12-23-2009, 12:52 PM
Thanks Tetters,
In the past, I had always assumed that the screws were better than nails. I thought that nails were used only because they were faster and cheaper. Now I am giving it more thought.
I looked around the internet and found opinions for both sides. I did not find any scientific studies or anything. I did find a video of a guy with a nail, a deck screw, and a sheetrock screw driven about 3/4 of their lengths into a board, and then he smacks them with a hammer. The drywall screw breaks right off, the deck screw breaks after several whacks, but the nail just bends. I'm not sure that this is a proper test however. A better test may be to actually fasten a board to the other board, with the fasteners driven properly, and then pound on the board. I think the screw may do better on this type of shear because some of the force is going to be transferred to a "pull" on the fastener.
I can think of a few ways to test this myself, of course, lacking scientifc instruments to determine the actual load at failure, etc.
I was surprised that the "drywall" screw snapped so easily. Mostly I am using the gray colored deck screws - I'm glad of that.
I wish I could find some actual engineering studies, because again, I don't think the "shear" is as important as some of the internet info makes it seem.
But dang it, you guys have me considering going back and adding nails in addition to the screws!!!!
Good stuff!
In the past, I had always assumed that the screws were better than nails. I thought that nails were used only because they were faster and cheaper. Now I am giving it more thought.
I looked around the internet and found opinions for both sides. I did not find any scientific studies or anything. I did find a video of a guy with a nail, a deck screw, and a sheetrock screw driven about 3/4 of their lengths into a board, and then he smacks them with a hammer. The drywall screw breaks right off, the deck screw breaks after several whacks, but the nail just bends. I'm not sure that this is a proper test however. A better test may be to actually fasten a board to the other board, with the fasteners driven properly, and then pound on the board. I think the screw may do better on this type of shear because some of the force is going to be transferred to a "pull" on the fastener.
I can think of a few ways to test this myself, of course, lacking scientifc instruments to determine the actual load at failure, etc.
I was surprised that the "drywall" screw snapped so easily. Mostly I am using the gray colored deck screws - I'm glad of that.
I wish I could find some actual engineering studies, because again, I don't think the "shear" is as important as some of the internet info makes it seem.
But dang it, you guys have me considering going back and adding nails in addition to the screws!!!!
Good stuff!
Three Foot Rule In Effect At All Times