Yanked from /. but worth spreading around.

[wolfwings]

What would you say if I told you that simply changing from 'plain' nails to well-engineered, super-modern design nails of the same physical size and able to be used in existing nailguns would single-handedly triple the strength of a wooden structure, so that the type and strength of wood becomes the limiting factor?

Behold the HurriQuake 2 nail.

This makes nails comperable to bolts and screws for useful holding strength in wooden structures. =^.^= Note it doesn't have the absolute gripping of Bolts, obviously, but it tends to make the strength of the wood the failure point, not the nail failing. :-)

Comments

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

Completely off topic, but I don't seem to have your email addy.

Are you still in the area and up for helping out on this project still for some cash? :) It will begin shortly...

Still available, yeah!

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

Up and down the coast this Saturday (hauling furniture around for a bit of cash) but available otherwise.

And yes, I still have the novel. It's safe and sound. =^.^=

wolfwings@gmail.com

Re: Still available, yeah!

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

Cool, this will all be weekday stuff anyhoos. Not 100% sure on location, but will know in the next few days. Either way it will be within an hour of my place.

[lironess.livejournal.com]

I never built anything that was intended to last as long as possible...but I know people who do..

Didn't get throught the whole article, did they mention removal?

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

Most carpenters don't remove nails even if they goof though, they just bash the nail sideways then use the nailgun and put another couple of nails in, instead.

And no, the HurriQuake nails are NOT easy to remove. They're not meant to be, that's why they work so well. :-)

[lironess.livejournal.com]

I would like my imaginary house to be made with them, but if my hands were still up to woodwork I think I would prefer screws, as I like to be able to take things apart too.

Well...

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

...these can be removed by hand, they basically have a short screw-thread at a shallow angle near the head, then ridges along the rest of the nail.

The problem with normal screws (especially in Quake-prone areas like California) is that they have almost no resistance to sheering, so they'll snap off under vibrations.

And most sections of walls, for example, never need to be removable. So sure, I can see using bolts (not screws, screws can only be re-set so many times before ruining the wood too) to fasten some sections together, but for just the drywall and basic stud-lengths I'd just use some HQ nails. :-)

Re: Well...

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, normaly a person does not want to take their house apart, but I used to build things like snake cages, rabbit cages, rat cages and the like. Sometimes I reused the wood, or just wanted to be able to take something apart to get rid of it without having to take it to the dump.

I also made a partition for my porch, so I could turn part of it into a turtle area. It was fun, I had grass turf and lots of plants. It was like a tiny jungle. My turtle does just fine now with run of the house and porch, but sometimes hides and it is hard to find her. Once in a while I find her on her back but that happened before too.

I never used a nail gun, and I am not sure how the threads can be used if it is going to be shot into the wood, but I am sure they figured it out.

Now the house I am in, that they are trying to sell, is on a deck block foundation, and if God forbid there was a big earthquake, I expect it to hop right off of the blocks and the blocks to come up through the plywood floor, and the house to just crumble. No matter what the fasteners. But hey, if I had a house built those nails sound really cool.