If your “75 mm” nail is a 16d common, the standard parlance, you’re gonna get splits. One traditional way of avoiding splits is to turn the nail upside down and blunt the sharp end of the nail with your hammer. This blunting causes the nail to tear through the grain of the wood instead of dividing it into a split. It isn’t a perfect solution like pre-drilling, but helps a lot.
It’s a little harder to drive a blunt nail, but it will not split as much. A 20oz hammer should be fine, and keep your nails 3/4” from the edges and 1-1/4” from the end. In the old days, RW decks were most often fastened with galvanized nails. We usually used box nails instead of commons but they are quite a bit harder to drive without bending.
If your “75 mm” nail is a 16d common, the standard parlance, you’re gonna get splits. One traditional way of avoiding splits is to turn the nail upside down and blunt the sharp end of the nail with your hammer. This blunting causes the nail to tear through the grain of the wood instead of dividing it into a split. It isn’t a perfect solution like pre-drilling, but helps a lot.
Thanks for the tip! I'd never heard of this before but I'll be sure to give it a try.
Who would know that a blunt nail works better than a sharp one!
It’s a little harder to drive a blunt nail, but it will not split as much. A 20oz hammer should be fine, and keep your nails 3/4” from the edges and 1-1/4” from the end. In the old days, RW decks were most often fastened with galvanized nails. We usually used box nails instead of commons but they are quite a bit harder to drive without bending.
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely be bearing these in mind in future 😃