Dowels for timber

Building a house or any room from a bar is not an easy procedure. For this work, it is necessary to use not only a standard set of tools and materials, but also dowels.

The dowel for the construction of structures from a bar is a small fastener with a round or square section. Translated from German, this word means "nail". The device looks like a pin, which is often made of wood. This type of fastening has a smooth surface, otherwise gaps may form in the wall. The presence of a dowel helps to prevent displacement of the beam and to keep each of the structural elements at the same level, which has the following advantages:

• resistance of the structure to corrosion processes;
• no deformation during temperature changes.

It is worth noting that dowel structures last longer and are more complete. There are also disadvantages to wooden nails:

• slow assembly procedure;
• difficult workflow for people who have no skills;
• direct dependence of the result of work on the quality of products.

Wooden dowels are also called dowels and nails made of wood. Their diameter can be 6-20 mm, and the length is 25-160 mm. For a bar of a certain size, a dowel with appropriate dimensions must be used. For a bar with dimensions of 150x150 mm, fasteners of 22.5-37.5 cm are required, and for a bar of 100x150 mm, a little less. It is quite simple to use pins, however, craftsmen should remember that the distance from the hardware to the corner should not be more than 70 cm.

Dowel connections for timber are strictly regulated GOST R 56711-2015. According to this standard, the dowel can be made of wood, metal and plastic. Wood fasteners have found their way into individual construction.

Nagels can have different types, some of them produced with screw threads. First of all, they can have different sectional shapes, namely, rectangular, round, square. Often, craftsmen use round-shaped fasteners, since holes are quite simple for them. According to the material of manufacture, dowels are divided into the following types.

Wood dowels are characterized by ease of manufacture and use. With their help, you can securely fasten the bars. The presence of wooden nails contributes to the ease of shrinkage. Among other things, wood is an environmentally friendly and safe material. Dowels of this type are made from hard wood species, namely oak, birch, beech. Despite the fact that iron pins are stronger, more reliable and withstand heavy loads, wooden pins have their own advantages over them:

• the metal device does not have resistance to shear forces due to elasticity;
• since the iron fastening is capable of forming a rigid adhesion of a wooden beam, natural shrinkage does not occur, therefore the walls are warped, cracks and cracks form on them;
• during hammering, metal hardware can break the wood fiber, due to which cracks form inside the structure and, as a result, cold bridges.

Iron fasteners are considered strong and reliable, but they corrode. It is also worth noting that in this case, shrinkage will be more difficult than usual.On sale you can also find fiberglass pins, which are attached with a rigid fixation. When choosing a dowel material, it is worth taking into account the nature of the logs used and the holes prepared in them. Consumers often have a question about replacing a wooden rod with a metal one.

The dowel for a wooden bar has found its application in the fastening of crowns along a well-defined trajectory. The opinion of some consumers that these products pull together the structure of the structure is erroneous. The dowel, fixed in the end of the timber, ensures that the wood hangs in its original position. The use of this device prevents the building from being pulled sideways.

Installation with dowels is relevant not only during the construction of a house, but also during the assembly of furniture... This fastener fights drying out, deformation, loosening, displacement of timber structures.

When buying a dowel, the consumer should pay attention to the following points.

• Surface defects... The master should refuse to purchase a product that has even the slightest defect. If you install a defective dowel, then you should not count on a long service life.
• Storage conditions. This factor is considered appropriate for timber fasteners, as they are not resistant to all negative environmental factors.

In order for the assembly of the wooden structure to be correct, the master will need not only to correctly install the pins, but also to prepare the necessary tools, in particular, a drill. The step-by-step instructions for the procedure are as follows.

• Determine the location of the future building... It should be borne in mind that the laying of wooden nails will need to be done over the entire wood structure with a lock connection. The distance between the mountings must be at least 0.5 meters.
• Drill wood... It is better to drill holes with a puncher and do it in 2 crowns at once. Thus, it is possible to prevent the upper or lower frame from shifting.
• Installing the dowel. They put wooden devices with special care, since when the mallet slides off, the master can get injured. The shorter the length of the pin, the easier it is to hammer, however, the efficiency of the connection in this case is lower. For this job, both a rubber and a wooden mallet are suitable. Striking must be strictly vertical. In the case of using a metal tool, it is worth using a protective pad made from a board or plywood.

In order to qualitatively assemble a structure from a bar using dowels, it is worth adhering to certain rules. Specialists' recommendations for correct and reliable fixing of wood fasteners:

• each row of timber must be mounted separately from the rest, otherwise the pins may be broken;
• using one fastener element, you can connect a pair of rims;
• it is best to nail down wooden nails with a mallet;
• holes in the log house should be made at an angle equal to 90 degrees;
• the installation of the pins should be staggered;
• at the location of the window and door frames, the beams should be fastened with a distance of 0.2 m to the border of the cutout;
• the dowel, which connects 2 beams, should go to the 3rd, deepening by 7 cm;
• hammer wooden nails at a distance from the corner equal to 0.3-0.5 m;
• the length of the dowel should exceed the depth of the hole, which has been prepared for it in advance.

Sometimes the purchased dowels may not be enough for the construction of a structure from a bar... In this case, the fixtures can be made with your own hands by turning on a machine from high-quality wood.The material should be chosen one that has no knots and defects. Making dowels of hygroscopic material is strongly discouraged.

During work it is worth making sure that the diameter of the rod exceeds 2.5 cm. The length of the dowel can be selected according to your own preferences, usually it is 150-200 cm. It is important for the master to choose the right shape and size of the fastener. In the case of a high-quality assembly of a structure from a bar and the use of high-quality dowels, the consumer can count on a long service life of the structure.