A cat's paw or cat's claw is a standard carpenter's tool, consisting of a round, hexagonal, or flat bar that curves at one end to form a pointed, cup-shaped tip with a V-shaped cleft for gripping nailheads. Popular retail outlets currently call these a claw bar if it has a claw on each end, or a moulding bar if it has a claw on one end and a flat pry bar on the other. It essentially works as a small crowbar. To use the tool the user holds the tool's shank with one hand and drives the claw around a nailhead with a hammer. When the V is firmly seated around the nail's shank, the users pull the bar back to raise the head, then finishes pulling the nail with the hammer's claw. The cat's paw is well designed for demolition work, but because it tears up the wood around the nailhead, it should not be used for finish work.
A cat's paw, for pulling nails. This one is about 8 inches (20 cm) long
Over one hundred years ago, nails were individually hand-made by blacksmiths, and were therefore far more valuable than the wood they were driven into. The book Nail Pullers with Patent Reference by Raymond P. Fredrich[page needed] says that in the mid-19th century, wood was viewed as so plentiful in North America that if it became necessary to change one's location, "you might even burn your house down and pick up the nails in the ashes". Back then, nail pullers were designed to preserve the condition of the nail for reuse, and thus the design of most nail pullers ended up being what is known as the slide hammer type, which is still used today.
Old lumber has now become much more valuable than the nails that might hold it in place, so there has been a move toward designs that take out nails with less damage to the old growth wood. The cat's paw is still in use, but due to its design, which features an open "V" shape out at the end of a pry bar, the opening is widest right at the point where it is driven into the wood, and it causes a fair amount of damage to the wood fibers.
Alternative tools
New designs have been introduced, including the Nail Jack and Nail Hunter nail pullers, which take a pliers-like approach to the old cat's paw design. These tools contain their own built in fulcrum, but can also be struck with a hammer to drive the tips of the tool into the wood with very little damage, allowing them to dig out nails that have been driven into wood at or below the surface. The Nail Hunter nail pulling design has very precise tips that actually come completely together at the ends, for removing finish nails. The pneumatic-powered Nail Kicker allows large numbers of old nails to be efficiently pulled.
See also
Denailer — power tool used for removing large numbers of nails from used lumber
Nail Pullers with Patent Reference, Raymond P. Fredrich, AuthorHouse 2006
January 20, 2023
tool, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, tool, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2010, learn, wh. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Cat s paw tool news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations March 2011 Learn how and when to remove this template message A cat s paw or cat s claw is a standard carpenter s tool consisting of a round hexagonal or flat bar that curves at one end to form a pointed cup shaped tip with a V shaped cleft for gripping nailheads Popular retail outlets currently call these a claw bar if it has a claw on each end or a moulding bar if it has a claw on one end and a flat pry bar on the other It essentially works as a small crowbar To use the tool the user holds the tool s shank with one hand and drives the claw around a nailhead with a hammer When the V is firmly seated around the nail s shank the users pull the bar back to raise the head then finishes pulling the nail with the hammer s claw The cat s paw is well designed for demolition work but because it tears up the wood around the nailhead it should not be used for finish work A cat s paw for pulling nails This one is about 8 inches 20 cm long Contents 1 History 2 Alternative tools 3 See also 4 ReferencesHistory EditOver one hundred years ago nails were individually hand made by blacksmiths and were therefore far more valuable than the wood they were driven into The book Nail Pullers with Patent Reference by Raymond P Fredrich page needed says that in the mid 19th century wood was viewed as so plentiful in North America that if it became necessary to change one s location you might even burn your house down and pick up the nails in the ashes Back then nail pullers were designed to preserve the condition of the nail for reuse and thus the design of most nail pullers ended up being what is known as the slide hammer type which is still used today Old lumber has now become much more valuable than the nails that might hold it in place so there has been a move toward designs that take out nails with less damage to the old growth wood The cat s paw is still in use but due to its design which features an open V shape out at the end of a pry bar the opening is widest right at the point where it is driven into the wood and it causes a fair amount of damage to the wood fibers Alternative tools EditNew designs have been introduced including the Nail Jack and Nail Hunter nail pullers which take a pliers like approach to the old cat s paw design These tools contain their own built in fulcrum but can also be struck with a hammer to drive the tips of the tool into the wood with very little damage allowing them to dig out nails that have been driven into wood at or below the surface The Nail Hunter nail pulling design has very precise tips that actually come completely together at the ends for removing finish nails The pneumatic powered Nail Kicker allows large numbers of old nails to be efficiently pulled See also EditDenailer power tool used for removing large numbers of nails from used lumberReferences EditReader s Digest Cat s Paw Nail Puller http www rd com cats paw nail puller article12922 html Retrieved June 5 2009 Nail Pullers with Patent Reference Raymond P Fredrich AuthorHouse 2006 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cat 27s paw tool amp oldid 1085655543, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
