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Don't Drive NAILS/SCREWS Straight In...TRY THIS INSTEAD! (The TOENAIL EFFECTStronger Connections!)

When many people drive nails and screws, they stand them up perpendicular to the piece, and send them in. But driving fasteners like this sacrifices STRENGTH! This short video from The Honest Carpenter will show you a simple trick for making stronger fastener connections.

Driving nails and screws straight in isn't exactly WRONG. It's just that it's not as beneficial as possible.

This is because driving fasteners perpendicular to your lumber or work piece sends them in by the most direct route possible. This means that they can also LEAVE by the most direct route possibleSTRAIGHT OUT.

Nails in particular can suffer from retraction problems.

Nails gain their fastening power from FRICTION. They force their way into wood or material, and pressure from the material on all sides of the nail hold them in place.

But, when that friction bond is broken (like with seasonal expansion/contraction in deck boards), then the fastener loses nearly all its strength.

Here's a simple trick to help prevent this problem: DRIVE THE FASTENER AT A SLIGHT ANGLE.

By slightly angling the fastener, you make it harder for the fastener to pull out unintentionally.

The fastener has to traverse through boards laterally. Now, material positioned diagonally over the fastener is also holding it in place. To remove a nail set with an angle, you have to PRY UP that extra material as well.

I call this the TOENAIL EFFECTbecause angling a fastener is often referred to as giving it a "toenail" angle. (This word also frequently refers to nailing 2x4s from the top side while framing.)

It's also best to drive the fastener so it angles slightly away from the direction at which force will be most frequently applied to it.

SCREWS can also benefit from driving them at an angle. It can be especially helpful when driving screws into end grain. The screw point will bite laterally through multiple end grain layers, giving the threads more to grab.

Overall, though, screws are much stronger than nails because they don't rely on friction for strength. So, it's okay to not always angle screws when driving them.

But, NAILS can almost ALWAYS benefit from a slight toenail angle!

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check back in for more videos coming up soon!

The Honest Carpenter