How to hold a nail (so you don't smash your fingers)

Do you want to smash your fingers? Then hold a nail as shown here. This common method that people use to hold a nail unfortunately leads to many smashed fingers, which might be why more people don't want to get involved with hammering projects. If you misjudge and accidentally hit your fingers, you will hit them right on the delicate fingertips and fingernails -- it will hurt as much as possible, and probably turn your fingernail black and it might fall off.

Here's another popular style of holding a nail, that has most of the same problems as the first example. However, at least in this approach, your fingers are spread out a bit more, so there is more surface area to absorb and disperse the force. It will still hurt, if you hit that last knuckle, but not quite as bad as a fingernail or fingertip.

Here's a better way. With the "hand upside down" approach, your fingertips and finger nails are protected and any accidental whacks will land on the thicker stronger palm side of your hand. This way of holding nails does take a little getting used to, but with practice (and a few smashed fingers for inspiration), you can get the hang of it.

Finally, if your nail is very tiny, small, thin, or short, you might want to use pliers to hold it, for your own protection. This image shows regular pliers, which work fine. You can also use needle-nosed pliers.

(all photos by Karbyn)