Stupid nailing question...

I am building a small cabinet for a bathroom out of maple and cherry (trim). I haven't worked with maple before. Anyway, I got all the cuts made and out the four sides together last night and glued it up. I then went to put in some finishing nails (by hand, no nail gun... yet). Man, is this stuff hard. Made a mess out of one even after pre-drilling the hole about halfway the length of the nail. Anybody have a trick to doing this? I REALLY hate it when the nail bends.

Old nail gun/compressor hand me downs accepted...;+}

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-Jim ©¿©¬

If you want to reply by email its --> ryan at jimryan dot com Please use BCC and lets all avoid spam

Reply to
jtpr
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Clean the face of the hammer by rubbing it on concrete.

Reply to
Eric Johnson

Use a drill bit just a size smaller than the nail, and drill ALL the way through.

Or wait for the glue to dry, and skip the nails, Norm.

Scott

Reply to
Scott Cramer

yep, maple's tough. i have success nailing it (with a gun) when i monitor the grain direction and predict how/if the nail will deflect. sometimes instead of using nails i use self-tapping trim screws to secure - even without predrilling, i'm yet to split the end of a board.

the best advice - get a nail gun. the little porter cable compressor/nailer package is a good deal, and will serve you well for years. my suggestion is to use this project as an excuse to get that tool before you ruin expensive wood by nailing by hand.

--- -dz

jtpr wrote:

Reply to
David Zaret

Could you use pocket screws? They are a great deal stronger than nails, and look better. I haven't nailed since I bought a jig.

Reply to
toller

No reason to nail it after going to the effort to glue it, assuming you used a water resistant glue. I only use nails/Brads to hold things during glue-up that do not show and are difficult to clamp.

Just my opinion.

Reply to
Al Reid

Really? That would be great. I used the traditional yellow glue. Should that be enough?

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-Jim ©¿©¬

used a water resistant glue. I only use nails/Brads to hold

Reply to
jtpr

Without knowing exactly what you were nailing to what and why, if it is=20 already glued, the simple answer is to not use nails.=20

Second answer is to drill counter sunk holes, use screws and plugs over=20 the screw heads.

--=20 MikeG Heirloom Woods

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Reply to
MikeG

I wouldn't use nails in the first place, but IF I did, I'd first drill completely through the top board using a drill bit slightly smaller than the nail.

David

jtpr wrote:

Reply to
David

Another thing I used to do before nail guns--- Occasionally I would come across a hardwood trimming problem where splitting seemed inevitable even with predrilled holes. I would predrill the holes and then cut the head off of one of the finish nails I was using and chuck it in my drill motor. Using the nail as a bit I would redrill the hole to most of the length of the nail, then set the nail in the hole. Since part of the nail is in the chuck you still get grip from friction, the unenlarged part of the hole and the head itself. As noted by others, do this with glue backup.

Nail guns are good!

Reply to
RonB

"jtpr" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

Try this stuff: (watch the wrap) Titebond Molding & Trim glue.

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?prodcat=1I found it at my excellent local hardware store. MUCH easier to use in your application. I shot a few 18 ga brads anyway, because I told my wife I needed the brad nailer for the trim work.

I've been using the glue for other small projects, because I like the way it handles, and fills the small gaps, which are much more noticable in small projects people pick up and examine closely.

Patriarch

Reply to
patriarch

Thanks, I'll check that out. For other's, here is a tinyurl to the same thing:

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I'll start a thread on glue... but it's probably redundant.

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-Jim ©¿©¬

If you want to reply by email its --> ryan at jimryan dot com Please use BCC and lets all avoid spam "patriarch snipped-for-privacy@nospam.comcastDOTnet" "jtpr" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de:

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B.asp?prodcat=1

Reply to
jtpr

If you don't have a nail gun, take a pair of wire cutters and cut of the head of one of the finish nails. Chuck it into your drill and pre-drill the nail hole. Since the nail is now shorter than the length of the nail with the head, you have the perfect hole size for the finish nail. Don't even think about using a drill bit. You have as many drill bits as you have nails. Try it, you will find that thousands and thousands of trim carpenters aren't wrong.

When you are really building nice furniture, you try to find ways to glue the molding instead of nailing it.

Preston

Reply to
Preston Andreas

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