Core77

A Mindbender for Craftsmen

By Rain Noe - October 18, 2011

in Materials

Take a look at the piece of wood above and ask yourself how that nail got there. It's no photo trickery, the nail is actually where it looks to be. So how did they do it? Those of you who've worked extensively with wood, understand its properties inside and out and are familiar with operations you can perform on wood to temporarily alter it will probably figure it out. For the rest of us it will be a surprise.

(You may want to turn the sound down on your computer, the video has a pretty annoying soundtrack.)

While not a practical technique from a time perspective, I'm guessing this trick does have applications for some visually interesting furniture joining techniques.

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David McCray

12 years ago

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I'm a carpenter from long ago. This prosses is tought in school. there is one trick That true wood workers know, for others put your mind to this test. Take 2, 2"x2"x12" pice of wood, now put a hole in one (without any seperation of any kind), no glue can be use, just one hole cut into one pice of wood large enough to pass the other threw. good luck and you can take your time on this. Yes it can be done.
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Pan Wanqing

8 years ago

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Haha why! I love the song.

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Maxi Souto

8 years ago

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the soundtrack is great!

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Maxi Souto

8 years ago

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the technique as well! :D

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Jennifer Lankenau

8 years ago

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Agree with Claire. What a rude thing to say about the song.

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Clare

11 years ago

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I was going to comment simply to defend the song, but find I also need to defend both the song and Tom Paxton, who wrote and sang it.
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D Murphy

11 years ago

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Interesting illusion, I didn't guess it :(
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jshah

11 years ago

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Awesome song.. and nice video!
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Guy

12 years ago

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Great song!
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bindy

12 years ago

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If it had been me, I would have cut the nail into parts and simply made it LOOK like it was going through. (But maybe I'm the only magic geek here.)
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Mike W.

12 years ago

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Unbelievable. This is awesome.
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almekhlafi

12 years ago

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What kind of wood do you suppose that is? Looks like pine but could be ash?
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cat

12 years ago

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No I think the song is annoying too...even if it's a classic PS song.
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ecland

12 years ago

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Interesting trick. But I think the comment about the "pretty annoying soundtrack" is really dumb. The song is actually great!
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Mitch Bailey

12 years ago

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^^^ make a 2"x2" hole through the diagonal of one with a mortiser?
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William

12 years ago

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He drills through only one of the wooden parts yet the nail goes all the way through?
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Chris

12 years ago

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+1 for song. In school we learn to obey and conform but we don't learn things like in that video.
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Tom Mc

12 years ago

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What kind of wood do you suppose that is? Looks like pine but could be ash?
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ray jepson

12 years ago

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+1 for the song and the wood-working technique. I thought it had something to do with bending the wood...
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Jeremy

12 years ago

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I found the song perfect.
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laura

12 years ago

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Iconic folk songs such as "What Did You Learn In School Today?" should never be referred to as annoying, especially when sung by a legend such as Pete Seeger.
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jomy

12 years ago

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Love the song!
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Deiter

12 years ago

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Great illusion. You're wrong about the soundtrack. Pete Seger singing a classic of protest folk. Maybe you didn't see the irony?

Thx for posting.
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