cracking furring strips

Submitted by vireoes on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 22:36

I am trying to nail on face frames made out of 1x2 furring strips to some bookshelves I have made. My strips keep cracking. I am using 2" finishing nails. Any suggestions for how to prevent this. It happens both at the ends and in the middle. I do not have a nail gun, so I am putting them in with a hammer. Thanks.

jgbreeden

Sat, 05/17/2014 - 15:22

One trick to avoid splitting wood with nails is to dull the tip of the nail. Before you pound in each nail, hold it upside down against a solid surface, and just lightly tap the tip of it with the hammer, flattening the point a little.

Other than that, you would need a drill smaller than your nails to pre-drill.