E-Z prop

Abstract

A workholder for home building and improvement as an all-purpose appliance that eliminates unnecessary nailing and eases the labor required in handling structural components for bracing against gravitational influences. The appliance is affixed to the end, side or face of any piece of lumber used in bracing or propping by striking the self-contained nail. It's then clamped to the braced piece by hand-pressing it onto any 4-inch (3 1/25″) dimensional lumber. Common applications include: acting as a quickly affixing stabilizer to prop unhinged doors upright or horizontal on saw horses for paint preparation and finishing; allows for quick propping of structural framing by attaching to the studs without having to nail a brace into them; infinite uses as a temporary support appliance for installing any construction related component, sub-assembly or aid in preparation for repair, placement or finishing.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 - During new construction, interior doors are sometimes staged in the garage for preparation and painting. To save time in this process, install a scrap 1×4 or 2×4 board, overhead, high enough to nail downward through and into the tops of upright doors, holding them in a vertical position for painting. However, nailing through the overhead boards into the tops of the doors is awkward, time consuming and would typically take two people. Removal of the doors once ready to install is equally difficult. The workholder solves this difficulty very simply. With the overhead board in place, the bottom of the door is set on a 2×4 scrap to keep it off the floor and then leaned toward the installer. The workholder's single nail is struck into the approximate center of the top of the door, the door is then leaned into a full upright position, engaging the workholder's clamping feature onto the overhead board, holding the door firmly in place. The amount of time is comparatively miniscule to conventional methods of door preparation and painting, it takes only one person and, the workholder's flange bushing not only holds the nail for striking, it keeps the workholder from contacting the painted edges of the door, eliminating process related flaws.  
     
     
         2 - During the framing of wood structures, each wall is normally framed on the floor in a horizontal position and then raised and braced for placement with an abutting frame. Normally, the single frame is easily compromised through raising and braces nailed to it to keep it in place. The processes of raising and nailing braces unsets nails and may weaken the structure or cause it to be out of plumb. Holding it in place while nailing braces also takes more cooperation. With the use of the workholder, the bracing of framing can be done quicker, without unnecessary hammering. This would speed the process, lessen the chance of compromising the structural integrity of the frame and save time and labor by eliminating nailing. An offset hole is drilled into the workholder, should the user require stabilizing it with a second nail.  
     
     
         3 - During temporary framing to accomplish repairs or install headers, ETC, temporary studs are firmly placed by attaching a workholder onto the upper or both ends of the stud if there is a horizontal 2×4 (one can be nailed in place) available on the lower end of the project. The temporary stud is quickly installed by putting it into the opening at an angle enough to clear insertion. Set the bottom of the stud in place and push the upper end into place, anchoring the stud. If no workholder was used on the bottom of the stud, a single toe-nail is normally sufficient to hold the stud in place.