How to make a nail puzzle

Great item to keep guests busy. You give them a puzzle and ask them things like, “how did they put the nail in there?” Naturally there will be a heated debate, which will be very interesting to watch, knowing the secret of this puzzle.
In principle, it is almost impossible to guess if you have not encountered something like this before. Well, at the end of the discussion, you can reveal a secret so that the guests do not burst with curiosity.

Making a nail trick puzzle

You will need a rectangular piece of wood about 20 percent longer than the nail. This block on its wide side should be parallel to the grain of the wood, that is, look in advance when sawing.
Then we make longitudinal cuts in it. Circular saw or hand saw.

Now we get to the secret. Pour two fingers' worth of water into the pan. Turn on the heat and wait until it boils. Place the sawn block on one side in boiling water and boil it for about 5-10 minutes.

We pull it out and clamp it in a vice, thereby flattening one section.

I think you have already guessed what and how will be done next.
Let the block dry and after two days remove it from the vice.We drill a hole for the nail, because you can’t hammer it in like that - the tree will burst.

Insert the nail.

Then again place the workpiece in boiling water with the flattened side.

After some time, the wood will soften and the section will return to its original form.

Then we grind all the edges, removing possible imprints and giving the workpiece the appearance of “just sawn wood.”

The result is such that no flaws are visible to the naked eye.

Therefore, this puzzle looks like some kind of anomalous miracle. A great thing to “stretch the brains” of your friends and acquaintances.

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