corrugated wood fasteners

[PHILIPWOLF]

Does anyone know how to drive these. I know that they are cheap and lousy ways to join wood but I have never been able to drive them successfully.

[RonB]

I was able to set a few years ago but I had to clamp up tight to get them in place with a hammer. Results were ok doing this. I think getting them in cleanly and tight is an acquired skill.

There are better alternatives for a lot of applications such as pocket screws, biscuits. Depending on your application, pocket screws go in in a fraction the time it took me to mess with the corrugated things.

RonB

[GROVER]

There are two ways I know to drive corrugated fasteners. If you need to drive a lot of them both Senco and Paslode make pneumatic nailers to insert them rather easily. You will need to drive a lot of them to justify the cost of the tool.

There also is a small and inexpensive tool (possibly made by Stanley or General). It is an aluminum rectangle about one and a half inches deep, in which you insert the fastener and a separate blade which fits behind the fastener. You hand hold the assembly and use a hammer to drive the blade.

At best, they are easy and cheap to use but tend to crush the wood fibers. Good application is assembling orange crates.

Joe G

[Rich]

I know this does not answer your question, but why don't you use a pocket hole jig?

[Edward Hennessey]

There is a dedicated tool for the job. The driver resembles thick, rectangular piece of metal with a cutout in the shape of the corrugated fastener inside of which is captured a a floating anvil. You put the unit over the fastener and strike the anvil on center. If you can't find one, keep calm. Cut an accommodating slit in a wood block to support the fastener. Once you carefully seat the fasteners to level by light, alternating taps on each end, a piece of metal centered on top helps to sink them if you don't have the tool. This can be done freehand as well with an admixture of a little patience and practice. Nonetheless, if your target is some fiendishly hard wood that will rebuff the fasteners, I'd choose again.

On a tight joint, it and fasteners do a decent job, supplemented by glue and screws. I made some supports for bench roofs as a kid with these and other hardware and they stand today.

A sleeping fragment of memory makes me want to say that Stanley made the tool.

Regards,

EH

[Robatoy]

SpotNails makes a gun for those as does Paslode. I have used both and prefer the Paslode, but it is pricey. It all depends how many you are planning to do.

[RP]

Here's a cool way, yet spendy IMHO.

[Robatoy]

If you do lots, then it is the only way that makes sense, but corrugated fasteners are schlocky at the best of times. Fast, dirty and they can cause carnage to coarse materials like oak. The fasteners come in different depths and are pricey as well. The worst thing about them is that the process is irreversible. Undoing a joint like that is really, really messy. (New part) I used them to add a small length to a PB substrate for a laid up laminate job, supporting the seam with a serious slab as the fastener kicks like a mule.

[weikertt]

I hold them with a pair of needle nose pliers until they're started solidly and then drive them home.

[Father Haskell]

Used to use these to put silkscreen frames together. Lousy results even with the proper slotted aluminum thingy with the floating anvil device. Switched to lap or finger joints, nails, and waterproof glue.

Still have 3/4 of a 30 year old box of corrugated nails left over.

[Bruce]

On Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:30:37 -0700, Father Haskell wrote (in article ):

I used to use these as fortress fencing when building encampments for backyard toy solider dirt clod wars. Worked great for that, not much else...

-Bruce

[BuenoNo]

replying to Edward Hennessey, BuenoNo wrote: Thanks

[Lynn Rokke]

replying to weikertt, Lynn Rokke wrote: Finally a clear cut sensible answer Thank you Very much!!! . I had a....er handy man kind of install a window. He left the inside completely unfinished..that's done The outside, for some reason unknown to any sensible person cut the trim board to small and made the window smaller then the matching window in to room. So now I can't remove his trim it's installed in the Window!! He was supposed to cut out a bad piece of siding and add new (easy with the window out) but refused and only ....kind of replaced a piece on top....it had the framing exposed. So now I've got to call the Better Business Bureau, and my State Attorney General, I'm disabled now and what he did was fraud. I have his written quote where he stated he was going to replace all inside trim, Attach a 4" piece of drywall, because the new window was 4" smaller and would also trim and seal the outside. he set the window in a wood box without any tar paper or Tyvek around the hole and it's anybody's guess how he actually sealed the window in. So what I'm suing him for is the cost to redo his work....and my patch job outside.. Inside I'm happy with the way I trimmed it out. For Fraud he is lucky if he isn't charged with triple damages!

[DerbyDad03]

Is this tale of woe somehow connected with the original question?

I replaced all the windows in my house and never considered the use of "corrugated wood fasteners", inside or out. If you used them to trim out this window, please us where and,more importantly, why.

Thanks.