The Nail Pounding Contest

strathd

+ YouTube Video

SC sawdaddy

You brought a tear to my eye Strat.
I misplaced my Vaughn on a demo job back in Feb. (Or it grew legs) and haven't replaced it yet. Hard to go get a new one when I've got a handful of Plumbs and Estwings in the van. I'll eventually have to get another one.

There used to be a bet we'd get the rookies on with driving nails. Goes like this:
Me: "Bet I can drive a nail through a board in less swings than you."
Rookie pulls out a nail, starts it with a tap and looks up for someone to say go.
Me: "Thats one."
Rookie didn't know the starter tap counts so he pounds it in.
Rookie:" 7 licks...lets see what you can do."
Me: Stand a nail on its head on a sawhorse and swings 3' 2x4 down on it sinking it in 1 lick.
Rookie buys the beer on the way home. Usually under protest until a new rookie gets hired.

Damn I had fun on the job before I was the boss.

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Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

strathd

Rigging axe =

reveivl

Back in the day we organised a wet t-shirt nail-driving contest, yeah, baby!!

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roofbutcher

Early-mid ‘80s, just got hired, boss is showing me around. "there’s Craig down in the hole nailing off headers" I look down and see set-sink, set-sink, set-sink. I thought, "Oh (crap), I’m in trouble, looks like I’ll be humping a lot of sticks."


They were pounding cement coated sinker 12s (the green ones) with 23ish ounce Vaughn California-style waffle irons. After humping a few truckloads of lumber, they hooked me up with some technique and I was doing it too. Funnest job I ever had!


Just about the time my thumbnail grew back, the guns took over and the sinkers disappeared. I guess all good things must come to an end. I still keep a box of the checker-head 12s on the truck and a customized California framer in my holster to remind me of the good old days.

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scrapecc

Part one
They do this in Sturgis too, Good times!!! First time I saw it was at the Broken Spoke Saloon. Remember that night well. me and a buddy snuck a bunch of bottles in with us,

scrapecc

Part two. So as we are playing the game I notice something is wrong. I say Aaron, you notice something about our beer?

scrapecc

Part three. He says what about it. I am like dude we are the only people in this bar drinking out of a bottle, everyone else has a can. needless to say, we still had to buy their beer. and walk around clinking all night.

strathd

Probably the same guys. They mentioned that they follow the bike circuit. I went to daytona again the next year and they remembered me. Had some good times again.

cbfx3

Back in the day I could pound with the best of them.. my weapon has always been a 20 oz curve claw Bluegrass (wooden handle) My main one was taken by a scumbag employee but I kinda like the one I have now even better.. it is an old round neck model. We used to hand nail everything coming up and it was nothing to set and sink 16 sinkers in good old SPF lumber. Nailing off plywood with 8 sinkers was always fun! Boss wanted everybody to lay the ply (floor or roof) with just tacks and then everybody would have a nail off party. set,hit,sink was a good rhythm for plywood.. if you tried to one hit them you were likely to zing a nail and stick somebody in the forehead .. or chip a tooth (seen all that happen!)

spdtrx

About 30 something yrs ago I was nailing off some plywood with
#8 Stinkers and set,hit and ZINGed one off and stuck it in my EYE
real good. Doctor told me I was real close to loosen my eye.
This was before safty glasses were required. LOL I can still see
pretty out of that eye. Lucky EYE guess No really.

cbfx3

that makes me cringe! I know a guy that was fishing and his buddy went to cast a crank bait .. caught his eyeball on the windup and jerked it out when he casted.. I dont think it caused any long term damage though!

Warren

Did he catch a fish with that bait?

nEighter

cool story framerman kinda made me nostalgic like..

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FramingPro

what could you compare a sinker too, sometimes i spray my boxes with wd40. We cannot get them in canada as far as i know

katoman

Nick, a sinker is a 3 1/2" spike.

Some suggested rules - must be 3 1/2" spikes
- must use a framing hammer. Any weight. But no
sledge hammers.
- must be driven into # 1or2 common spruce. No
balsa wood.
- I would allow the spike to be started. Let's say
1/4" This could be verified by tape measure.

Just some ideas.

FramingPro

sinkers go in easily, they are coated

katoman

Coated with what? Never heard of this.

We are talking hand driven nails, yes?

FramingPro

vinyl or concrete coated hand drives,

woodworkbykirk

nick galvys go in harder as they create resistance and come out even harder because of the heat generated when they go in. bright commons go in and come out super easy from teh grease that are on them to prevent rusting

my first company would have a nail driving comp using a 6x6 and 5" galv spikes at the summer company bbq. the boss would give out hand tools, fastest time would get the most expensive and so on.... got interesting since the framers on the crew would normally lose because they would be the ones most trashed

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