Nail Bars

Nail Bars

Length is leverage, so the bar you want depends less on the material and more on how much force you need and how much room you have to swing. Short bars from 175mm to 380mm are for lifting skirting, floorboards, trim and nails where a long bar would not fit or would damage what you are trying to save, and a flat profile slides into a joint without splitting it. Mid length bars at 450mm to 610mm are the general demolition size, giving real leverage while still being manageable one handed. Long bars at 750mm and 900mm are for structural work, pulling studwork apart and lifting heavy timber, where the extra length does the work instead of your back. Head shape matters as much as length. A flat pry bar has a thin wide blade for getting under boards and mouldings. A wrecking or crow bar has a curved claw at one end and a chisel at the other, so it both pulls nails and levers. A striking bar has a reinforced head designed to be hit with a hammer, which an ordinary bar is not, and using the wrong one deforms the head. Nail pullers grip and draw embedded nails that a claw cannot reach. Buying a pair rather than one is often the answer, because prising boards apart usually needs a bar at each end.

Roughneck is the widest range, with a 380mm utility bar, a 750mm Gorilla striking bar, a 37.5cm Ultimate bar, a Gorilla bar twin pack at 35cm and 55cm and a Gorilla Pro-Grip utility bar 2 pack. Gorilla supplies bars at 356mm, 610mm and 900mm, and Faithfull wrecking crow bars at 450mm and 600mm. Stanley covers flat prying with the Wonder Bar at 340mm and the Wonder Bar X21 at 530mm, Hultafors a 175mm hi vis mini wrecking bar for close work, and Dargan an 18 inch nail bar. For hammers and the wider tool range see Hammers and Hand Tools.