My friend, Nicole, (one of the first bloggers I met when I started) you should check out her blog, asked about nail heads. She wanted to know if there was a trick to keeping them from breaking? Since I have had this happen to me.....I certainly did not know the secret.
When I made this memo board for my daughter, I used nail-heads at all the cross sections. I broke so many, that I cut off the nail end and used hot glue to attach the tops on some spots. Since it is upholstered with batting under the fabric, in the places I glued the nail-heads; first I used my staple gun to indent the fabric....and then glued on top of that spot
I was curious enough to research this even further. So a google search said to use a rubber mallet instead of a hammer.
Now I was DETERMINED to find a solution. Here is my un-scientific experiment
I upholstered a piece of hard wood with batting and gray fabric. Then, I lined up the testing tools
First up, applying nail-heads with a hammer
all the nail-heads were held in place with needlenose pliers. Here are three with a hammer
All three started in a straight line. However, as you can see, although they did not break...they Bent
Next up, the tack hammer. I marked three dots, to ensure a straight line
and the three
Looks great, nothing broke, or moved much. Let's compare the hammer on the left to the tack hammer on the right
Next up, the "googled" choice, the rubber mallet
almost the same as the hammer. Here are the results thus far..(L to R) hammer, tack hammer, rubber mallet
Finally, the one my gut told me would work. The one I suggested to Nicole. To pre-drill a hole and then insert the nail head
BIG MISTAKE! My gut was wrong. The spinning drill bit was pulling and bunching up the batting. A quick improvise, to start the hole with a small nail,remove the nail, and then insert the nail head
and the final review
It is a tie between the tack hammer and starting the hole with a small nail before inserting the nail head. If anyone has an opinion on this...please share.
The other day, The Nate Show told us about glue-on nail-heads. I can't find them. Does anyone know where to buy them?
6 comments:
Thanks for taking the time to share this! I am planning to make an inspirational board for my home office in the future using nail heads. Saving this right now!
Thanks again.
Have a lovely Sunday!
Jessie
www.mixandchic.com
I have to agree that the tack hammer is the way to go. I bought one years ago after a frustrating project and the next one went so much more smoothly. I still got the occasional bent nail that I had to pull out.
you are so inspiring! I am obsessed with nail heads in furniture. where is a good place to get them?
This is awesome! Thanks for doing the research and sharing with us.
Thank you for the kind comments. Taylor, I buy them on-line. If you google upholstery supplies, you will find places near you, or Ebay.
I have had the same problem, I ended up gluing the nail heads that kept breaking too. Thanks for showing us your research. I will have to get myself a tack hammer or try the small nail method. Nail heads are definitely worth the effort aren't they?
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