Chapter One
Nails, Screws, Bolts, and Other Fasteners



The strength and stability of any structure depend heavily on the fastenings that hold its parts together. One prime advantage of wood as a structural material is the ease with which wood structural parts can be joined together with a wide variety of fastenings-nails, spikes, screws, bolts, lag screws, drift pins, staples, and metal connectors of various types. For utmost rigidity, strength, and service, each type of fastening requires joint designs adapted to the strength properties of wood along and across the grain and to dimensional changes that may occur with changes in moisture content.



Nails

Nails are the most common fasteners used in construction.

Up to the end of the Colonial period, all nails used in the United States were handmade. They were forged on an anvil from nail rods, which were sold in bundles. These nail rods were prepared either by rolling iron into small bars of the req ... read full excerpt from Audel Carpenter's and Builder's Math, Plans, and Specifications, All New 7th Edition ebook