Regardless of the project that you undertake, nails and screws probably will be on the materials list, and that’s why it’s important to know what’s available in these fasteners and what each one does specifically.
The holding power of a nail is achieved by the pressure of wood fibers, displaced by the nail entering the wood, trying to return to their original positions.
A common nail has a large, flat head and is used for most rough work. A finishing nail has a small head-only slightly larger than the shank of the nail-with a depression so that a nail set can be used to conceal the head below the surface.
A casing nail is similar to a finishing nail, but the head is tapered and has no depression; it is often used for exterior trim work and may be driven either flush with the surface or set below it. Brads are small, lightweight nails with practically no head at all. They are used for light finishing work and are usually concealed beneath the surface.
A double-headed nail has two heads. One is above the other.
These are used for scaffolding or concrete forms-work that must be disassembled later. The nail is driven only to the lower head. The upper head remains above the surface so that it can be grasped by a claw hammer for easy removal.
There are specialty nails. Masonry nails may be either cut steel or specially hardened wire. Rust-proof aluminum nails are used for exterior applications, such as on certain types of siding. Galvanized steel nails are used for the same purpose.
Hot-dipped galvanized nails are more rust-proof than their
plain cousins.
Roofing nails have large heads to hold soft asphalt shingles.
Drywall nails, with sightly smaller heads, are used to install gypsum wallboard (drywall).
Nail sizes:
The “penny” system for sizing nails originated in England. The letter “d” was the designation for the English penny. In the early days, the same abbreviation was used to indicate a pound in weight.
Nails were weighed by the thousand, so if 1,000 nails totaled 12 pounds, they were 12d, or 12-penny nails. The penny system has endured, although today it referes only to nail length. For example, a 2 d nail is 1 in. long; the length increases ¼-in. for each higher number up to 10d.
Then the penny system gets more complicated.
Most nails are sold by the pound, and the larger the nail, the fewer nails per pound. The type of nail also makes a difference in weight.
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