Why We Switched Our Gavel Nails from 45° to 55°
We recently changed the angle on our 45° male Gavel nails to 55°. Here’s why.
How angles make a nail sit level
For a nail’s bucket to sit flat when the rig is at rest, the angle of the rig’s joint and the angle of the nail’s bend need to add up to 90°.
- A rig with a straight-up (vertical) joint counts as 0°, so it needs a 90° nail.
- A rig with a 45° joint needs a 45° nail.
The problem with a 45° nail
When you use or clean a nail, you press on the bucket. That pressure pushes against the joint at the same angle as the nail’s bend.
The angle of that push decides what happens to the joint:
- Straight along the joint: this pulls the joint apart. It’s the same motion you’d use to take the nail off.
- At 90° to the joint: this presses the joint into the rig, holding it in place.
- At 45°: this sits right between pushing and pulling. Usually it holds, but sometimes the force tips toward pulling, and the nail pops off and falls onto the table or floor.
Why 55° is better
Adding 10° to the bend moves the force further toward pushing and away from pulling. That makes the nail more likely to stay seated while you use and clean it.
We first made a true 45° nail because that’s the industry standard. But in practice, many rigs aren’t actually a true 45°, so the perfect 90° match rarely happens anyway.
What we recommend
Based on our time on the market, we believe a 55° nail is better than the traditional 45°. We’d like to see the industry move away from pairing 45° rigs with 45° nails and toward at least a 35° rig with a 55° nail. That combination still adds up to 90°, so the bucket sits level, and it gives a sturdier connection.
We know the industry won’t change overnight, and nothing here is truly standard. But we hope glass artists will keep this in mind when designing their next rigs. It could make a better piece for their customers.
