Common Wood Work Nails

Carpenters have used nails to fasten wood since at least 3400 B.C., and there are numerous references to them in the Bible. The modern method of sizing nails by the penny dates to medieval England. In contrast to the English, for whom nails were abundant, American colonists had to make their own, until the invention of the nail cutting machine. Today nails are readily available in all sizes and shapes for any woodworking purpose. Does this Spark an idea?

Common Nails

Common nails are the ones you are most likely to find on a construction site. They have a flat head and smooth shank. Bright common nails are made of steel for indoor use, while galvanized one are coated to resist rust and are best for outdoors. The size is denoted by a number followed by the letter "d", which stands for the Roman denarius, but is referred to as a penny. The smallest common nail is 2d, which is 1 inch in length, and the largest is 60d, which is 6 inches. The sizes most used are 6d, 8d, 12d and 16d.

Finish Nails and Brads

Finish nails have a head not much larger in diameter than their shank and are used when you don't want the head to be visible. Like common nails, their size is denoted by the penny system, and they can be made of bright or galvanized steel. Finish nails 1 inch or less in length are called brads, and are sized according to their length. Finish nails are best for trim and interior woodwork because you can sink the heads into the wood and cover them with wood filler to make them disappear.

Textured Shank Nails

Shaped like common or finish nails, ring and spiral-shank nails have a texture that bites into wood and resists pulling out. Ring shank nails are best to hold paneling and thin plywood that tends to pull back at the edges and corners. Sudden jolts can make them pop out, though, so spiral shank nails are preferable for plywood subfloors and stair treads. Flooring cleats are a type of textured shank nail. You drive them through the tongue of the flooring at an angle with a special nailer and they bite into the subfloor to hold the boards tightly together.