Rough Hardware: Nails, Nuts & Bolts

Nails

Straight, slender, pieces of metal having one end pointed and the other enlarged and flattened for hammering into wood or other building materials as a fastener.

Pako

Vernacular term for nail

Mild steel

A ferrous metal alloy made from Iron and Carbon. It is tough, ductile and malleable and mainly used for nails.

penny (d)

Designations for nail lengths

3x the thickness of the material being secured

Rule of thumb for nail length

Common nail

A cut or wire low-carbon steel nail, having a slender plain shank, a large circular head and a medium diamond point. Used where appearance is not a concern, as in framing.

Finishing nail

A slender nail made from finer wire than the common nail; has a brad-type head which permits it to be set below the surface of the wood, leaving only a small hole which can be puttied easily; used in finishing work.

Brad nail

A small finishing nail, usually of the same thickness throughout, with a head that is almost flush with the sides or a head that projects slightly to one side.

Box nail

Similar to a common nail but thinner; has a long shank which may be smooth or barbed.

Casing nail

A slender nail with a small, slightly flared head used for finishing work.

Ring-shank nail

A nail having a number of ring-like grooves around the shank to increase its holding power.

Clinch or clench nail

Any nail designed for clinching, after driving. Clinching is securing a nail, staple, screw or bolt, by hammering the protruding point so that it is bent over.

Roofing nail

A short nail having a barbed or ring shank and a comparatively large flat head; may be galvanized or bright; often provided with a neoprene, lead, or plastic washer; used to secure roofing felt or shingles to a roof-deck or roof boards.

Metal lath nail

a nail designed for securing a metal lath.

Electrician's staple nail

A u-shaped piece of metal or heavy wire, with pointed ends, driven into a surface to secure a sheet material, hold a hasp, etc.

Concrete nail

A hardened-steel nail having a fluted or threaded shank and a diamond point for hammering into concrete concrete or masonry. Also called masonry nail.

Face-nailing

Type of nailing in which the nails are driven perpendicular to the face of the material.

Blind-nailing

Also called concealed or secret nailing; Nailing in such a way that the nail heads are not visible on the face of the work. In finished roofing, the use of nails that are not exposed to the weather.

Toe-nailing

Also called skew or tusk nailing. Nailing obliquely to the surfaces being joined.

Screws

Metal fasteners having tapered, helically threaded shanks and slotted heads, designed to be driven into wood or the like by turning, as with screwdriver.

Fine-threaded screws

Screws generally used for hardwoods

Coarse-threaded screws

Screws used for softwoods

Wood screw

A helically threaded metal fastener having a pointed end; forms its own mating thread when driven into wood or other resilient material.

Metal screw

Used for screwing into metal

Lag screw, lag bolt, coach screw

A bolt having a square head and a thin, coarse-pitched thread.

Screw anchors

Similar to expansion bolts; having a metal shell with a screw along its central axis; when the shell is placed in a hole and the screw is driven in, the shell expands, tightly securing the anchor in the hole. Locally called a tux screw with a plastic shell.

Tekscrew

A screw used to fasten metal roofing sheets to the purlins.

Bolts

threaded metal pins or rods, usually having a head at one end, designed to be inserted through holes in assembled parts and secured by a mating nut.

Self-tapping screw

A coarse threaded screw designed to tap its corresponding female thread as it is driven. Also called tapping screw.

pierno

Vernacular term for bolt

Carriage bolts

Bolts with a smooth rounded head that has a small square section underneath. Used where the head may be inaccessible to the placement of a nut.

Washers

Perforated disks of metal, rubber, or plastic used under the head of a nut or bolt or to a joint to distribute pressure, prevent leakage, relieve friction or insulate incompatible materials.

Lock washers

Washers specially constructed to prevent a nut from shaking loose.

Load-indicating washers

These washers have small projections that are progressively flattened as a bolt is tightened, the gap between the head or nut and the washer indicating the tension in the bolt.

Expansion bolts

Anchoring devices having an expandable socket that swells as a bolt is tightened into it; used in masonry walls for attaching timber.

Molly

Trademark for a brand of expansion bolt having a split, sleeve-like sheath threaded so that turning the bolt draws the ends of the sheath together and spreads the sides to engage a hole drilled in masonry or the inner surface of a hollow wall

Expansion shields

Lead or plastic sleeves inserted into a predrilled hole and expanded by driving a bolt or screw into it.

Toggle bolts

These bolts are used to fasten materials to plaster, gypsum board and other thin wall materials. They have two hinged wings that close against a spring when passing through a predrilled hole and open as they emerge to engage the inner surface of a hollow wall.

Rivets

Metal pins that are used for permanently joining two or more structural members by hammering down the plain end to form a second head.

Explosive rivets

These rivets are used when a joint is only accessible from one side. It has an explosive-filled shank that is detonated by striking the head with a hammer to expand the farther end.

Machine bolts

Threaded bolts having a straight shank and a conventional head such as a square, hexagonal, button, or countersunk type.

castellated nut

A nut having radial slits on its outer face to allow a locking pin or wire to be inserted in both the nut and hole in its bolt. Also called castle nut.

Lock nut

A nut specially constructed to provide extra friction between itself and a screw or bolt.

Cap nut

A nut having a hexagonal base and a domed top to cover the threaded end of a screw. Also called acorn nut.

Wing nut

A nut having two flat projecting pieces that provide a grip for tightening with the thumb and forefinger. Also called thumb nut.

tee nut

A nut designed to be driven into wood to create a threaded hole.