Art of Joinery: Beginners Guide to Fasteners in Woodwork

Metal fasteners make joining wood pieces a much less time consuming and skill-demanding task. These fasteners can be applied to your pieces in a few various ways. Some of these methods have evolved from the medieval hammer and four jaw carpenters brace to the electric-powered drill and pneumatic nail guns.

Here is a list of the most common metal fasteners available for the every day Do It Yourself and woodworking enthusiast:

Chipboard  & Drywall Screws

Most woodworkers are familiar with the ordinary Chipboard and Drywall screws. As the names suggest, these fasteners are most ideal for the joining of very soft timber and particle boards. These materials usually require aggressively coarse threading to ensure a secure hold. Chipboard Screws require the drilling of a pilot hole, 2mm smaller than the screw size used, before driving. Drywall screws have very sharp points and usually do not require drilling a pilot hole, making this joinery lighting fast and efficient. Both these screws can be used to fasten metal onto wood and are usually made with a Phillips heads requiring a Pozi screwdriver bit to drive.

Pocket –hole

Made popular by the best-selling Kreg Pocket-hole Jig, these screws go into the wood at an angle to conceal the screw head. Giving the workpiece a solid “wood-on-wood” look and making the workpiece that much more pleasant to the eyes. These screws are known to pull very well into the wood, making them the ideal solution for those working alone. Find out more about the Kreg Jig here: Kreg Jig K-4 Master System

Brad nails

Brad nails are fitted onto a pneumatic (sometimes electrical) nail gun and have come to replace the age-old tedious hammer and nail combo. These brad nails come in various lengths and gauges. One can usually determine which nails to choose from by evaluating the thickness of the material used as well as what kind of finish they require. F-type nails are straight nails which closely resemble ordinary nails are the best for a “flush” look. In contrast, the T-type nails have a T-shaped head. Because of this head, T-type nails are largely used in heavier-duty applications and are available in thicker sizes. The thickness of the nails is determined by the gauge number. Basically, the higher the gauge number, the thinner the nail.

Staples

Much like the brad nails aforementioned, this for of joinery is very commonly used in picture framing, upholstery, and many other lighter-duty applications. Used with either a manual or a pneumatic gun, these fasteners require far less force and are usually 10-22mm in length. The staples consist of three parts, namely: the crown, the legs, and the teeth. The length of the staples usually refers to the length of the legs, whereas the number of the staple (ie: No. 56; No. 16; No. 10; No. 25) would refer to the width of the crown. The thickness of the staple then refers to the thickness of the teeth.

Shop through our wide range of Metal Fasteners at Tools4Wood today.