During asembly of a bookcase I brad nailed a 3/8″ rabbet joint and fired a 1 1/4″long 18 gauge brad out the face of the adjacent 3/4″ thick wall. Are there any tips and or advice you can share to help me so that I can place brads where I want them togo.
Thanks
Butch
Replies
I call those "Shiners" and hate 'em. Pull it back through the way it came. I have a small nipper that works pretty good. Work a little white glue into the hole and tap the loose fibers down with a hammer. I assume you were attaching a back to a bookcase or something similar. Ask yourself why were you using a 1 1/4" brad when a 1/2"or 5/8" would due.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
The answer to myself is inexperience with a brad nailer coupled with an accumulation of rust on the woodworking skills. I did change over to 1" brads and that along with firing at a slight angle inwards seem to do the trick. What I didn't do was change to a shorter brad after toe nailing a dado with a shelf inserted. Lessons learned. From what you have offered, I assume the real LESSON is use the shortest brad that will do the job because of the nasty habit of thin brads to stray off course in a hardwood grain pattern. Thanks and as always Work Safely! Butch
When you look closely at the ends of your brads are they clipped off in a way that leaves wedge-shaped?
If so, the orientation of the wedge relative to the wood grain can be important. If the wedge is oriented in the same plane as the grain, it will tend to follow the grain, riving as it goes into the wood - if the grain runs out, the brad can follow the runout instead of penetrating straight into the wood. When shooting brads near the end of a board, this wedging action can split the board.
Hope this helps,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask youself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Is the real lesson here saying to use the shortest brad that will do the job? Or, is there a technique that I'm missing? Work Safely! Butch
Both: over-long brads are more likely to cause problems than brads of a more appropriate length, and, if the brads have a chisel point, their orientation relative to the wood grain can also be a factor worth considering.-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask youself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
One tip that people don't think much about is that when you DO change nails. sometimes the strip breaks, and a nail stays in the chamber.'
I fired a 2" brad into a finger after changing to 5/8 once. Ever since then, whenever I change out nails, I tip the gun back, and give it a little rattle to make sure there isn't a straggler left in the gun, or dry fire to make sure its clear.
The older I get, the better I was....
What really sucks is when that brad comes out the face of a melamine panel. Hard to hide those divots. (I know, it's not fine woodworking, but, it's a living.)
I generally find that holding the gun at right angles to the run of the joint gives the fewest 'shiners'.
Paul
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