers, and every other kind of container in th garage. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t know I could buy new hardware for pennies. My Dad had never bought a bolt or nail new, on occasion a new container of used hardware would show up from a flea market or garage sale.

It may have been the greatest moment in my life when I learned I could afford to buy some brand new bolts to hold parts onto my bicycle rather than scavenging bolts from old bikes at the dump.

You only know what you learn from your parents. What I learned was that lumber and hardware was expensive and therefore you hoarded anything you could get for free. I don’t know why I never questioned how expensive it actually was.

 

[Jazz1]

Relative used to salvage old buildings for the lumber, his 8 kids were tasked with removing and straightening all the nails.,,now I’m referring to houses, churches, barns! This was all necessary to build his own barn

 

[GaryM909]

I think I straightened every nail my dad bent until he had finished building his garage or fence. I am sure he saved them for me when I wasn’t home. By the time I was 12 he was done building and I was pretty much done straightening. I threw my can of bent nails out about 20 years ago.


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[Daniel Dudley]

Someday son, these cans of rusty bent nails will be yours.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Bend one when I'm driving it, yes I straighten it. Hopefully before it bent too far.
If it's bent too far I pull it. I hate seeing nails that were bent over and pounded flat.
I've also straightened them to save a trip (even if it's just across the building) to get more.

Driving prebent nails is a skill that should be learned during childhood on forts and tree houses.

 

[Steveodle]

A whole lot of lessons there that, COULD HAVE BEEN LEARNED, but that school is over for many of us.
I miss my grandfather and dad, they were both carpenters, so was my brother.
Mostly worked with knotheads.

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[Gunfixr]

Used to a lot more than I do now, but still do occasionally.
Don't use a lot of nails anymore, with the proliferation of screws, and drivers.....

 

[shoot summ]

My parents grew up in a very different time, they knew what it was like to do without. They saved things in case they were needed, most everything was re-used, and little was thrown away. There was no running to the store real quick, or ordering things online for tomorrow delivery.

I inherited some of that, I've tried to break the habit but it is really hard. Even after I cleaned out Dad's garage after he passed and threw out a couple of truck loads of things he saved(bent nails included).

From time to time it proves useful, oldest son was working on his Pathfinder one day, needed a screw in ****** for the diff used for a vent, broke it off somehow. Turns out I had the exact same ****** from a 260z intake manifold I had disassembled about 20 years prior. Saved him waiting on the dealer to order it, and I was vindicated for carting the damn thing around for 20 years.

 

[Showkey]

I prefer screws whenever possible. I don't even bother reusing those if I remove one...

You're still using nails?

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If I do use a nail in comes out of gun.

 

[TractorJeff]

LOL!
I've held them with pliers to keep them from bending again!
Tree Forts, Shanties and whatever!
Dad saved stuff also and I am guilty of it too!
He did not have save all the bent ones in a different can, they were mixed in with the "straight" ones!

 

[pepi]

Is this a real question ................... ?

 

[Viper98912]

If it's halfway in, yes, hoping to not to do the extra work of pulling it and starting a new nail.

If it's a "rare" nail type that I don't have in my regular arsenal or can easily get for cheap (without having to buy a huge bucket), begrudgingly yes.

In general, I worry about where to throw them away without having them tear through the trash bag, go through the bottom of my foot, go through a tire, etc

 

[paredown]

I do remember helping dad (sort of--I was younger than 5 ) dismantle a large chicken coop for the lumber. The floor of the place was beautiful clear yellow cedar T&G--probably 8/4 or heavier--that became the project wood for many jobs after. Still have the smell of that wood in my head--it's not a true cedar, but it was lovely wood. If you're poor, you do what you have to--although I don't remember nail salvage, just pulling.

We left the red brick piled in the back from the same salvage job, and it all walked away before we did anything with it! Clearly other people liked "free" materials, and liked it better when someone else had done the work for them.

Job site/reno--I will keep a can around and toss nails and screws as I'm working and drop 'em off at the local metal guys when I'm turning in my occasional copper hauls.

 

[sick467]

I just tore down an old (1950's ???) garage and I assure you almost every board and nail was pre-used. The previous owner's daughter can remember straightening nails with her siblings in the driveway with hammers and a blocks of wood. Barely two nails in a row where the same (I'm exaggerating), but it was well built considering they didn't have a dime in it.

I was saving the lumber to put in my shop for the rustic look and pulled nearly 5 gallons of nails out of the old wood...

I'm NOT straightening them out!

 

[andyvh1959]

Most times yes, sometimes no. As a young teen I spent many an hour straightening nails pulled from shipping crates my dad had hauled home from Miller Electric. He was a WW2 survivor in Holland, at a time when everything was of value, stored, re-used, whatever for whenever. The front porch I built on my 1st house was all reclaimed wood (still standing strong since 1980). The shed I added to the back of the garage I built there was all sub-sided with reclaimed wood from shipping crates.

Dad did not like idle hands, or especially my hands in my pockets while assisting him on projects. So I was volunteered to pull and straighten nails, stack lumber, move the lumber stack (many times). I hated it at the time, but understood where his attitude came from. To this day I'm half and half about saving way too much stuff. Getting better eventually as I get sick of moving **** around.

 

[firebirdparts]

I grew up on it as well, and I do straighten them, but I also don't use them all that often. But yes, I do straighten them.

 

[Bill Bowman]

Many years ago, I bought my neighbors house after he passed. Great guy. Expert trim carpenter from Sweden. His garage had many coffee cans of bent nails that he "saved".

I never found the coffee cans with money though.

 

[steaks&anvils]

In general, I worry about where to throw them away without having them tear through the trash bag, go through the bottom of my foot, go through a tire, etc

Put the used nails/screws into a plastic water bottle or soda bottle. That way they can't fall out of the trash near your house.

Don't worry about not recycling that water bottle, recycle where I live doesn't actually recycle plastic anyway.

 

[nadogail]

Because I was raised by depression survivors, and lived through wartime shortages I learned the value of money and materials.

I no longer routinely straighten nails, but I have retained the knowledge even though my skills have become rusty.

 

[mv213]

My stepdad was one of those depression survivors. Later in life he had a little construction company. He didn’t do any of the physical work himself, but he would patrol jobsites, picking up discarded pieces of wire, discarded/bent nails, screws, electrical connectors. Most of them were used and damaged. He carefully rolled up the bits of wire and stuck them in a box in his garage, never to see the light of day again. Same with the bent/rusty hardware. I threw hundreds of pounds of it in the metal recycling bin at the dump after he died. 90% of what picked up was not really useable.

 

[nh_yota]

I rarely use nails so I rarely have the chance to straighten them out.

On the other hand, I tend to save screws if they are in good shape, especially oddball sizes. Sure I might buy new box of construction or deck screws for a project but if I just need a couple of screws for something small or temporary it's handy to have a collection of random screws.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Someday son, these cans of rusty bent nails will be yours.

Any Etsy or E-bay offerings for "vintage nails", or "slightly used, Made in USA nails"?

 

[Viper98912]

Put the used nails/screws into a plastic water bottle or soda bottle. That way they can't fall out of the trash near your house.

Don't worry about not recycling that water bottle, recycle where I live doesn't actually recycle plastic anyway.

They normally end up in a box that's taped around so they don't fall out and so the garbage men don't get pricked if they "grab" it. I like the bottle idea though

On the other hand, I tend to save screws if they are in good shape, especially oddball sizes. Sure I might buy new box of construction or deck screws for a project but if I just need a couple of screws for something small or temporary it's handy to have a collection of random screws.

This. I also recently finally had the chance to organize a couple of large tupperware storage containers into smaller cubby bins (after about 10 years of wanting to do it ) so now it's much easier to sort through the screws to find the one I need rather than searching and searching

 

[Poodlehead]

And I thought my uncle was the only one that straightened nails... I watched him do some old roofing nails with the big square head for holding felt down. He did have a neat setup though. It was an old brake rivoting stake tool on a stand. He modified a jig so the shaft would go in the hole, then step on the pedal to bring the 'hammer' down to press it back straight. Worked real well, straightened one every 5-10 seconds...

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[dwasifar]

Is this a real question ................... ?

Well, it has 30 real answers so far, so apparently yes.

 

[dwasifar]

You're still using nails?

Occasionally. Not often. I don't have a roofing nailer, so the last time I had to shingle something I used a hammer and nails. And if I have to fix a fence picket or a piece of trim or something, a hammer and nail is called for.

Any project larger than that is done with screws or with a nail gun, though.

It's a fair point. When you don't use very many nails, you don't bend many nails.

 

[ScottsGT]

Back around ‘76 Dad brought home a big box full of bent nails from breaking down military pallets. He also brought me a short piece of railroad track and had me spend all summer straightening those nails in anticipation of adding on to the house. When construction started, new nails also showed up.

It was just an exercise to keep a 14 yo busy all summer. If I bend a nail today, I have flashbacks of a wasted summer and throw that **** in the trash and get another nail.

 

[vavet]

I hate using nails. It's probably I'm really bad at driving them, which makes me not want to use them, which means I never get good at driving them. It's circular.

My chances of driving a bent/straightened nail straight are pretty close to zero. My chances of driving a virgin nail straight aren't a whole lot better. It's really a quesiton of how much work will I have it before it bends.

I think the last thing I nailed was a hoist I made out of 2x4s and 2x8s to lift the scissor lift platforms onto dolleys so I could roll them to my workshop. I actually pre-drilled for those nails to increase my chances of them going in how I wanted. I also knew I wanted to use nails for that instead of screws because nails will bend when overloaded compared to screws breaking.

To answer OP's question. NO.

 

[Charlie51]

Yes. Old habits die hard. When I was a teenager, I worked at an aircraft supply house. I can remember new nails being available about once in the five years I worked there. We would salvage the nails from crates of tubing, rip the wood, straighten the nails and build crates for plywood or aluminum. When it comes down to it, I just don't like to waste perfectly good (after straightening) material. I'm not made of gold, you know.

 

[mjeff87]

Back around ‘76 Dad brought home a big box full of bent nails from breaking down military pallets. He also brought me a short piece of railroad track and had me spend all summer straightening those nails in anticipation of adding on to the house.

I still have the section of rail track that my grandfather (dad was AWOL for me) had me use to straighten nails with. The later in the day it got, the more Old Milwaukee beer he drank, and the more nails he bent. Busy work for a kid like me was never too far away, lol.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Any Etsy or E-bay offerings for "vintage nails", or "slightly used, Made in USA nails"? [emoji38]_hitti

"FS Vintage Nails with Patina. A rare opportunity"

 

[Toxictom]

Next time you have to smash one flat bent the tip so it nails itself down and doesn't leave a pointy thing to snag stuff on.