the.com/nail set
A tiny metal punch whose only job is to make nails disappear below the surface.
means A small hand tool with a cupped or dimpled tip, used with a hammer to drive nail heads just below the wood surface so the hole can be filled.
from A plain compound of 'nail' plus 'set' — this 'set' being the old carpentry sense of driving something firmly into place, as in 'to set a nail.' The tool itself traces to simple blacksmith-made punches, its name describing its job rather than any clever wordplay: it sets nails below the surface, end of story.
- actual use
- sinks nail heads below wood so filler can hide them
- tip shape
- concave cup grips the nail head so it doesn't slip
- size matters
- comes in several tip widths matching different nail sizes
- cheap genius
- costs almost nothing but saves finish carpentry from hammer dents