box nails

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Box nails are made for use in thin dry wood. To reduce a nail's tendency to split such wood, the point is slightly blunted, so that it crushes the wood fibers and punches its way through instead of enlarging a crack. Box nails are thinner than the corresponding penny size in common nails, and about ¹⁄₈ inch shorter than their nominal size. Often they are coated with a resin (such as nylon) that is melted by the heat generated in driving the nail and glues the nail in place.

The Uniform Building Code allows the use of galvanized box nails instead of common nails for shear wall nailing. The zinc coating increases the diameter of the thinner box nail. Only galvanized nails are permitted, and even so perhaps 5 box nails should be used where 4 common nails would have been.

Style A may have a barbed shank.

Style A
Size	Nominal length, inches	Gauge	Diameter, inches	Number per pound
2d	1	15½	0.067	1010
3d	1¼	14½	0.076	635
4d	1½	14	0.080	473
5d	1¾	14	0.080	406
6d	2	12½	0.099	236
7d	2¼	12½	0.099	210
8d	2½	11½	0.113	145
9d	2¾	11½	0.113	132
10d	3	10½	0.128	94
12d	3¼	10½	0.128
16d	3½	10	0.135	71
20d	4	9	0.148	62
30d	4½	9	0.148
40d	5	8	0.162	35

cement-coated, diamond-point, flat head, round smooth shank.

Type B
	Length, inches	Gauge	Head diameter, inches	Number in a pound
2d	1	16½	0.172
3d	1 1/8	16	0.188
4d	1 3/8	15½	0.203
5d	1 5/8	15	0.219
6d	1 7/8	13½	0.250
7d	2 1/8	13½	0.250
8d	2 3/8	12½	0.266
9d	2 5/8	12½	0.266
10d	2 7/8	11½	0.297