Box Construction Question

[Pond Creek Farm]

Hi all.  My sons and I are putting together some boxes and frames tomorrow.  My question surrounds the nails.  I would like to use 1.75 inch brads from our pneumatic brad nailer along with glue.  I do not have a finish or framing nailer.  Will this work or should I use bigger nails?  What about screws with glue?  The boxes did not come with nails, so I'll need to go to the hardware store tomorrow and pick out the fasteners.  Thanks for any help you all can offer.

[jimmyo]

I think they normally come with 2 inch nails.  I use deck screws and Gorilla Glue on my boxes. 
Jim

[rast]

 I also use deck screws, but use liquid nails on the boxes. But, I use a rabbit joint and not a box joint. I would use gorilla on a box joint. Would still use screws and not nails, the holding power of a nail is in its length. Longer is stronger.

[CBEE]

The brads will work fine if using a good glue along with them. I am partial to the deck screws myself also.

[malabarchillin]

I am always a big fan of deck screws for things that will eventually be disassembled, but I use Titebond3 (waterproof) and nails for my box joints. It is my hope that the glue will be what holds them together, but at the end of the life of the box I am not sure. If you look at the cross section of a screw and a nail they are quite different. In this application the nails are mostly in shear and IMO they will be there after the screws are gone. I may be wrong. Just my opinion. Again I think the glue is the key and the screws are 'clamps' until the glue dries. I do use air-brads during glue-up for temp hold while I use a framing square to get everything square then add nails. Everything but glue may be overkill, but do not want hidden rot to dump a box of bees on my feet in 10 years. For a hobby guy why not overkill a little (Xtra time and material costs are irrelevant). Commercial is different.

[Joseph Clemens]

I once used nails. Then I used glue and nails. It was annoying how the nails would creep out of the wood - the nail heads would frequently demonstrate their hazardous nature by catching on things. This happened despite the use of glue. For several years now, and presently, I use epoxy coated deck screws. The screws, with or without added glue, have held things together well - without becoming unsightly or developing a hazardous nature.

[rast]

 I also haven't yet thrown a screwdriver and grabbed my thumb as has happened with a hammer. :shock:

[Ross]

I shoot 2.5" finish nails.  The gun recesses them slightly in the wood.  I've never seen one back out, in fact I have to push them through if I need to remove one.  I use Titebond II still.

[rdy-b]

MY vote is for a six penny nail in the fingers but in the two that go through the rabbet you got to use a five penny or you will split the rabbet  8-) WORKS FOR ME  RDY-B

[Michael Bush]

Since I got a stapler I've been using 1.5" long 1/4" crown staples and they work fine.  The 1.25" are not long enough.

[steveouk]

does anyone do box joints to make there own deeps and suppers, i want to get a router but was wondering about a template for the box joints

[Pond Creek Farm]

Well we built them.  I used the screws in the deeps and nails in the mediums.  Glue with each, but the Gorilla Glue seems quite a mess.  My vote is for the nails.  My joints were tighter and the boxes square.  The screws (even with a larger pilot hole) split more and all in all were more trouble. 

[my-smokepole]

Personel feeling on Gorilla Glue is that I wish it was NEVER made. So far I have never found a project that was worth the mess that it makes. So I will keep my Titebond lll. Or if I have a major exterior Inportant peice to glue that is exterior West fiberglass resion. For boat building. For bee boxes it would be over kill. But for the front door of my home or something like that That is ment to last a 100 years why not.
My-smokepoles
 

[Michael Bush]

I've never used the gorrila glue, but I'm pretty happy with the exterior titebond or elmers carpenter glue.

[mgates61]

steveouk ,

No need for a router to do box joints, BUT, Don't tell the wife.........LOL.

Go to www.beesource .com for a set of plans for a box joint jig.  Table saw only.



Mike

[Pond Creek Farm]

I suppose that Gorilla Glue is like anything else:  you have to use it right to get good results.  I did not.  I am confident that I have a good bond, but I also have extruded glue that makes the hive look terrible.  (As a hobbiest, I still worry about that sort of thing).  It takes very little glue, and really I think it would need to be put on with a brush to evenly distribute the material.  It expands to 3x 4x its original voulume during its cure, and this is the reason for it coming out of the joints and looking unsightly.  I have experience with wood glue, and I thing that such a product along with nails (or staples) will work fine.  IN the future, that is what I will use.