To the Editor:
I appreciated Harris Hyman's informative
article on nail power (Practical
Engineering, 2/94), but I question the
assumption of the superiority of joist
hangers over toe-nailing.
Long before joists hangers were in
popular use, a carpenter (who in my
19 years of experience I still regard as
the finest I ever met) taught me to toenail
joists and rafters to headers and
ridge beams by stitching both sides of
the joist or rafter with 8d sinkers about
3/4 inch apart and staggered. We'd
blunt the point before it was driven. It
made for dainty work; no rigging axes
or even waffle heads on John's jobs,
thank you.
Years later, a change order drove
the lesson home. The