On Jun 23, 6:46 pm, Ray K wrote:
RicodJour wrote:
On Jun 23, 2:48 pm, Ray K wrote:
I'm building an outdoor planter box(about 6.25"x6.25"x13 feet)that will
attach to the side of my house. The pine lumber was nominally 1x8,
ripped to 6.25" and with a true thickness of 3/4". How should I select a
screw or nail to attach the 7.75 x 6.25" end cap? I only have 3/4" to
stick the fastener into, which means that there is only 3/8" of wood on
either side of the fastener.

The concern is splitting. Number 7 screws, 1.5" cause splitting, even if
I predrill; #6 screws can work if I predrill everything and am careful
to make the pilot holes perfectly parallel to the face of the lumber.
With about 40 fasteners required, this is tedious.

The original box was held together with 1.5" staples. I don't own a
stapler, but renting one is a possibility. Any suggestions for nail sizes?

The screws aren't flat head screws, are they? If so the taper under
the visible head surface (sorry, I'm not up on screw terminology) will
tend to cause the wood to split as it's driven deeper. If you use pan
head screws you won't have that problem.

Yes, the screws I used for testing have flat heads, somewhat like sheet
rock screws. I could countersink the holes to prevent this problem.
Wouldn't I also have to countersink for pan head screws to get them
flush with the lumber?


RIco's comment of the flat heads tending the split the wood is "spot
on"

Even if you countersink for the head the splitting potential is still
there because of the shape of the underside of the head....its like a
wedge.

The underside of a pan head is flat so even if you counterbore (that's
the correct term for a straight sided hole that the head goes into)
there is no wedging action to cause the split .

My suggestion is long (2") #6's with 3/32 pilot hole, use a 6" long
drill bit (the long length will help you with your hole alignment)

Use some scrap material to practice.....pine is pretty soft, you
might have to adjust the pilot drill size up or down.

Bigger pilot, less bite, screw might strip out
Smaller pilot, more bite, wood might split

The hole thru the end caps should be screw diameter not pilot size.


oops! I should have read furhter before posting redundant info


cheers
Bob