Hand Nailing Shingles

i hand nailed for 25 yrs before i got a gun. it was a real adventure at first, a lot slower and many nails in the wrong placess. i am not into speed , rather have it done right the first time. i average about 2 1/2 sq an hour on a straight roof and thats ok by me. never liked the anti-vibe hammer-that head seams of to me, changes your point of aim. i still like a 20 oz eastwing the best>>>

seems to me the anti vibe comes in most of the styles,I have the sheetrock hammer with it,feels the same as my old estwings did>>>

AJC fixed guage or Vaughn for me. Plumb for wood. Vaughn for tile. Guns are good.

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10" OF Snow, and 3 degrees, no roofin today! still have my first estwing when i started in 73, use an ajc now, but the last three i've had after about a 100 sq the head loosens up, i've tried soaking in water, new wedges and roofin nails nothing seems to work any suggestions?>>>

My suggestion is buy a new hammer. They really aren't that expensive compared to the benefit you get. I use the rubber butt end of my hammer as a rubber mallet to adjust tiles and tend to wear them out every 18 months. The one exception is a little curved claw 16 oz-er that my Mother gave me for Christmas back in '72. I give it to new guys to use to humiliate them into buying their own. For years we called it the Playskool hammer, now it's the Bob the Builder autograph model hammer.>>>

We genraly get a small hailstrom somewhere within a fifty mile radius of here every year, and a large strom about 5 or 6 years, so most people who have lived here for any length of time come to expect to have their roof done at some point. We do get some of the old timers asking us to hand nail, which we will do at no additonial cost.There is just me and 2 others who work full time for this company that can thumb nails , and nobody standing in line to learn. The rest of the guys are subs and they refuse to handnail, compressor breaks or their gun breaks,their done for the day! We also don't charge or get paid for for the safety crap we are suppose to setup and use! The guy in the field eats that one. :angry:>>>

Thanks woody, just hate breaking them in.>>>

wywoody I think that is hilarious. I have a hammer called " Snoopy " A small tack hammer from an Ace type tool kit. It is about 15+ years old and I have had so much fun with it . Lots of Laughs. I started a thread somewhere about tool names . I won't go into it again but love to hear some of them if the guys haven't posted them. Playskool that is great bud>>>

You can never determine, with a gun, if you sunk a nail in a crack or in some wood. It sinks in one hit no matter what. Guns may save time, but I prefer knowing it's been done right.>>>

actually,when you`re nailing a 3/4 " deck,I feel the difference in the recoil,as the gun doesn`t give the same push off,as when you hit solid wood>>>

---As one gets older you appreciate the gun for shingling. Working at a relaxed pace one can still get a lot done in a day. I hand nailed for many years but I remember working hard to hustle and wearing the fingerprints right off my fingers. Handnailing is hard on the hands and body. I always used AJC. I have to laugh at the suggestion of holding 5-6 nails...I usually have about 25 or more nails on my hand which my thumb feeds into position for striking. It can go pretty fast especially with 7/8 nails. ---We get about 3 roofs a year where the owner is sold on handnailing. I don't mind doing it. The helpers prep everything out and I handnail the entire roof except for the ridge cap. ---I have seen many coil nailed roofs where the nails were blown clear through the shingles. Our Senco PW staplers never cut through the shingles and are the best tools for shingles in my opinion. We have stapled hundreds of roofs over 20 years in high wind areas and never had any blow offs. I get people all the time who have been told staples are no good. Fine, we have coil nailers for your roof. I don't argue with customers. They all have all kinds of ideas that other roofers or whomever have put into their heads. Whatever the customer wants if it is not harmful we will accomodate. ---All the roofers I learned from who handnailed are all retired now. The next generation does not handnail at all. Occasionally we will nail a small roof or shed and it is amusing to watch people try and handnail. Almost always they hold the nails wrong between their thumb & pointer finger. I tell them the correct way and say do it right or you will never do it. I suppose it doesn't matter anyway as the skill is just not in demand. Lanny>>>

Lanny: If your putting 25 nails in your hand @ one time, i know your slow. You can't have any form of speed when your too occupied with screw'n with your nails, go into your pouch grab 5 or 6 nails, and that alone take skill. once you've got that done, you can line up 5 or 6 nails in your fingers,once you've hit that last nail, for the first time your in your pouch to grab another 5 or 6, so you go right ahead and grab your 25, :S>>>

........yeah, I've always heard bad things about staples, but never even seen them. In LA the state won't allow them on their jobs. Back in the day an unconcious dip in the pouch produced 10 nails almost every time......>>>

AHH brings back memories of having monkey knuckles,and fingers so raw you'd have to break out the white tape for them. T-locks were especialy hard hard on them because it took you about four moves of your wrist and hands to put one shingle on. To bad they phased them out. That was an asphalt shingle where it seperated the roofer from a shingler. Back downs seemed to be to hard for them, cause there is no fudging ... can't drop or raise coarses.>>>

Talking about hatchet's. years ago i had a Plumb hatchet, you know with the red handel, made of wood i think it was Hickory, but that gents was the best damb hatchet i ever had.. Anyways that's all i have to say about that.>>>