Nail length

[Jeff Body]

So I'm pretty new to building shelves and cabinets. I have a question about the length of nail you'd use.

I was building a shelf for the garage to put paint cans on. I was using 1/2" plywood, glued and brad nailed to together.
The problem was I kept having nails come out of the side of the wood. I made it a point to hold the nail gun as straight as I could.
I started with 1 1/4" nails and switched to 1" and still had the problem.

If you were using 1/2" material what length of nail would you use?

[peter gagliardi]

Not clear if you are laminating for thickness, or putting a wood edge on?
If wood edge, usually you can solve problem by orienting gun 90 degrees to the way you had it.

[Lee Schierer]

Brad's will tend to do that,particularly in plywood. Not much you can do to prevent it except to use heavier gauge nails.

[Rege Sullivan]

1/2" is to thin for a brad nailer. They will tend bend enough shoot out the side of the piece you are nailing into.
It even happens occasionally with 3/4". With 1/2" ply you would be better off gluing and clamping or glue, pre-drill and drive a 1-1/4" finish nail.

[Jeff Body]

Not clear if you are laminating for thickness, or putting a wood edge on?
If wood edge, usually you can solve problem by orienting gun 90 degrees to the way you had it.

I guess it's easier for me to visualize since I made it.

Basically I'm glueing up the face of one piece to the edge of another.
Something similar to this. Only with brad nails shooting out the side. LOL

[Grant Wilkinson]

As others have said, if you are using 23 gauge pin nails, the glue and grains in the plywood will bend them and they will go wherever they want. Use 16 or 18 gauge, or pre-drill and screw.

[Mark Wooden]

if it's for paint cans, use 1x2 cleats held with glue and screws to hold the shelves. Screw through the 1/2" ply into the 1x cleat with 1-1/4 screws

[Mike Kees]

if it's for paint cans, use 1x2 cleats held with glue and screws to hold the shelves. Screw through the 1/2" ply into the 1x cleat with 1-1/4 screws

I agree with Mark. As to the brad nailing,take a look at a strip of nails. They have a chisel tip ,sharp on two sides. The nail will usually glance away from these edges so as someone posted above you need to think of this and turn your nailer 90 degrees so the tips will stay in wood if they stray from straight in.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with Mark. As to the brad nailing,take a look at a strip of nails. They have a chisel tip ,sharp on two sides. The nail will usually glance away from these edges so as someone posted above you need to think of this and turn your nailer 90 degrees so the tips will stay in wood if they stray from straight in.

This is spot-on. My high-end tack trunk carcases are built with nominal .5" veneer plywood and if I forget to turn the gun while tacking together with the 18 gage brad nailer (they and the subsequent screws get hidden in my design after glue-up), invariably one or more of the fasteners, um....leave the material prematurely. The layers of material within plywood still have a grain direction and that can influence the path that the flat brads follow.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Jeff, I would construct the cabinet with dadoes and rebates, and glue.

Try using larger gauge nails, or eliminate them completely........regards, Rod.

[Richard Coers]

1/2 plywood almost bends under it's own weight. You'll need a lot of additional structure and support to hold paint cans. Brad nails are not structural. You'll need some cleats and screws for any kind of success.