Lisa Sasser wrote:

> The old carpenters I knew claimed that cut nails held better and
> weren't as apt to split the wood.  I would tend to believe the first,
> but am not to sure about the second.
>
> Lisa

Lisa,

My grandfather introduced me to nails and sawdust as it was my
apprenticeship to gather up and sort the nails on his shop floor.
He was very fond of baby food jars with their caps screwed to the joists
overhead.

I would lean towards the "not split wood" reason as the cut nail tends
to rip and cut through the wood whereas the wire nail spreads it.

A trick of the framer's trade is to flatten the point of a wire nail
when you are nailing near the end of a stud in order that it cut through
the wood rather than split it.
Another trick, not so easy done with a cut nail, is to pre-bend the nail
for nailing on a curve.

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