I hate oak! "really I love it"

[70 marlin]

spent yester day installing a new replacement door for my mud room. lowes had on sale replacement door jam's & door combo's. so I get one and a pre cut oak trim. a new drill bit for predrill the trim and ect. ect. ect. everthing is oak in my house. so I bought oak. everthing went in great. till the trim even with predrilling the stuff wanted to split? anybody good at working with this stuff? :think:

 

[BSWIFT]

You are drilling to close to the edge. Oak generally does not split, just bends nails and smashes fingers. PM Eric Gore, he did a stint as a carpenter.

 

[Rooster]

Is the drill bit the same size as the shank of the nails you are using? If not, old and dry oak will split. I just redid my living room in prefinished oak that I had laying around for a few years, and it split a couple of times because it was so dry.

 

[70 marlin]

ya, I need to get a little bit thicker drill bit, plus I could be counter sinking the finsh nail to deep. I think my counter sink drift is splitting it?

 

[a454elk]

Think air nail gun.:thumb: I used to have that problem but haven't since I've been using the nail gun. Liquid nails, glue, is great with oak and can be used without any nails at all. Just a thought too.

 

[70 marlin]

I had one of them in my hands @ lowes, think it was called a brad nailer. do you think that'd help? I do like buying tools!

 

[Rooster]

Air nailers are the best thing to use when doing finish work (brads and staples too). The fastener is blasted through the wood so quickly it can't even think about splitting out. You can set the regulator so the nail, brad or staple sets itself. I have a Paslode stapler that makes heavier work so much easier. Next pruchase is a brad nailer.

 

[Senior KX Rider]

moved

 

[70 marlin]

oops, sorry it started off right then got out of subject or "flamming"

 

[Jaybird]

Rooster! Man I have a Paslode myself! I love this gadget.
I built about 450ft of 6ft. board fence around my back yard a couple years ago and I would STILL be nailing if it weren't for my Paslode!
Air nailers??? HA! Paslode butane cartrage nailers are the berries!

Marlin, one tip I can give you about keeping wood from splitting is to turn each nail over and hit it slightly with a hammer. It will flatten out the sharp point. Not sure how this works, but it DOES work even without pre-drilling.

 

[Rooster]

Jay - you have a Palode Cartridge Nailer?!!! Mine's just a bood old air stapler. You dawg! Those things are way too cool! I'm jealous. :think:

Smacking the point of the nail, in effect causes the nail to push thorough the wood instead of wedging it apart, like a splitter.

 

[JWW]

Originally posted by Jaybird
is to turn each nail over and hit it slightly with a hammer. It will flatten out the sharp point. Not sure how this works, but it DOES work even without pre-drilling.

Something about crushing through the wood instead of splitting it like a wedge. It does work though. :thumb:

 

[Trail Boss]

Originally posted by Jaybird
Marlin, one tip I can give you about keeping wood from splitting is to turn each nail over and hit it slightly with a hammer. It will flatten out the sharp point. Not sure how this works, but it DOES work even without pre-drilling. [/B]

I read in This Old House Magazine that, if the wood is splitting, Norm suggests to blunt the nails. In a sense you are then punching the nail through the wood rather than pushing the wood fibers aside with the point of the nail. Pushing the wood fibers aside is what causes the wood the split.
I have not tried this yet myself, but if Norm says it than it’s probably good advise

 

[zio]

Hilti. You won't believe the projects you'll all of a sudden feel you can tackle on your own. I've started doing crown molding, baseboard, chair rail, even shiplap ceiling in my gameroom. I added lattice to our fence in the backyard, what would have taken 2 days took 2 hours. Best tool I ever stole from my dad's garage ;)

 

[70 marlin]

Dang Zio. do we have to re name you norm? you be the man! I've solved the spliting problem just bought the right drill bit. lowes had this 2in1 pilot hole counter sink bit it works sweet. finshed off one side last night, tonight I'll do the other side. I have heard about blunting the nail. but with predrilling there's nothing to push thru. the heads of the nails were spliting the trim so I predrilled the counter sink for the head. works like a charm.
now I've started to research finshing the wood. I'm going with ML Campbell stain, early american tint. a Cororado Aqua-plastic ureathane clear statin varnish. it's water based latex. cleans up great. the painters at work turned me on to this stuff. it's majic!

 

[Rooster]

zio - how are the Hilti prices compared to Paslode, Bostitch, etc. My company is an exclusive user of Hilti Hammer Drills and Demo Hammers, but we've never looked at the air nailers for forming and insert bulding.

 

[BadgerMan]

Originally posted by 70 marlin
I had one of them in my hands @ lowes, think it was called a brad nailer. do you think that'd help? I do like buying tools!

Gotta have one of those! :thumb:

I bought one last winter before I remodeled our kitchen. I was nailing little one inch long pieces of 1/2" quarter round and never split a single one! It's a Bostitch and I think I paid $75.00 for it at Menards. It takes up to a two inch brad. You will never regret owning one.

 

[clutchcover]

Brad nailers are the way to go. Finish nailers still try to split things, and brads are much cheaper. I use them all day long. They are great for small pieces, and never split things out.
Try what Jay says, it really works. Intead of a sharp point slipping through the wood, pushing the grain out, a flattened tip will compress the grain, and will be less prone to splitting.