Here's a little brain game you can easily make to impress the smartest people you know.
The idea has been around forever, but most people still can't do it. The challenge is
simple .. just balance these 14 nails on a single nail head.
For this project I started by making a template for a platform design I want to try. If you
like it, you can have it for free. I'm getting ready to tape this to a piece of wood, and
I want these edges flush, but a little overhang on these others. I found a 3/4" panel of birch
wood in a scrap pile at the home improvement store, and my paper template goes right in
the corner. A little duct tape will hold it in place just enough to help me cut holes
for some nails. A total of 15 holes for 15 nails. I've got a 9/64" drill bit that looks
about the right size, so that goes in the chuck of my drill press. And once I've got
it in secure, I'll drill a test hole in some junk wood to double check these 3" framing
nails will fit. I can manipulate the nail easily, and the hole is still tight enough
to support the spike firmly in place. Perfect! Lowering the bit next to the edge of the board
will help me gauge the depth of the hole, and I can set these nuts to stop the press
from drilling any deeper. I think I'm ready to drill some holes. I'm being careful to
drill all 15 markers to the same depth, and before I move on I'll insert a nail in each
hole and check the tops of the nail heads to see if they're all level. Looking good.
Let's move on. The nails come out and it's over to the chop saw to cut the other 2 sides
off the template. These cuts are good, and I'm happy with it so far, but let's go one
step further and take it to the router table for some finishing work. I've got a 3/8" beading
bit and i'm testing the profile cut on some scrap wood. It looks like that's going to
work, so I can place the block with the nail holes facing down and carefully router the
edges. This bit is spinning at 20,000 rpm so I have to be very careful not to lose a
finger here. Ok the edges are done, but a little furry, so I'll sand that off with some
100 grit sandpaper, then hit the top as well to get it ready for some color. I like how
it's looking now, so time to grab some leftover stain and shake it up, wearing gloves of course.
This is a "Rosewood" color stain and one of my project nails will help get the lid off.
I'll use a rolled up paper towel to apply the stain to the bottom, top, and edges, making
sure every surface gets a liberal coating. This will soak for about 3 minutes, then I'll
use another paper towel to remove the excess so that it looks like this. After about 2
hours of drying, I'll insert a nail in the center hole, and grab some wood finish that
will seal the wood and give this a somewhat glossy look. When the sides are all sprayed
I'll prop it up to dry for another couple of hours. If this looks like more work than
you want to put into this project, you could always just grab any old piece of wood and
a hammer and nail it in just about anywhere. It's as easy as that. But maybe you don't
have a hammer? Go find a rock. Just a couple of taps and you're ready to go. If you don't
have a rock? How about an attractive assistant? You can use any method you can think of, as
long as your nail is straight up like this. Alright it looks like the finish is dry, and
we've got the nails set in place. Now you can challenge your friends to balance all
the outer nails on the lone inner one. All the nails have to balance at the same time,
and can only touch the center nail head. I've seen some pretty creative attempts at getting
this to work. I say "attempts" because typically it's fail after fail after fail. When your
player is sufficiently discouraged and claims it's impossible, this is where you get to
show off your brilliance. Here's the super simple pattern that was discovered long long
ago, and works amazingly well. Lay one nail on the table, and mesh the other nails over
top, one after the other, like this, until you have 6 nails laid out on either side.
This last nail goes on top, pointing the other direction, and the pattern is complete. To
make this effective, grab the bottom nail on both ends with your middle fingertips,
and while lifting slowly, use your thumbs to hold the top nail down until all the nail-heads
catch. At this point you can remove your thumbs, and place the entire structure in position.
Well that was easy! The center of gravity of the entire unit is lower than the balance
point, making this amazingly stable. I also discovered that the nails can be compacted
and even more nails added! I just added 9 more nails for a total of 23, and it's still
holding firm. I just made another stack of 22 nails, and am seeing if I can get them
to balance on top. Ooh, a little shifting, but they've held. I'll take my chances with
another group of 22, and now this structure is up to 67 nails! When I try one more stack
of 22 spikes, it's about finished, but wait, it actually stayed up! Well there you have
it, 89 nails balanced on 1 nail head. At this point, the center of gravity is high, and
the base is narrow, so it takes mad ninja skills to balance any more. I even got this
to work with stacks of up to 15 matches. And even when they were lit on fire they held
their place on top of those little match sticks amazingly well. How many nails can you get
to balance? That’s it for now. If you liked this project, perhaps you'll like some of
my others. Check them out at thekingofrandom.com