Good quality nails

[Jansson69]

Yes, I re-clad a cabin I have. The first short side I hand-nailed (then my shoulder was messed up for 6 months 😂 Being a desk jockey and all), after that I bought the gun and set it as you said, leaving about 1 cm so I could hand-tap it in. It worked great, and what a huge difference in time spent.

Yes, even if you have forearms the size of your upper arms, there's a limit where it wears you out too much. I've agreed to hand-nail sometimes, but then you don't do the paneling in one go; you do other things in between, maybe paneling 1-2 days a week, and then do interior work. But it's not the most time-efficient, so not many want to take the financial hit, so to speak. It's great with a nail gun as long as you set it up and don't just pepper away but take it easy.

 

[fribygg]

Why do carpenters often hand nail paneling instead of using a nail gun?

It looks much nicer if you can hand nail, and the facade is likely to last longer.

 

[Nygge72]

It looks much nicer if you can use hand nails; the facade is also likely to last longer.

In what way do you mean that the wood would know/act differently if it's hand-nailed versus with a nail gun? If you drive the head in too far, I understand it can cause damage, while with a nail gun it's faster with reduced cracking. So I find it hard to see that it would make a difference.

 

[Jansson69]

In what way do you mean that the wood would know/act differently if it's hand-nailed compared to with a gun? If you drive the head in too far, I understand that you can damage it, while with a gun it goes faster with reduced crack formation. So I find it hard to see that it would make a difference.

You speak like a pro😉

 

[Nygge72]

You speak like a pro😉

🤣

 

[fribygg]

In what way do you mean that the wood would know/act differently if it's hand-nailed versus with a nail gun? If you drive the head in too far, I understand it can cause damage, but at the same time, using a gun is faster and reduces splitting. So I find it hard to see how it would make a difference.

It is likely that there will always be one or a few nails that go too far into the facade when you use a machine, and in those spots, you'll have moisture intrusion into the wood over time and a risk of damage.

 

[Nygge72]

There will likely always be some nails that go too far into the facade if you nail with a machine, and in those places you'll eventually get moisture infiltration into the wood, risking damage.

That's probably true, but since I'm not a professional carpenter with the same feel, I would think that even with a hammer, I would hit some too hard and damage the wood.

This is something I've heard before and read about because I'm not a professional carpenter and want to do it right. But I don't think I've ever come across an article that actually proves this thesis that it would be so damaged that the board breaks down much faster and what time frame we're talking about.

In my view (but I could be wrong), this nail is in an outer position where air continuously passes through, so it should also ensure drying out moisture that might come into the depression, right?

 

[Hep]

Then it is (according to those who give advice) better to nail by hand because then you separate the fibers where the nail goes in, while you have the fibers cut off if you shoot in with high velocity. Broken fibers absorb more moisture. How much it affects, I have no idea.

 

[Jansson69]

I would guess that nowadays the majority of all paneling is nailed using a gun when building new or doing complete renovations where the paneling of the entire house is replaced, sure there are some who hand nail everything but they are probably few..