Nails joint pieces of wood together easily
2008-08-26

The easiest way to fasten two pieces of wood together is with nails. They are manufactured in a variety of shapes, sizes, and metals to complete almost any fastening job. Most commonly, nails are made of steel, but other types -- aluminum, brass, nickel, bronze, copper, and stainless steel -- are available for use where corrosion could occur. In addition, nails are manufactured with coatings -- galvanized, blued, or cemented -- to prevent rusting and to increase their holding power. In engineering, woodworking and construction, a nail is a pin-shaped, sharp object of hard metal, typically steel, used as a fastener. Nails for specialized purposes may also be made of stainless steel, brass or aluminium. Nails are typically driven into the workpiece by a hammer or by a nail gun driven by compressed air or a small explosive charge. A nail holds materials together by friction in the vertical direction and shear strength in lateral directions. The point of the nail is also sometimes bent over or clinched to prevent it from pulling out. Nails are made in a great variety of forms for specialized purposes; the common everyday kind of nail is sometimes called a "wire nail" to distinguish it from nails in general. Some kinds of nails are referred to by other words, for example "pins", "tacks," "brads" and "spikes."

Nails today are usually made of steel. Formerly they were usually of wrought iron, but for some purposes nails are made of copper or (rather) brass. Nail size is designated by penny size, originally the price per hundred nails. Penny size, almost always referred to as "d," ranges from 2 penny, or 2d (1 inch long), to 60 penny, or 60d (6 inches long). Nails shorter than 1 inch are called brads; nails longer than 6 inches are called spikes. The length of the nail is important, because at least two-thirds of the nail should be driven into the base, or thicker, material. For example, a 1X3 nailed to a 4X4 beam should be fastened with an 8 penny, or 8d, nail. An 8d nail is 21/2 inches long; 3/4 inch of its length will go through the 1X3, and the remaining 13/4 inches will go into the beam. Nails go back at least to the Ancient Roman period. The provision of iron for nails by King David for Solomon's Temple is mentioned in the Bible.[1] Until the end of the 18th century, they were always made by hand, a nailer providing them with a head and point. Until the early 17th century there were workmen called slitters who cut up iron bars to a suitable size for nailers to work on, but in 1590 the slitting mill was introduced to England, providing a mechanical means of producing rods of uniform cross-section. In the 19th century, after the invention of machines to make "cut nails", some nails continued to be made by hand, but the handmade nail industry gradually declined and was largely extinct by the end of that century. Manufactured cut nails were first introduced in America at the end of the 18th century. Cut nails are machine-cut from flat sheets of steel (originally iron). They are also called square nails because of their roughly rectangular cross section. Though still used for historical renovations, and for heavy-duty applications, such as attaching boards to masonry walls, cut nails are much less common today than wire nails.

Nails are usually sold by the pound; the smaller the nail, the more nails to the pound. You can buy bulk nails out of a nail keg; the nails are weighed and then priced by the retailer. Or you can buy packaged nails, sold in boxes ranging from 1 pound to 50 pounds. For most repairs, a few 1-pound boxes of popular nail sizes will last a long time. What follows are some of the most common nail types.

Common Nails: Used for most medium to heavy construction work, this type of nail has a thick head and can be driven into tough materials. Common nails are made from wire and cut to the proper length and are available in sizes 2d through 60d.

Box Nails: Lighter and smaller in diameter than common nails, box nails are designed for light construction and household use.

Finishing Nails: Finishing nails are lighter than common nails and have a small head. They are often used for installing paneling and trim where you do not want the nail head to show.

Roofing Nails: Usually galvanized, roofing nails have a much larger head than common nails. This helps to prevent damage to asphalt shingles.

Drywall Nails: Nails made for drywall installation are often ringed and have an indented head. Annular-ring nails have sharp ridges all along the nail shaft, providing greater holding power.

Masonry Nails: There are three types of masonry nails designed for use with concrete and concrete block: round, square, and fluted. Masonry nails should not be used where high strength is required. Fastening to brick, stone, or reinforced concrete should be made with screws or lag bolts.