A few months ago, I brought my 20-ounce hammer and a traditional nail set tool with me to church. A six-penny finish nail, driven by a carpenter in the late 1800s through a piece of oak trim, had worked its way out of the wood about 1/8 inch. The head of the nail caught on my shirt one morning when I leaned against the wall to give my back a rest.
I arrived at church early so as not to bother those who were praying in peace. It only took me about five seconds to drive the nail head below the surface of the wood. I thought about how the finish carpenters who installed this stunning oak woodwork in my church would be in awe of modern finish nail guns that drive and countersink a nail in the blink of an eye.
