after noticing this subject in the archives, I decided to bring it up on an "open forum"

We recently had to pull a painstakingly amount of nails out of salvaged oak timbers. The barn must have had about four different sidings or roof sheathings because there must have been about 10 nails per linear foot. Anyway must all of the nails heads were gone and if they weren't they broke off very easily when trying to pry them free.

My question is what methods are out there for pulling nails that are submerged or flush with the face?

We experimented and ended up with a pretty good method.
We took needlenose pliers (must be prepared to sacrifice) and set the pliers with a hammer around the nail in the wood. We then took vice grips and cinched around the pliers as close to the wood as possible. Then we took a long prybar went under the vice grips and pried while persuading the needlenose. Worked pretty good and did not leave to much damage. Any other ways?

I've used a cat's paw pry bar and gently tapped the nails out...
And when that didn't work, I used a drill to remove some of the wood around the nail, then used the cat's paw again.
Recycled timbers are probably always going to show some scars...
Do you have a metal detector?
Make sure to run it over the timbers after you're done, just in case...! It sure sucks to hit a nail with a tool.

Horseshoe nail pullers work great for me when pulling nails out of old wood I use. If they are sharp they only need just a wee bit of the nail showing to get a grip. I have 3 pairs and my favorite pair is one I purchased at an antique shop (longer handles for more leverage / tighter grip on nail). The pinching end is fairly broad and a bit rounded so that the wood experiences very little damage when using them (if any).

Yeah, these pullers can work well. But beware! I have an XL puller with which I induced some serious tendon strain in my hands.

I've got an old (100yrs. +/-?) Cyclops nail puller that does a great job on anything it can get the least bit of a grip on, the harder you pull the harder it grips (no hand strain required). The handle slides out to increase leverage as needed, though it has been known to generate a wee bit to much force (as evidenced in my post to the Notes and Comments board: http://www.tfguild.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=6951&page=2#Post6951 ).

where is the old beater chisel????