V-Nails.....Do I really need all three types?

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Val

Val

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Nov 21, 2005
Posts
6,729
Loc
Carson City, Nevada
For Soft, medium or hard woods......

I've finally used up all the v-nails that came with the shop, and ready to reorder. I have a MitreMite VN2 and have been using the ones for hardwood for just about everything and it seems to be fine. Do I really need to even purchase a box for softwood? I have used the 5mm for shallow mouldings and the 10mm for deeper ones, or piggy-back them for even deeper ones.

Thanks.
 
Hey Val

My motto..."KISS" I could never tell the difference and what's more, who has the time to be continually reloading and guessing on the hardness of the wood. I use exclusively Mitre Mite power twist Med/Hard... and 98% of the time, 10MM. Stack 'em on the deep frames or change out to 7MM on the other 2%. Works great!

Steve
 
v-nails

use only hard wood 10mm on 90% of jobs and 7mm on the rest. sometimes play with air pressure if extremely hard wood or when stacking on certain mouldings..experience counts on "guessing" which air pressure. Have euro technics machine.
 
Isn't there some 'rule' or something to the effect that you can use hardwood vnails on hard and soft wood, but you can't use soft vnails on hardwood.... Therefore, I use hardwood vnails on everything. I usually keep like 3 sizes in stock.
 
Val, I have a MitreMite also and most of the time use 7mm and stack them on deeper frames. On softer moulding I turn the preasure down so I don't smoosh it. I accidentally v nailed with no moulding in the machine and cut the felt pad, so I worry I could cause some damage to the face of a moulding. But I just can't see paying 35$ for a new "L" thingy. Wonder if you can just buy the felt pad?
 
Just repair the hold-down or get some more felt. I've made several of my own hold-down pads by gluing various densities of spongy materials to large fender washers. I also use homemade pads in between the standard hold-downs and the moulding when needed. One material that works nicely to prevent frame denting is the high-density foam kneeling pads they sell in the garden dept. at the hardware store this time of year. It is easily cut into whatever shapes you need.
I have had good luck purchasing v-nails from V-Nail.com . The 7mm Mitre-Mite brand were frequently jamming and shearing off, but I have had NO trouble with the ones from V-Nail.com. I also use one type for various woods, in 7mm and 10mm sizes, and vary the pressure as needed.
:cool: Rick
 
I have made several specialty hold downs from cutting a hockey puck and then drilling a hole for the rod that inserts into the piston of the hold down. The advantage of the hard rubber of the puck is that glue can be wiped off easily.
 
"Wonder if you can just buy the felt pad?"
you can w or w/o the metal holder....I use the following for a resupply about 1/yr

J&W Specialties, Inc.
231 White Oak Circle
Maitland, FL 32751
Telephone: (407) 645-5334
Fax: (407) 645-5334
Johnny
 
Yes, the three types are necessary. The soft ones are sharper and will cut rather than "barge" through the soft woods. Hard ones are blunt and less likely to split when driven into harder timbers, medium is rather self explanitory.

I tried messing about with the different sorts when I first got them - definitly convinced me. Try it out if you have any spare time.
 
Mrs.B said:
Val, I have a MitreMite also and most of the time use 7mm and stack them on deeper frames. On softer moulding I turn the preasure down so I don't smoosh it. I accidentally v nailed with no moulding in the machine and cut the felt pad, so I worry I could cause some damage to the face of a moulding. But I just can't see paying 35$ for a new "L" thingy. Wonder if you can just buy the felt pad?
Click to expand...

My L thingy didn't have a felt pad on it when I got here. I had a piece of candle wick that was exactly the right size, so I glued that on there. I'd say just buy some felt at the craft store and glue that sucker on ....cheap -I mean - inexpensive! I also have a piece of soft chamios that I will lay down on top of the more delicate mouldings.
 
I use alfamachine powertwist in a Euro 900 (9000?) bench mounted underpinner. Not the hardwood version, but I can stack them in ash as long as the pressure is max.

As for the pads, I have 3 attachments - piccies to follow tomorrow!
 
Save the pads by putting artist white tape on them. When it gets junky throw it away.

Yes you need to the different vnails. Start off right instead of thinking you have a machine the is a piece of junk. Do it right/

PL
 
Patrick, I do have a machine that is a piece of junk! Well, it needs a lot of work, poor thing. Never maintained properly (at all!) before I got here, it has a cylindar leak (Just found out, after asking here about hissssssing sounds, one of my reps, a former framer for many years looked at it and yep....it's not just a loose hose connection). But, with some repair and replacements, it should be okay soon....I hope!! It's still v-nailing okay, and I'm still learning about it (never used one before I got here) but it needs some TLC.
 
Val, my hubby is a mechanic by trade, and if he didn't help with maintenace on all the equipment around here I think I would have given up framing a long time ago! Ha, I've been framing for just 4 years!
When I get A Round Tuit I will experiment with all the different hold downs and v-nails. Problem is I spend too much time on The Grumble.
I just got my new MitreMite sander. I love getting new toys! Now I need a few customers to help me pay for it. Where is everyone? I think I've had 3 customers this week, no really nice jobs. I'm framing some new things for the gallery.
 
Make your own felt pads. Much cheaper. Just cut to fit and glue on. I rarely use those anymore, though. I use the round sandbags from LJ (the weights for rolled up art). Rep told me about that. They work fabulously, especially for the very ornate & delicate profiles.

Nails: Med/Hard
most of the time the 10mm
ocassionally the 15mm or 7mm
stack for deep frames
 
I also use the LJ weights, in addition to the felt pad. I adjust the felt so it just touches the moulding and then use the LJ weight and it fills in all the valleys in the mouldings shape. No need to adjust your hold down for differences in shape of moulding.

Caution if you use a weight other than LJ, test on scrap moulding first. Some of them have heavier shot in them (Nurre Caxton) and it will leave little demples in your mouldings.
 
Using a "Soft wood" v-nail on Snotwood, and other low-grade "Mahoganies" will go a long way toward cutting down on the "Crush" factor.
Also, if you are experiencing a "wedging open" of the back bottom of the joint... you're using "hard wood" on a soft wood.

"Medium" in MHO doesn't fit anywhere by maybe Poly. The international associations of Forestry don't list or recognize any wood as "Medium". Maybe it has "needles" that are desiduous and fall in winter..... :D
 
We have used a Euro Technics machine for 12 years and have experimented with all sorts and varieties of V nails. Most of the problems that we have experienced have been due to the overuse of glue and the failure to clean it up properly. We use hard wood V nails exclusively but have read all of the reasons for not doing so. Haven't changed and sleep well at night.

Jack Cee
 
David N Waldmann said:
Come on Baer - you DO know about the Larch/Tamarack, don't you?
Click to expand...

Aw, how'd you do that so fast, David??

I was also thinking about Bald Cypress as a "needled" tree that loses them in winter.
 
Larch/Tamarack, is that your new line David? The only "commercial" use of the that I know of (out here in the West) is about 16" long and split in ususally quarters or 6ths..... and burned.

Ditto for Cypress.

Esoteria is fun, but when I checked... this wasn't Warped so I answered in the vain that the question was asked.

Now as for Esoteric knowledge, I have you both beat.... Pinus longaeva. The needles can live for 20-30 years then drop. The area or entire limb can go dorment for hundreds of years, the revive or regenerate and put on grown for another 50-100 years.... almost enough time to add an inch to that section. As a "softwood" it is a soft to carve as Tulipwood, but holds an edge like Walnut and because of the cell structure and ring structure it is treated and considered much like a hardwood; but is easier to work than the true hardwood, Balsa.

So send me the sample set of your new Tamerack line Dave. Many in the west would enjoy good pinus.
 
Ah-yes. A very good species. Pinus longaeva is a very good one and of coarse is regarded dendrochronologists as the longest-lived of all nonclonal species, with many individuals known to have ages exceeding 4,000 years. Due to the resinous wood and extremely cold and arid habitat, decay of dead wood is extremely slow, and wood on the ground in some stands has ages exceeding 10,000 years. This has permitted building a continuous chronology of more than 8,000 years, which in turn has been used to calibrate the radiocarbon timescale. The species has been widely used in dendroclimatic reconstruction and in several classic studies of timberline ecology, obviously.
 
Informercial

Baer Charlton said:
Now as for Esoteric knowledge, I have you both beat.... Pinus longaeva.
Click to expand...
I saw a commercial last night that promoted this condition.
 
Thank you MrObvious, now I know that the 75lb log laying on the ground in my front yard won't rot away in my life time. :D

Now the small chunk off the Methusela ... sure makes a nice pen. :eek:
 
Baer Charlton said:
Esoteria is fun, but when I checked... this wasn't Warped so I answered in the vain that the question was asked.
Click to expand...

Baer,
When you said
Baer Charlton said:
The international associations of Forestry don't list or recognize any wood as "Medium". Maybe it has "needles" that are desiduous and fall in winter..... :D
Click to expand...

I thought you had taken it out of the vein of the question.

Sorry,
 
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