Carpentry and Woodworking - Removing a finishing nail

In a wooden arm chair the front post between the seat and the arm is loose. The post can not be removed to be reglued because a finishing nail has been driven thru the edge of the seat INTO the bottom of the post. How can the nail be removed without BADLY damaging the edge of the seat ? In a practice piece on scrap wood I have tried drilling small holes alongside the nail. So far, that hasn't worked. I have used a needle nose pliers in an effort to grasp the nail head.I can turn the nail but not lift it. I was using 1" brads for this experiment. By turning the brad, it twisted off. That would be a real problem if this were on the arm chair. Come on boys, let's have some fun on this one. Charlie

Mullin,

If you can get a pair of vice grips on the head of the nail - I have a miniature pair that works well for this - place a putty knife or something like that flat on the surface of the wood right next to the nail head. Now, sort of fold the vice grips over using the rounded jaw as a fulcrum. It will bend the nail as it exits, but rarely breaks it off. Add spacers between the putty knife and the pliers as necessary.

Good luck,

If you have a small drift punch, you may be able to drive the nail all the way into the tenon of the armrest and thereby remove the armrest. (A drift punch is the type which is not tapered, but is uniformly narrow throughout it's working length.):cool: