Overview
A cut nail is stamped from a flat strip of iron or steel, so it is rectangular in section, tapered in thickness, and has a blunt chisel point and a rectangular head. Because the blunt point cuts the fibres rather than wedging them apart, it splits wood less than a round wire nail of the same size and holds better across the grain. Early American and English country furniture was assembled with them: six-board chests, drawer bottoms, cupboard backs, and the boards of a carcase.
Types and sizes
Sizes use the penny (d) scale: the number gives length, as in the table above, so a "6d" is 2 in (51 mm), the 50 mm cut nail in the example library. Common forms are the common cut nail with a rectangular head, the finish cut nail with a small head for pre-drilling and countersinking, and the brad (a headless or L-headed cut nail) for flooring. Modern machine-cut nails are bright steel; reproduction work wants an iron nail that blackens or rusts to match.
Where it is used
Country-vernacular chests, plank doors and cupboards, and the Pennsylvania German painted pieces nailed their backs, drawer bottoms and board construction with cut or wrought nails, finished with paint or wax over the heads.
Choosing and sizing
Length is about three times the thickness of the board being fixed through, so that two-thirds of the nail lies in the second board: a 6d (2 in, 51 mm) nail through a 3/4 in (19 mm) board into a 1-1/2 in (38 mm) rail. Set the nail with the long dimension of its head across the grain, so the blunt edge cuts the fibres instead of wedging them apart (the same principle as an oval brad, which is driven with its long axis across the grain).
Installation
- Mark the line and the spacing: about 100 to 150 mm (4 to 6 in) apart along a joint, and not closer than 12 mm (1/2 in) to the end of a board.
- For hardwoods and near edges, pre-drill a pilot hole about 70 percent of the nail's thickness; in softwood you can drive directly.
- Drive with a hammer to just below the surface for a filled head, or leave the head proud for visible nailing. Use a nail set to avoid marring.
- Avoid nailing into end grain except as a secondary fixing; its holding power is poor.
Wood movement and species
When boards run across each other with cross-grain, nails must allow for movement: nail the centre of a wide panel and slot the rest, or fix only at the centre line (a drawer bottom nailed at the back lets it move at the sides). Iron cut nails corrode and stain in tannin-rich oak (see White oak and Red oak), leaving black marks and weakening the grip over decades. Soft pine takes them well (see Eastern white pine).
Common mistakes
- Nailing a wide board rigidly at both ends: it splits on drying.
- Driving the nail with the long axis of its head running along the grain: it wedges the fibres apart and splits the board.
- Nail too long: it comes through the other side.
Related
- Wrought nail: the hand-forged ancestor.
- Wire brad: the modern small round nail.
- Wood screw: removable alternative.
Styles it suits
Suitable for
Fixes into: softwood, hardwood.
Poor choice in
The reasons are in the wood movement and species section above.
In our designs
Our example designs model this as CutNail_50mm, placed with a hardware_mount join.
Sources
Updated 2026-10-03. Sizes and ratings are typical trade figures drawn from the sources above. A load rating is the maker's rating for one product, not a property of the type: check the maker's own sheet, and test a fit on scrap before cutting good wood.