piecing your box togther...

[Gianotti 10+ year member]

what better to use screws or nails and a nail gun? ive always used screws but using a nail gun woul have a cleaner look and make the edges easier to sand i would think...?

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[2loud4u 10+ year member]

eather will do.

All they do is hold the wood together till the glue dries.

 

[uhoh45 10+ year member]

nails and lots of glue ftw

 

[Lil_KB 10+ year member]

screws ftw. nails don't hold it tight enough imo.

but i'd use clamps if you're that worried about it.

 

[kickerlivinloud 10+ year member]

Nail holes are easyer to hid if your going to paint the box or leave it plain. Personally I use screws anymore. They pull the wood together much better then just nailing it would.

Jon

 

[jmasc 10+ year member]

clamps if you have access to them, if not id use screws.

 

[singlefordrange 10+ year member]

Screws FTW! I have some holes i need to clean up in my box!

 

[dspencer24 10+ year member]

I used sheetrock screws and they worked our great but i also used wood clamps as well. You can always fill the hole with wood filler / putty and then sand it away..

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Depending on the size of the nail it might split the end grain of the wood. Pre-drilled screws and glue or biscuits, clamps and glue or just clamps and glue.

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Screws.

Nails do not pull the panels together tight enough to make a great joint.

Try this: Put a few panels together (not your box panels, just some scrap wood) Use nails in some and screws in some others. You will notice a BIG difference.

 

[Erthshker 10+ year member]

Ive used brads nd screw....prefer screws the hold to the wood a lil better than the brads do...

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

Lay down your glue, clamp it tight, and screw it down. All there is to it.

You DO need clamps by the way.

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Lay down your glue, clamp it tight, and screw it down. All there is to it.
You DO need clamps by the way.

No you dont //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[Tiger Bass 5,000+ posts]

Screws are probably better for people without a lot of wood working experience. They pull the wood together and form a tighter, stronger bond.

Nails are also just fine though. If you come from a long line of professional carpenter's and have picked up a couple tips in your life and know what you are doing, there's nothing wrong with using nails. They are more asthetically pleasing, they are less likely to split the wood, and easier to work with.

However, the glue is what should be doing a good majority of the holding. The nails/screws should only act as a reinforcement. That's why you shouldn't go cheap on glue and get the $5 bundle pack of 6 bottles of Bubba's Special from Sam's. Go to a real hardware store and get something like Gorrila Glue or Titebond.

But more importantly, it depends on what you are building. If you're going to build a massive 10 cubic foot box, I would naturally use screws all the way around, along with supportive bracing. If you're going to make a medium sized box, I would use screws in a couple important spots, like on the bracing itself, and nails the rest of the way. Then for a much smaller box, like the one in my sig, I only used a nail gun and glue with no bracing.

As for clamps, they are important. People use them for a reason. Unless you want you shit falling apart, I would use them. Just don't go overboard. The purpose of a clamp is to hold multiple pieces of material together and stable till the glue dries and bonds. Not to clamp it so tightly that all the glue gets squeezed out of the joint.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

No you dont //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

How do you NOT need clamps when making a wood glue bond? Yes, if you can stabilize and line up your board properly and screw it down without it moving, then yes, I can see that. However, I can never do that and keep the same bond tightness. I even got flamed over at diyaudio for asking that //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif