{"id":106425,"date":"2019-09-13T06:52:31","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T11:52:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=106425"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:35:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:35:50","slug":"nails-or-screws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/skills\/homeownership\/nails-or-screws\/","title":{"rendered":"Nails or Screws?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Should<\/a><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got a weekend project that involves working with wood. Maybe you\u2019re building a<\/span> weightlifting platform<\/span><\/a> or a <\/span>workbench<\/span><\/a> or a <\/span>dining room table<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever your DIY project, one question is likely to arise: should you use nails or screws to fasten the pieces of wood together?<\/span><\/p>\n

Like most things in life and craftsmanship, it depends. <\/span><\/p>\n

Below we lay out the considerations that answer a query that has riddled many a man\u2019s mind while walking the aisles of Home Depot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding Grip Strength and Shear Strength<\/h3>\n

To know when to use nails or screws, you first need to understand the difference between grip strength and shear strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Grip<\/a><\/p>\n

Grip strength is the ability of a fastener to draw wood together. You typically want a lot of grip strength when force is placed vertically on a fastener and the pieces of wood it\u2019s securing together. The best example of this is decking. When you walk on a deck, you\u2019re applying vertical force on the decking planks and joists. You want them drawn tightly together so they don\u2019t come apart. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Shear<\/a><\/p>\n

Shear strength is the amount of force a fastener can handle from the sides. Using our deck example, a fastener used to connect the joist to the deck frame would experience shear force, so you\u2019d want to use one with a lot of shear strength. <\/span><\/p>\n

Screws for Grip Strength; Nails for Shear Strength<\/h3>\n

Screws are actually pretty brittle compared to nails. If you apply enough shear force to the side of a screw, it snaps. You may have seen a screw head pop off while driving one into wood before. So screws don\u2019t have a lot of shear strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

While screws don\u2019t have a lot of shear strength, they do provide a lot of grip and tensile strength. Screws will keep wood together when faced with vertical force and won\u2019t break down when lots of vertical force is applied to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nails are able to bend under pressure, and rarely snap when subjected to shear force. They\u2019ve got a lot of shear strength. But they don\u2019t have a lot of grip or tensile strength. <\/span><\/p>\n

So with that in mind, when you\u2019ve got a project where weight or gravity bears down on the fastener, a screw is your best option. This scenario will be the most common in your DIY projects; the weightlifting platform, workbench, and table mentioned above are all examples of times you use screws to fasten the wood together. If the fastener will bear more side-to-side movement, a nail is the better choice. And of course, sometimes you use both; when <\/span>building a sawhorse<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019d use screws for the I-beam section, and then nails to attach legs to it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Forget Context<\/h3>\n

While screws are better fasteners when grip strength is needed and nails the best fastener for when shear strength is needed, either one will work in most situations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even seasoned builders will use screws when a nail would have been better simply because it\u2019s easier to remove a screw in case of a mess-up. You just flip your power drill into reverse. Getting a nail out is harder. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes they’ll use a nail even when a screw would be the best option because of aesthetic reasons. Nails, particularly small nails, don\u2019t leave much of an imprint in wood after you\u2019ve nailed them in. <\/span><\/p>\n

You have to consider your context, <\/span>use your phronesis or practical wisdom<\/span><\/a>, and pick the best option. With experience, you\u2019ll learn when it\u2019s best to use nails or screws or when it doesn\u2019t matter so much.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve got a weekend project that involves working with wood. Maybe you\u2019re building a weightlifting platform or a workbench or a dining room table.  Whatever your DIY project, one question is likely to arise: should you use nails or screws to fasten the pieces of wood together? Like most things in life and craftsmanship, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,42277,42259],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-106425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-homeownership","category-skills"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium_large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Nails-or-Screws-Header-BLANK-768x429.jpg","large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Nails-or-Screws-Header-BLANK-538x280.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Nails-or-Screws-Header-BLANK-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Nails-or-Screws-Header-BLANK-320x179.jpg","reactor-640":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Nails-or-Screws-Header-BLANK-640x357.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106425"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106451,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106425\/revisions\/106451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106425"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=106425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}