On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 10:59:05 -0400, the infamous Bob Engelhardt
scrawled the following:

Larry Jaques wrote:
[re - grinding head off nails]

Were you using a small, sintered carbide ball?

No, but that's a good idea. I was using a cylindrical carbide burr. I
don't have a carbide ball, but I do have an HSS one that I can use for a
trial.

And how much harder do you expect the HSS ball to be tahn the head of
a hardened nail, hmmm? There goes a good burr. And when a burr goes,
it sometimes loses pieces. They're dangerous little guys.

Stone burrs can work, too, if someone donates several dozen. They
grind themselves down really fast on metal and also shoot pieces when
they go.

(std disclaimer, googledit) http://www.duragrit.com/ The shape and
type I'm referring to is like these: numbers 10/13/14/18 would work.
Aim for the center of the nail head and the head pops off when you cut
through its thickness, sweet and smooth.


(and 3 layers of eye protection?)

Indeed - those burrs send out millions of TINY, needle-like, slivers!

Yeah, nasty stuff which bounces off your cheak, into your glasses and
then right into your eye.

P.S: Don't forget muffs or plugs. It's noisy as hell.

--
If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we
shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do.
-- Samuel Butler