[reds_21]

I am in the process of making a shotglass display case/box for my wife and have used a rabbett on the sides to hold it together. now the question i have is what is the best way to glue the joints? should i use glue or glue and nails? what is the best way? i should use something more than glue right?

if i do use nails, what type??? my sides are 2" wide so theres no a whole lot of room for nails.

any suggestions?

reds_21
shawn

 

[Visteonguy]

Hi Shawn.

I would vote for the glue AND nails.... Do you have a pnumatic nail gun, like a brad nailer, Shawn ? They drive brads in there and leave a very small hole that is easy to hide. The brad actually just holds it in place while the glue sets up and I think that is where ya really get your strenght...
If you got enough room and have a biscut joiner,,, maybe you could sneak a biscut in there to increase the strenght of the joint, to tackle it from another point of view.
One nice thing about wood working,,,, there are lots of ways to get you where you want to go.
Another way would have been to make box joints at the ends of the joining peices and glue them,,, they are easy with the jig that Bob demo's on his show and work great and also look like you put a lot of craftsmanship into the peice.

 

[Routerbit]

If feasible, use glue and staples. Staples are a better fastener than nails
for the application you cited.

 

[reds_21]

Terry

I do have an air gun. it holds 3/8"-2" nails. would this be to big or should i go smaller?

shawn

 

[reds_21]

routerbit........

i do have a heavy duty stapler but i think it's the wrong kind of stapler your referring to. it is a stapler that i used to hang xmas lights up on the side of the house or if i want to fasten cable tight to the wall. can i use this or what else did you have in mind?

shawn

 

[GoonMan]

Hello reds_21,

I use 16 and 18 gauge finishing nailers or brad nailsers as some call them and have a 1/4" Crown Molding Stapler that I use on some shelfs. Before I bought my Crown Stapler I used the 18 gauge nailer and sometimes the 16 gauge nailer and glue on most of my shelf work. I picked up the stapler at Harbor Freight for $19.95 on sale. I have started using the crown stapler more and more now that I have gotten used to it.

 

[Visteonguy]

Well, Shawn, it depends on the size of the hole it leaves behind,,, and that would depend on the gauge size of the nails,,,, Staplers are nice too, they do have better holding power. but leave a noticable hole, because they are,,,, Staples,,,,, if you are putting them some place where they will not be noticed, then they are fine ... like holding on the back or something like that,,, If I was going to have to fasten the side or front,,, I would stick with the air brad or finnish nailer,, becaues you can just put a dab of wood puddy in the hole if its noticable,,, hahaha I think I have bought EVERY nailer that Harbor Freight sells,,, and they work fine for me,,, especially at the prices they ask for them,,,
I see that Randy is a desciple of HF,,,, great !

Shawn.. you did not say what gauge your nailer is,,, could be maybe about 16 gauge,,, shoot it into a peice of scrap wood and see what the hole looks like,, if you can live with it and have nails that are a good size to use, just use it and then fill the holes to hide them. I do not think the longest ones are a good choice in this case,,, too much of a chance to blow out the side and ruin your peice. You are really depending on the glue to do most of the holding together in the end, so dont go over board on the nails and creat more work for yourself to hide them.

I made a golf ball display case not long ago and it is probably a lot like what you are making,,, not a lot of nails in it... mostly glue.

 

[reds_21]

Terry

i actually bought my nail gun through grizzly, there web address is: www.grizzly.com. i bought model number H5527. it is an 18gauge 3/8"-2" nail gun. is this a bit much for what im doing? just because my gun holds 3/8"-2" nails, can i put smaler nails in it or is that the only size it can hold?

well my box isn't as decked out as yours, more of a box than decorative!!!!

as for harbor freight, im not to fond of them, we have one down the road but steer away from that as much as possible. haven't heard a lot of positive feedback. but to each his own right? whatever floats the boat!!!!

once i get some pictures of the box i'll post them but it won't be for awhile. trying to get some of the other issues out of the way that im having with my router table.

thanks
shawn

 

[jerrymayfield]

The gun will accept brads as small (in lenght) as 3/8" or as long as 2" ,or any available size in between. The glue you use is stronger than the wood itself, the brads just secure the joint while the glue dries. If you have enough clamps the brads (mechanical fasteners) aren't really necessary.

regards

jerry

 

[reible]

The gun will accept brads as small (in lenght) as 3/8" or as long as 2" ,or any available size in between. The glue you use is stronger than the wood itself, the brads just secure the joint while the glue dries. If you have enough clamps the brads (mechanical fasteners) aren't really necessary.

regards

jerry

Jerry is right about the glue. Way back in highschool shop one of the tests we had was to glue up a bunch of joints and to pass the wood had to break not the glue.... it was a trick test as everyones failed with the wood breaking.

Ed

 

[reds_21]

thanks guys!!!!!

shawn

 

[Visteonguy]

Shawn, sorry to hear about your experiences with HF... but Grizzly is a great place to shop too,,, I have their 16 inch band saw and am happy with it. 3/8's to 2 inch is a good span of sizes for the gun, and 18 gauge is a good size for finnish nailing,,, leavea quite a small hole. I would not try and put any nails in it that are not specified,,, you may damage the gun or surly have a lot of jams that will frustrate you to no end. Only gun I know of that is smaller is one called a "Pin nailer" but thats just for installing small or fine molding and things like that. Those nails are so small,, they do not even have heads on them and leave a hole so small, you have to really look to see it. One of the wood magazines I get, just did a tool test on pin nailers and that is the only experience I have with them,, but they said once you use one, you will love it,, because they leave such a small hole and you can just about forget about spending time hiding those holes. But they are meant to be used for just light duty work like the trim and NOT for structural work where strenght is a concern. Good luck with the shot glass box.

 

[GoonMan]

Hello shawn,

If you are looking for a good stainable wood filler that stains good I have used on a recent project you can try Timbermate, I found it to be very good and like the way it took stain. The only thing I have had to get used too is it smells like a bandade.

 

[reds_21]

thanks randy

 

[Routerbit]

Shawn, you are right. I'm speaking about a 1/4" wide staple shot by
a pneumatic stapler. Been proven to hold thin sheets of ply much better
than brads.

 

[ryan.s]

Hello reds_21,

I use 16 and 18 gauge finishing nailers or brad nailsers as some call them and have a 1/4" Crown Molding Stapler that I use on some shelfs. Before I bought my Crown Stapler I used the 18 gauge nailer and sometimes the 16 gauge nailer and glue on most of my shelf work. I picked up the stapler at Harbor Freight for $19.95 on sale. I have started using the crown stapler more and more now that I have gotten used to it.

Goonman and Visteonguy - Don't mean to change the topic but have you guys had problems with the staplers/nailers from HF? Any differences compared to the PC guns? I have the PC brad and finish nailer and love them but was thinking about spending less on the stapler since I won't be using it too much. Thanks.

 

[Visteonguy]

Hi Ryan, I have several air nailers from HF and used them quite a bit,,, I so far only have bought 1 stapler from em but only used it a little bit,,so far,,, its been acceptable with no problems,,, and I really expect not to many from it,,,Its just that I have not done many projects where I could use the stapler because they for the most part would have been used in a visible spot so I stuck with brad, and finnish nailers in stead, to be less noticable,

But I would have no problem with buying them.

 

[GoonMan]

Goonman and Visteonguy - Don't mean to change the topic but have you guys had problems with the staplers/nailers from HF? Any differences compared to the PC guns? I have the PC brad and finish nailer and love them but was thinking about spending less on the stapler since I won't be using it too much. Thanks.

Hello ryan,

I have and use the HF 1/4" Crown Stapler and this is the only one I own or have tried. I have not tried it on Oak yet but it does seem to work fine in Poplar and a few other woods. I thought about buying a Bostick before buying a HF but the Price is what I liked the best for what I use it for.

 

[fibertech]

I have an 18 guage brad nailer and 1/4" stapler / brad nailer from Harbor Freight. I paid $19.95 each. I am completely satisfied. I do buy PC brads from Home Depot. Just another example of not having to invest a fortune. The brads work perfect in 1/2" oak. The hole is very small and easy to patch and stain.

 

[ryan.s]

Visteonguy, Goonman, Fibertech - Thanks for the responses guys. I stopped in at HF and picked up the stapler. I guess for the price you really can't go wrong.