About 15 years ago, I started using a toenailing trick that makes it easy to start the nail without its slipping. I put the nailhead where I want to toenail, as shown in the drawing, and rap the point a couple of times with my hammer. This makes an angled flat where I can drive the nail at right angles to the wood surface. It also blunts the nail, which makes it less liable to split the wood.
—Andrew Hamilton, Antioch, CA
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #16
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Look forward to trying this tip, thank you.