Nailing & Drilling

An easy way to prevent a nail from splitting wood is by tapping the point of the nail with a hammer. This blunts the point and prevents the wood from splitting.

There are times when you have just one hand free to both hold the nail in place and hammer. One hand nailing is easier than it sounds. Simply wedge the nail between the hammer’s claw with the point facing forward and the nail head resting on the hammer head base. Swing the hammer with the nail/claw facing forward. The force should give the nail a start into the surface. Remove the claw from the nail, and finish the job with the hammer head side.

Bent nails often result from poor hammering technique. However, they can also be caused by a dirty hammer face, especially when using cement-coated nails or working around adhesives. If you have problems, occasionally run a piece of fine sandpaper or emery cloth over the face. If you keep the face clean you will gain more solid contact with the nail and will avoid black marks on the wood caused by a dirty hammer.

One way to help either screws and nails penetrate wood without splits is to use beeswax on the fastener. In fact, some carpenters will drill a hole in the end of a wood hammer handle to fill it with beeswax. An alternative is to buy a wax seal for a toilet. It’s made of beeswax processed to stay soft, and costs much less.

When you buy a drill bit set, it most likely will come in a storage case. This case will help you figure out which size bit you need to use. When drilling holes for a pilot or lead hole for a nail, find which slot in the bit case the nail will fit in. The next size down is the bit you should choose. When drilling a pilot hole for a screw, you need to choose two bits. One for the starter hole and one for the pilot hole. Find which slot in your bit storage case the screw will fit in. That is the size of bit you should use for the pilot hole. For the starter hold, use the next smaller sized bit.

You can avoid splitting or marring wood, such as hardwood molding, by using what is called a nail spinner. With this low-cost device chucked into your power drill, you just insert the nail and then “drill” it into position. The nail will penetrate to within 1/4 in. or so of the surface, then you can drive it home with a hammer and a nailset.

You can buy depth stops to attach to drill bits to make blind holes at a certain depth. But for occasional jobs you can gauge depth by using masking tape around the bit at the right depth. Or, as shown, drill through the center of a dowel section, using the bit you need for the hole. Cut the dowel so the exposed bit will be the depth needed for the hole.

The plastic containers used for push-up deodorants can be recycled into excellent holders for items like nailsets, small drill bits or saw blades. The containers have easy-to-remove caps, and you can push up the bottoms to expose smaller items. Use a felt-tipped pen to mark what’s stored inside.

A simple way to clean corrosion from a twist drill bit is to let your power drill help you. While applying oil to the bit at its point of entry, drill repeatedly into a block of hardwood secured in a vise. Friction of the bit against the wood and abrasion of the wood chips will provide a scouring action to clean up the bit in a hurry.

When building a deck, always nail a thinner member to a thicker member. Hot-dipped zinc-coated nails are a good choice. For more holding power, consider using either ring- or spiral-shanked nails, or go with deck screws. If using screws, it’s best to pre-drill pilot holes.