Bill Tarbell Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 I'm building a oak shelving area near our basement door. It's the door we use most often so it'll likely be a spot to set things like keys, wallet, mail,, etc. The trouble is that I'm not sure how i should attach the shelves. My initial plan was to use glue and shoot brads down into the cleats i already put on the walls. However, my brad nailer wont fit comfortably into the corner and i'm worried it'll blow out the front of the cleat. With the way it lines up, it looks like it'll shoot and penetrate the cleat roughly 1/8" behind its front edge. The paneling is 1/4" plywood. The shelf is 9/16 thick oak The cleat is 9/16" wide on top and roughly 1 1/4" tall with a mitered edge. How would you attach them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Angle the brad nailer. let them tilt into the back of the cleat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted December 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 That was my original plan, but the magazine hits the front lip of the shelf causing me to make the nailer perpendicular to the shelf. This brings the tip of the nailer out away from the wall and gets dangerously close to the front lip of the cleat. I know i could turn the nailer sideways, but then i worry about the brad hitting grain and curling out the front of the cleat. (due to their flat shape, the brads only curl to the sides of the nailer, not to the front or back of it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Ok, a few thoughts. 18g? They curl however they want based on the easiest path. I have seen every curl possible. Usually a pin knot just below the surface... My concern with turning sideways would be splitting a chip out the back if you get too close You can pre-drill a hand brad, but tiny bits like to snap in oak. How thick is the case? Nothing behind the panel? If glue is the long term plan, the nails really only need to catch there. I personally think parallel clamps reach deep enough to grab those from the side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Cant you turn the nailer parallel with that cleat? From the pics i really don't see an issue. Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted December 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 My experience with nailers is relatively short. Am i over-estimating the risk of curl out by angling the nailer like so? Thanks for the tip on the random curlies. I have an 18" brad with various lengths and a 15g finish, but my shortest length permissible by the gun is 1 1/4". While the cleat can technically accept that length, it felt a bit long to me and only allowed for about 1/8 to 1/4" of wood below the bottom of the nail. Each cleat has 3-4 brads holding it to the paneling. Only one of the brads on each cleat is in a stud. The red lines in the pic are where the studs are. I considered hand nailing a finish nail but i wasn't sure how well that would go through so much oak. Also, while the cleats should be plenty to hold the shelf up, i don't think i want to test it against hammering in a handful of 1" nails. I'm not sure if glue alone is enough, but i figured the combo of glue and brads would be ok. This is the first time i've built something like this, so i've just been going with what has felt right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Turn it sideways parallel with the cleat. If it should happen to curl out, just use side cutters and clip it off. You'll never notice it Also, stay with shorter brads to stack the cards in your favor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wright Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 If youre worried about the nailer then just use some glue and add some weight on top of the shelf to hold it tight while the glue sets up. As small as those shelves are glue should be enough 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted December 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Thanks for the tips and encouragement. I went with glue and angling the nailer and it turned out fine. I guess i was a bit overly paranoid about the brads curling on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Some glue across the middle and two dots of hot melt glue to hold it temporarily . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 The best time to be paranoid about where the brads might curl out is when your hand is covering that spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said: The best time to be paranoid about where the brads might curl out is when your hand is covering that spot. Words to live by. I was installing some crown around the top of the kitchen cabinets & needed a 3rd hand to hold things in place. So I had my teenage son help me. I wisely explained that a brad could come out anywhere, so watch where your fingers are. I then shot the brad, which did a U-turn right into my thumb. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tarbell Posted January 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2016 Thanks again for the advice, everyone. Here's a couple before and after shots of the area. This was the first time i'd built something like this so it was a bit of learning experience. The project was sparked when i bought a thermal camera and noticed that the wall around the door was leaking a lot of heat. Turns out that when the prior owner sealed up the former garage door opening and installed this door he didn't bother adding any insulation behind those white wooden panels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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