How to stop wood spliting when nailing.

How many times have you gone to nail a piece of timber onto something and it splits the grain.

There is a simple practical solution, which requires no more than the nail you are using and the hammer in your hand.

Turn the nail over so the head is against the timber, and point facing up. Place it on the timber where the nail is to be fixed, strike the nail with the hammer. This does two things, it forms a depression in the timber fibres and blunts the point of the nail.

Now turn the nail over, place the point in the depression just made and drive the nail in, this tip has worked well for me over the years.