I just picked up a Smith & Wesson presentation box. Several
of the little brass nails on the hinges are loose. Can someone
recommend a way to secure them in place?

Mahalo.

A hammer?

OK, I had my fun. Take out the liners, the brass nails are driven through the wood and then ends are peened (flattened) to hold them in place, like a rivet. After awhile they loosen up from either the wood expanding and contracting from humidity changes as the interior wood is unsealed, or the top being flipped open and letting it bang into the rear of the case which pulls on the nail heads.

You can try to tighten them up by placing the heads against something solid to keep them from backing out, and then from the inside of the box, use a hammer and pin bunch to re-peen the ends tighter against the wood. The case wood is thin, go easy with the hammering.

The other alternative is to replace the nails with miniature brass wood screws.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Depending upon how loose they are you could take them all out and glue toothpicks into the holes. Then replace the nails.

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Luke 22:36

I also recommend jay's method, but go one step further. I sand a small place where the hinges go, as well as scuffing up the back of the hinges. Then before nailing them in place, I put a thin coat of epoxy on both surfaces. A Q-tip makes a good applicator for the epoxy. If you are careful, there will be no epoxy oozing from the edges. At any rate, those hinges have always been difficult to keep tight, and the epoxy makes the hinges much stronger. I have repaired several over the years, and have never had to re-do any that have been epoxied in place. By the way, for nailing the hinges, I put two phone books on the counter, and set the box so that the clasp is in the gap between the books. I reason use phone books is because I have two that are the same thickness, and are firm enough to hold your case for nailing, but soft enough as to not damage your case. I hope that this has helped. DLB

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Be Kind! John 3:16,14:27

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Yes, these nails are loose
and can be pulled out. However, I didn't pull them all the
way out. I will have to remove the lining and see what's
going on under there.

Thanks much!