brad you are correct, the adaptor doesn't need to be welded, I welded mine because it was rejected by the mechanics shop where they couldn't swap it around for those needs you mentioned. I dedicated it to timber framing. The 100 year old nail pullers work well, with very little damage to the wood surface, they do need a head to bite onto, so they might not work well on 100 year old broken nail stubs, but its worth a try. Tim