Cow foot (tool)
A cow foot or nail iron (also goat foot , goat foot or in Austrian dialects Goashaxn or Gashaxn ) is a tool for pulling out hammered metal nails . The name is derived from the shape of the claws in cloven-hoofed animals such as cow or goat ("goat").
The term “ nail iron ” is ambiguous, as this term is also used for a basic tool of traditional forging technology for the production of hand-forged nails.
The term " goat's foot " is also ambiguous, as it also describes a tool for processing linoleum and woodcuts .
Design of a cow's foot
According to the nail sizes, there are cow feet in different sizes from 10 to 100 cm in length. The front part (the claw ) is angled up to 90 degrees in an arc and flattened at the end to form a blade that has a deep notch. There is also a variant with a claw on both ends of the nail bar.
variants
The cliché lifters used in letterpress printing can be described as a variant of the cow foot . Musical instruments and books are restored with the smallest version of the tool . Here, however, the terms “cow foot” or “nail iron” are rarely found.
There are also combined tools that resemble a cow's foot at one end and a crowbar at the other end .
use
In the use of the crowbar will so on nail positioned such that the nail pin into the notch and the nail head is located on the blade. The nail is then pulled out using leverage . Kuhfüße are crowbars sometimes quite similar and can be used as such. Occasionally crowbars are incorrectly referred to as chisels , the latter is a tool for prying out, while the crowbar is used for prying open.
The fact that it can be used as a crowbar is mentioned in the definition of the break-in resistance class RC3 in the EN 1627 standard, which is relevant for construction .
advantages
Alternatively, pliers are also used regularly for this work. The advantage of the cow foot is that the nail is held in a form-fitting manner, while pliers have to hold the nail in a force-fitting manner. As a result, the nail head can tear off more easily. In addition, pliers with a long lever arm are very unwieldy in contrast to cow's feet. Cow's feet are designed accordingly without any particular disadvantages for an optimal lever arm.
