TIAMAT The Extractor Nail Remover

Faced with an internal flood in a Victorian home built in the late 1800's, I had my work cut out for me. To assist the general contractor, I offered to pull nails from all the old custom wood trim. How hard could it be? Ever try to pull a square nail?Then I found the Extractor online, did my research, and thought I'd give it a try. A thousand nails later and the wood is sorted, stacked, and ready for reinstall. The construction workers all wondered what I was using, tried the Extractor, and now each wants to buy one. Finish nails are a breeze, square nails take a bit of muscle, but both can be pulled by the shank through the back of the wood to avoid marring the front. Even flat head nails can be pulled through but one has to consider the age of the wood, decorator value, and whether or not tapping in out to pull from the front will mar the surface (easier) BUT it can be pulled through from the back.A great tool and one which made an overwhelming job very do-able! Thanks for a great product, JanThe Extractor Nail Remover

I use this mostly for pulling staples out of wood, and it works great. It doesn't dig into the wood like some other pullers do, so the staple has to be sticking out a little bit so it has something to grab. But if it can grab it, it can pull it. Sometimes I have to use another tool to get the head of the staple out enough for these pliers to grab. You can get a lot of pressure on the jaws, so they'll grab on to just about anything.I've also used these for other things than pulling staples and nails. Since the jaws are parallel, you can use them as parallel jaw pliers on nuts and bolts and other things. You can also use them to squeeze things together. It's probably not the ideal use for them, but it's sort of a nice side benefit.I've read some reviews saying the jaws break easily. I've never had that happen to mine, all 5 of mine are still as good as the day I got them.These pliers may not be perfect, but I don't think there's a better nail puller out there, and I highly recommend them.

I'm resurfacing our deck and have to pull a ton of 3-4 inch nails with standard heads (about 3/8" diameter) and "The Extractor" is not the best tool for it. I figured this would be a problem so I read all the reviews and nobody really mentions that when you try to grip the head of such a nail, this tool is far more likely to bend or break an edge of the nail head than pull the nail out. Once you've mangled the nail enough it will finally pull it, but it isn't an efficient process. Things go much faster using the standard claws of a hammer.The other annoying thing with this tool is the nail has to be exposed at least a couple millimetres before this tool can grip it. That's about the same amount you need for hammer claws, although I think this tool will grip it with a little less clearance than hammer claws. I need to hammer a small sharp nail prier under the nail first to get it up those 2mm which wastes additional time.I'm keeping "The Extractor" because it can get into tight spaces where hammer claws can't, but I won't be using it for most of my deck nails. I wish I could since it's easier to keep gripping the nail lower and lower with this tool as you pull it out as opposed to using a wood block of various heights to prop up the hammer to keep the hammer claws at the proper height.I should also mention that The Extractor's claws aren't deep enough to pry nails out more than about 2" so if you can't pull a 3"+ nail out with brute strength at that point, you need to have another tool or a block ready.I later got an old-school version of Crescent 56 Nail Puller and am using it for all my nails. Not only does it not need the small sharp nail prier, but it does less damage to the wood than the small nail prier and can get into corners smaller than The Extractor, so the extractor isn't getting used for anything on this project. Like the extractor, the crescent puller can pull nails with no head (I pulled a 3+ inch headless deck nail) and the only disadvantage is the crescent can't easily grip the nail at lower points to pull it out straight, so the nail gets pulled into a curved shape the farther you pull it out. However, even using the crescent to pull 3+ inch deck nails out far enough to remove by hand doesn't usually cause the hole you're pulling from to splinter.The Extractor is probably a better choice for pulling finishing nails through from behind because the crescent is harder to get aligned precisely to pull small nails, but if your nails have significant heads or aren't sticking out at least a couple millimetres, I'd definitely go with the crescent. See my review of the crescent for more details.

Not worth the money. Looks like the ideal solution but hard to manipulate. MADE OVERSEAS!!!!

I read several reviews that said this product would easily pull staples out of hardwood floor & I've found this isn't the case. Every staple I've tried to pull ends up snapping off, and I have to pull with regular pliers. Some of the staples actually sheared off & I had to pound them into the wood with a punch so they won't tear up the sander when I re-finish the floor.I gave this product two stars as it is good for pulling regular nails, but I don't see it as worth while for the $28 I paid for it.

Works well to pull out nalis, but still did not grasp the staples from lenolium on our wood floor. They were very thin, old, and fragile. Ergonomically comfortable, and sturdy product.