Top Gadget of 2006 — The HurriQuake Nail

eldavojohn writes "Popular Science is naming its Best of What's New of 2006 and the one at the top doesn't have much to do with circuitry or computers. Instead, it's a nail. Not your average nail though, the HurriQuake nail [flash] spent six years in development." From the article: "As the Bostitch team tweaked the head-to-shank ratio, Sutt and metallurgist Tom Stall worked on optimizing high-carbon alloys, trying to find the highest-strength trade-off between stiffness and pliability — the key to preventing snapped nails. 'Meanwhile,' Sutt says, 'we were focusing on how to keep the nail from pulling out.' The team machined a series of barbed rings that extend up the nail's shaft from its point, experimenting with the size and placement of the barbs. 'You want the rings to have maximum holding power,' he says, 'but if they go up too high, it creates a more brittle shank that shears more easily.'"

Comments

Re:A better nail

[A beautiful mind]

What you're saying is pure bullshit.

There is a reason why the wooden beams making up a roof are held together by big screws, not big nails. It might be that in different countries different construction methods are used, I give you that, but any place of importance where stress and longevity matters screws are used, otherwise it's just shoddy construction.