nail gun vs screws

[Tim.S]

Part of my day job is building vastly expensive wooden decks - If I built them with either a nail gun or with the screws showing I would soon be out of a job!
Cedar decking is always screwed with stainless screws as ordinary steel reacts with the Cedar to leave a stain. However when it comes to wooden beehives the criteria are somewhat different. If i was just knocking up a few hives then I see no problem with stainless screws, pre-drill if you are worried about the wood splitting. If I was building loads of them then ITLD has got it spot on I reckon, nail gun and ring shank nails. Cosmetics don't worry the bee's too much, just a water tight and draught proof hive.
And by the way, power tools may look like fun but trust me the novelty wears off by the umpteen thousandth screw. Just a means to an end.

 

[pargyle]

Part of my day job is building vastly expensive wooden decks - If I built them with either a nail gun or with the screws showing I would soon be out of a job!
Cedar decking is always screwed with stainless screws as ordinary steel reacts with the Cedar to leave a stain. However when it comes to wooden beehives the criteria are somewhat different. If i was just knocking up a few hives then I see no problem with stainless screws, pre-drill if you are worried about the wood splitting. If I was building loads of them then ITLD has got it spot on I reckon, nail gun and ring shank nails. Cosmetics don't worry the bee's too much, just a water tight and draught proof hive.
And by the way, power tools may look like fun but trust me the novelty wears off by the umpteen thousandth screw. Just a means to an end.

Totally agree ... I use drywall screws and the most useful thing I bought is one of the bits for my cordless drill for inserting these screws into plasterboard ... it stops you from screwing the screw in deeper than the surface of the plasterboard. On timber it stops you from driving the screw in too far in softwood and splitting it ... a final quarter turn with a screwdriver by hand just nips the joint up tight ... but I don't have 50 hives to build !

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Drywall-M...Hand_Tools_Equipment&var=&hash=item2a31cfb7b1

There are others (cheaper) on ebay ... search drywall bits.

 

[MnBee]

I have used 90 degree galvanized sheet metal corners on the outside of the box attached with pan head wood screws. The screws are well away from the board ends so everything stays solid. Nothing fancy looking but it has worked well for me and is fast to assemble. Add some exterior wood glue for more strength and to seal the end grain from moisture for more protection (cheap insurance).