Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 15, 1999 04:21pm | #1

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   This is my understanding of it. Nails rely on friction to do their job; the frictional forces holding them in place (all around their shank) must exceed any forces trying to withdraw the nail. The big advantage of pneumatic nails is they are 'inserted' very quickly, causing minimal disturbance to the wood fibres, and resulting in high frictional force. Hand nails never go in perfectly straight (even if you can set them in two hits, there is some deflection), so there is less friction around the shank of the nail. When you figure in inevitable wood movement (especially shrinkage) holding power can go down. Anyway, long story short, my understanding is that pneu. nails have much higher holding strength than their equivalent hand nails. I used to know the % but it doesn't come to mind right now.

2. 
   Keith_Utter | Apr 16, 1999 02:46pm | #2

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   I would say the arguement could go both ways on several issues here but, power nailing cannot replace the fine art of hand nailing. And believe me I understand that in todays markets production is the key and thats OK. I have used both (more hand than power) and perfer to have that "real feel" in my connections. That is, my hammer is an extension of my finger tips.

   As far as the pull resistance of nails, if we drove the same nail whether by hand or power I think would make little difference overall. The issue is the physical charteristics of the nails. For example the lateral strenght of a box nail is about 75% of a common nail. Smaller diameter power nails are coated to add greater withdrawal force, I'm not sure but often wonder if this also reduces shear strenght a bit.

   Hand nailing gives greater flexibility and precision in placement, angle and set. You would also have a greater sense of the density of each piece of lumber and know when another nail or two is needed. Power nailing is a great tool and serves it's purpose, but only when in responsable hands.

   Charts, facts and figures can be found in Max Schwartz's "Basic Engineering for Builders", it would be a good addition to your library.

   Keith

3. 
   Guest_ | Apr 16, 1999 04:36pm | #3

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   3 1/4" Pneumatic and Reg spiral nails are the same guage, at least the Bostitch nails that we use. The only thing that may be lesser is that when we try to remove the Bostitch nails the heads always tear off...I don't think however that they are weaker, the nails just do less damage going into the wood and hold tighter.

   Just my opinion and observations.

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 17, 1999 02:30am | #4

   *Actually, nails are best when they are functioning in the shear. Their ability to hold things together longitudinally to their axis is not very good. So any structure using nails as a fastener should be designed to use their shear strength if the forces are at all significant.The gauge nail picked depends on how many nails are used and the function. Without doing a specific calculation I presume the small difference in gauge has no practical effect on structural strength in residential applications.To hold things together use screws or something like angle brackets. Joist hangers are a good example of using shear strenth of nails in combination with brackets to hold things together. The joint formed is much superior to one formed with toenailing.

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 18, 1999 04:12am | #6

   *Keith was right, One thing is for certain, an air gun only belongs in responsible hands. it's to easy to "booger it all".Hand nailing near a stream... No,a diffrent stream

4. 
   daFlah | Apr 18, 1999 04:12am | #5

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   Looking for specs on regular hand nails vs Pneumatic nail gun nails. PSF holding capacity. Gun nails have a thinner shank so must have less holding capacity. Anyone know the specifics? Thanks