Health & safety
Manufacture of cut nails involves a guillotine
action on mild steel which means that cut nails have sharp edges on all four sides of the
shank so care should be taken when handling the nails.
The point of a cut nail is blunt. Very
occasionally, a malformed nail with a sharp point might get through our stringent checking
process. If such a nail is found, it should be disposed of immediately in such a way that
will avoid injury.
General
Normally, cut nails are used in conjunction with
wood.
You will notice that cut nails all have a flat
rectangular point. This allows the nail to punch its way through the timber fibres rather
than causing the wood to split which often happens with diamond pointed round wire nails
for example.
It is important also to place the nail across
the grain of the wood to avoid splitting.
For larger nails, we recommend that holes are pre-drilled
in the timber slightly undersize from the width of the nail.
View illustration
Floor brad can be used with tongued and grooved
flooring in such a way as to hide the nails.
View illustration
Driving (Hammering)
When driving a nail through wood, it is better
to begin by using short tapping strokes until the nail has a secure feel
as it travels through the wood before applying heavier blows to drive it home. This
should reduce the chances of bending the nail.
If the nail is bent backwards and forwards
several times because the nail has gone squint, the metal will be weakened and the nail
may split leaving a broken point in the wood which may be difficult to extract.
This issue is more relevant when 'hard' as a
opposed to 'soft' wood is being used and in increasingly dense autoclaved aerated concrete
block. Where a problem occurs, pre-drilling as described above may be the answer.
Clinching
Clinching a nail means that the shank is bent
over by 90° after the nail has passed through the timber to anchor the nail in place.
This is possible when the nail is cut hot.
Clinching is common in boat building and
restoration work.
View
illustration
Please ensure that you mention that the nail
must be clinched when ordering if it is important.
Finishes
Where a mild steel nail is
being used in a damp or marine environment, we can offer a hot dip galvanised
finish. In this process, the zinc and the steel bind together to give a
protective coating that should last around 40 years.
It should be noted that, in restoration work, a
galvanised nail can stain wood due to the chemical reaction between the wood and the zinc.
This particularly affects oak.
