see that what I like about this place people lookin out for each other, even if it means saving them from themselves and spoilin alllllllll the fun

IMHO the best approach is to use a 'hobby knife', an aluminum Exacto blade holder with the acutely angled #7 blade is about as good as it gets. The handle is light and round so it 'twirls' between the fingers nicely.

Using only the weight of the knife itself spin the knife and drill down through the nail. With a new blade, properly sterilized of course, it only takes a few turns. As soon as you hit blood stop. Relief is immediate and the drilling process is painless with only a slight twinge as you hit the live membrane under the nail. Press up gently from the pad of the thumb to make the hole bleed. Clearing the clotted blood and washing out any particles from the drilling. Smear a bit of neosporin on the hole and cover with a band-aid.

I have used the hot paper-clip. It gets through the nail but can cook the meat and make the damage worse. I have also used a drill with a fine drill bit. This too works but you need to watch the depth. It is easy to drill through the finger. Making the problem far worse.

You can use any sharply pointed tool to drill the nail. The pointed tip of a pocketknife will work. Some traditionalists simply place the tip on the nail and push it on through. One guy I know taps the blade in with his hammer. Both methods work but are IMHO far too painful, brutal and potentially damaging to re

Hi Art,

Thanks for the reply. My black thumb is feeling much better now, it just looks bad and I am frequently asked " How did you do that"?

Mike

"...One guy I know taps the blade in with his hammer..."

You know, I have a pretty good tolerance to pain, but just thinking of that brings tears to my eyes...

I was thinking the same thing.

• Having a swollen blood blister underneath your fingernail… pain.
• Smashing your fingernail with a hammer, even without a blood blister underneath… pain.
• Combining the above two together… extreme pain.
• Adding a blade to the previous equation… WTH are you thinking pain?!?!

I left out an important part.

While he claims to have done it on himself, he is something of a maso-macho-tough-guy, the only time I saw him do it he did it on, to, a helper. While the kid was still in shock, holding his mashed thumb. This guy grabs the kids thumb, forces it down on a low bench, steps on his hand and in one smooth motion puts the knife he keeps in his nail bag over the nail and drives it on through with one good tap from his framer.

He pulls out his bandanna, roughly wraps it up the thumb and tells the kid to get back to work. Wasn't all that traumatic simply because it was over and done with in a few seconds while the kid was unaware of what he was doing and still in shock.

In comparison gently drilling the thumbnail with the fine tip of an exacto blade is IMHO the least traumatic and damaging method I know about. Which is why I use it. The swift, brute-force approach has the advantage of seeming 'manly' and it gives the boys something to talk about over beer. Even more so if you do your own thumb. I'm not sure how I work both the hammer and knife with only one hand free but given some determination I think I could manage it. Not that I would want to.

I did see this guy put a sixteen penny nail through his foot with a pneumatic nailer. He pulled it out with the Vice-Grips he had in his bag and went back to work. You could tell it hurt and he limped for a time. We mentioned it at lunch and he shrugged it off. Tough old coot.

"... put a sixteen penny nail through his foot with a pneumatic nailer..."

OUCH!!!