This rusty object that no one uses anymore… and yet, it saved entire pieces of furniture!  

At first glance, it looks like an old rusty nail or a forgotten tool at the bottom of a toolbox.

But this item was once the indispensable ally of carpenters and meticulous handymen. Its name? The **nail punch**.  

What is it for?  

Imagine fixing a plank with nails and being left with those ugly little metal heads sticking out… Impossible to paint or varnish properly like that. That’s where this tool comes in: with its fine, precise tip, you line it up with the nail head, hit it with a hammer, and there you go! The nail disappears below the surface of the wood without breaking anything. Magic, right?  

But that’s not all. Those little grooves on the handle? They stop the tool from slipping between your fingers, even when your hands are full of sawdust and sweat.  

Today replaced by nail guns and screws, this object remains a symbol of a time when every gesture counted, when people took the time to properly finish what they made. Old furniture with perfectly smooth surfaces owes a lot to it.