We're going to be moving into a larger house and with that will come actual space to build things, and even better, places to put them!
My wife and I are going to take on the farmhouse table that's been posted on the site previously, and I was curious as to the abilities of the pneumatic nailers, or more accurately, the nails they shoot.
The plans call for screws, and while I'm not opposed to countersinking and driving screws for hours, ideally I'd like to speed up the task and end with a cleaner surface impact point. My first impression was that using two- to two and a half-inch 16-gauge (straight finish) nails would work fine, with shorter 16-gauge nails for the more shallow parts, but am I underestimating the load they'd be taking on within a farmhouse table?
I'm envisioning this as a "lifetime" sort of table - we'll eat on it, the eventual kids will do homework on it, and over time it'll gain that natural wear & tear look I'm excited to see evolve.
Of course, with that wear and tear, it needs to withstand the punishment of kids and parties and all that comes with family life. When I read the product descriptions about various 16-gauge nailers, they keep seeming to reference trim work, or moulding, and not jobs where I'm securing a 2x4 to a 1x6 as part of a 100-inch long table.
So, long story short, I guess I have a few questions,
a) Do I need a framing nailer for these larger sorts of tasks, or just an abundance of 2" 16-gauge nails and glue?
b) Tangentially, is a straight, 2", 16-gauge finish nail the same across all brands, or do I need to pair the nailer with the nail?
I've done all the reading in the background I can on this sort of thing but I'm coming up short of these answers so I thought I'd turn to the veterans on this one. Thank you very much!
Dan K
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 09:24
Iwould consider a 15ga nailer. If you look at the 16ga vs a 15ga there is quite a bit of difference in the holding power and size of the nails. 16 is basically an overgrown brad, which is good for most trimwork and non loadbearing joints. 15ga is pretty much a finish nail and is much more appropriate for joints that will have stress.
Google 16 ga vs 15 ga nailer for some helpful discussion threads.
I would also recommend looking into a doweling system. A doweled joint is going to be much stronger than one that is nailed, especially in softwoods (2x4's, 2x6's, etc..)
Some options:
Miller Dowel: http://millerdowel.com/ (the 2x size is what you want)
Dow'l Simpl: http://www.mcfeelys.com/produc.....Dowl-Simpl
claydowling
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 12:02
Don't use nails to secure a table. It will come apart very quickly. I wrote a little bit about securing table legs here: http://www.knockdowndesk.com/
A dowel system is by far your best bet. It puts the least stress on the wood.
The long and short of it is not to use anything that splits wood fibers around the legs. Nails always split wood fibers. Screws that don't have a pilot hole (like drywall screws) split fibers. Any splitting at all will cause catastrophic failure early on.
If you have good acess to the screw holes, a brace and bit is actually the best way to install them. It drives the screw very quickly without any stripping. You can buy them new from Lee Valley. I've bought all mine off of ebay, and just bought the hex-bit adapter new. You can also buy a hand-powered countersink there or from Harbor Freight. Use a proper wood screw though, not a drywall screw, because the shape of the screw head is important for not splitting the wood.