"Mark Jerde" wrote in message
news:yEPji.24873$BT3.19087@trnddc06...
"RicodJour" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 7, 11:05 am, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , "Eigenvector"
wrote:
I was kind of wondering why the wood wouldn't swell around the nail,
making
it all but impossible to extract.

Because the wood swelling will make the holes *larger*, not smaller.

Why wouldn't the wood swell in all directions?

It does. Any two points get further apart -- whether it is wood or air
between them.

Does heating a nut make it clamp tighter to the bolt? No, the threaded
hole gets larger, making it easier to crack loose a stubborn nut. That's
what they said in mekanical injineering kollege.

-- Mark

That's not really a fair comparison to what is being discussed. We aren't
heating or cooling the wood. Thermal contraction and expansion is not the
mechanism employed here.