Recommendations needed . . . preferably reasonable & workable.

Sprucing up one of the bathrooms, need to remove a large wood cabinet from the wall and want to keep it in one piece so I can put it back up after all the other work is done. Problem is, it's nailed in with nails that look nearly as big as railroad spikes...at least 20 of them and they're driven into the studs at all kinds of angles and the heads are pretty well buried in the cabinet frame. I'm afraid to go digging them with a cats paw, think that could chew out so much of the frame the cabinet would be useless.

Leaving it on the wall and working around it is not an option, one way or another it's coming off, re-useable or not.

get a flat bar (pry bar), take a 1x4 at least 12" long and place it on the sheetrock on a bottom corner, pry against it to get the cabinet off the wall some, work one side completely. take same 1x4 and hammer and place it on the cabinet face, hit the 1x4 to push the cabinet back to the wall, nails should be exposed to pull.

if the nails seem to be coming easily (and I doubt they will) then just keep prying but be gentle. if cabinet is particle board then you may be better off just replacing it with a new one.

Hop's suggestion is the correct way to separate from the wall. I've had success using a small hole saw and placing over the nails, cutting through the back. You'll be able to save the cabinet but have holes. Anyway, good luck on your renovation.

Multi-tool and a carbide blade can slip in there and cut the nails