End grain nailing.

[Anonymous]

I have recentley been boxing in some radiator pipes and when i have used my nail gun to nail an end piece into end grain the nails havn't been going in as far as they should so i took some scrap wood and tried the nail gun and sure enough they sank fine. So my question is because i am nailing into end grain is there a reason why the nails aren't going in as far as they should.

 

[johnelliott]

End grain is good at resisting penetration. There is a technique for making naval gun turrets by sandwiching blocks of end-grain wood (end grain facing incoming shells) between two layers of laminate.
John

 

[Noel]

John's right. If a nail catches the end of a wood fibre, or a bunch of them, the fibres are being pushed backwards and have nowhere to go. With long grain, it's a matter of splitting and breaking the odd fibre. having said all that I've never had a problem shooting nails into end grain on the rare times I do it. What gauge nails and what nailer are you using?

Noel

 

[Anonymous]

What gauge nails and what nailer are you using?

Its a Bostitch 18 gauge nailer with 35mm brads. What i have is a 45 degree mitred joint which i was glueing and then strengthening with a couple of brads when i nail to pieces across the grain no problems its when i come to nail into end grain the nails don't seem to countersink very well. My compressor is set at 6-6.5bar. Hope this helps.

Derek.

 

[Noel]

Screw up the compressor to 8 bar (never exceed this, or else...bit of a bang might happen)). I've the same gun (BN1850) and as I said, never a problem.
Let us know if it makes any difference (it should).

Noel

 

[Aragorn]

I have this nailer too, and no probs. As Noely says, your pressure is too low, but also just adjust the depth screw on the nailer to give you the countersink you'd like.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers guys pressure was to low and do any of you know where i can get my hands on a couple of the no-mar pads for the bostitch nailer as mine has seen better days.

Derek.