There are many different types of fasteners in woodworking and they all have different applications. Basically a fastener is used to join two pieces of lumber together, or to join lumber to another type of material such as concrete or metal. Some fasteners such as nails, screws and bolts are metal, while others like dowel and biscuits, are made of lumber. There are yet other fasteners. Adhesive is a fastener and so are certain types of joints such as the mortise and tenon, which are used to join furniture pieces together.
Some of the strongest fasteners are bolts, along with their nuts and washers. Bolts are usually used for external fastenings in buildings, but they can also be used for building such things as workbenches and router tables and shelving. Never use pliers to tighten a bolt, but use a wrench or socket wrench.
Woodworkers are most likely to use a lag bolt, which is actually a lag screw, since it needs no nut or washer on the other end. They are called bolts due to their head shape, which resembles that of a bolt, but they are driven into lumber as screws. There are many different types and sizes of screws. They give strength and stability to a project that a nail cannot give.
Nails are used a lot in carpentry, but not quite so much in woodworking. In furniture making, they are often used to attach trim on surfaces that will then be painted. The head of the nail must be set below the surface of the lumber so it can be puttied over, sanded and painted. Crates, jigs and other fixtures are made using nails. Nails can be driven in pneumatically if you don’t mind forking out a few extra dollars for the gear. It will save you a lot of time and effort if you do much nailing. There is a lot less movement with pneumatic nailers, so your job will be more precise.
You can also get pin nailers for use when nails may be too big or thick. Pins are like nails with no heads, only much finer and when driven into the lumber they can hardly be seen. Staples are another type of fastening used for jobs not requiring the strength of a nail or screw.
Adhesives are frequently used in woodworking to join stock. Even a mortise and tenon join must be glued together. If you join two pieces using biscuits or dowelling, adhesive will be used as well.
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