Many types and sizes of nails are available, each one engineered for a specific use. The differences may seem small, but they can have a significant effect on the soundness and appearance of your job. Here's a guide to choosing among the standard types of nails:

Use common nails and box nails for framing jobs. Box nails are a bit thinner for lighter work. Cement-coated nails drive in more easily and hold more firmly. Use roofing nails for roof shingles and wherever a wide head is needed to hold material that might tear if a smaller head is used. Choose hot-dipped over electroplated galvanized nails; they'll last much longer.

Casing and finishing nails handle medium- and heavy-duty finishing work. For very fine work, use wire brads. Ring-shank and spiral nails grab wood more tightly than conventional nails. Specially hardened masonry nails penetrate mortar joints, brick, and even concrete. Corrugated fasteners are used mainly for strengthening wood joints; they do not hold well by themselves. You can save money by buying nails in bulk, rather than in the box. However, it is handy to have boxes marked with the nail size.

nails

Pennies and Inches In Great Britain in the 1400s, you could buy 100 medium-size nails for 8 pennies. It didn't take long for inflation to destroy that designation, but we use the term penny to this day to size nails. The abbreviation "d" for penny is derived from denarius, a small, silver Roman coin used in Britain that, from early times, equated with a penny.

Inch equivalent of nails sizes: 3d=1 1/4" 4d=1 1/2" 6d=2" 7d=2 1/4" 8d=2 1/2" 10d=3" 12d=3 1/4" 16d=3 1/2" 20d=4"

The Nail for the Job Use nails three times as long as the thickness of the material you are fastening. For instance, to attach a 1x4 (3/4 inch thick), a 6-penny nail (2 inches long) will be a bit short. An 8-penny nail (2 1/2 inches long, a little more than three times the thickness of the 1x4) will do better. Make sure the nail will not poke through the material to which you are fastening.