How to Drive a Nail Without Splitting the Wood

Co-authored by Sam Hubbard

Last Updated: December 23, 2023

When driving nails near edges or ends of hard, brittle, or knotty wood, you may have the misfortune of having a large crack appear, or even a piece of your lumber break out at the edge. There are a few ways of decreasing the likelihood of this happening.

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This is done by placing the nail on a hard surface with the point facing up, and tapping the sharp end with your hammer. The nail will thencut its way through the wood grain, rather than wedging a pathway. Though this puts all the material displacement along a single plain, rather than dispersing it all around the point of the nail.^{[1]
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For especially hard woods like oak or maple, you may have better luck if you dip the nail in petroleum jelly, which reduces the friction of the driving process, and can decrease the probability of the wood splitting.^{[2]
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Where end nailing is necessary, angle the nail so that it can be started farther away from the end, but the nail will still get a bite into the other board it is being nailed to.
Obviously, a 16d or 20d nail, with its larger diameter, will exert more force on the wood's grain, making the wood more likely to split.
For a 12d nail, about ³⁄₃₂ inch (0.2 cm) will reduce the pressure of the nail penetration without decreasing the nail's grip on the board.^{[3]
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Very dry wood is more likely to split, since the drier the wood is, the less flexible it will be.^{[4]
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Douglas Fir, Southern Yellow Pine, or Lodge pole Pine are less likely to split than are Oak, Birch, or Maple.^{[5]
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Knots are usually formed by heartwood, which is harder and less flexible than sapwood.
A tiny crack is a sure indication the wood will split if you continue, possibly ruining a board if it is being used for trim work. You may have to look at choosing another location for your nail, further from the end or edge of the board, or pre-drill a hole for a wood screw or other fastening method.

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What size nails (diameter and length) should I use for installing shoe moulding?

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I would use ones that are small in diameter with small, rounded heads. Make sure they are long enough to grip into something solid after they've penetrated the shoe moulding (and possibly drywall). You want the penetration to be at least the thickness of your shoe moulding, but two times as much would be better. You can greatly reduce splitting with any nail by taking your hammer and flattening the pointed end with a few gentle strikes. Then, rather than separating the wood fibers, you'll be punching them out in the shape of that nail which reduces the splitting.

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Should I be concerned about wood splitting at a later date when using soft wood?

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Not overly.

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Is aged wood hardwood?

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No. Hardwood is wood from broad-leaved temperate and tropical forest trees. Softwood is from gymnosperm trees such as conifers. Old-growth conifers like Southern Yellow Pine heartwood have a hardness scale similar to hardwoods. Hardness scale is different than hardwood.

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Do not use wood which has excessive moisture, since it will shrink as it dries, and even wood that appears sound may crack as it shrinks.

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Choose wood with a good moisture content, softwoods are typically kiln dried to about 11-14% moisture for stability and minimal shrinkage.

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