Example: A roof of ⅓ pitch has a common rafter run of 14'; find the length of common rafter. Answer: 14 × 14.42" = 201.88" or 16.82'. By the table, .82 = 53/64. A carpenter, however, would not care for such accuracy; the nearest 1/16" or even ⅛" would be sufficient.
WOOD AND MACHINE SCREW SIZES
The difference between consecutive sizes is .01316".
| No. of Screw Gage | Size of Number in Decimals | No. of Screw Gage | Size of Number in Decimals | No. of Screw Gage | Size of Number in Decimals |
| 000 | .03152 | 16 | .26840 | 34 | .50528 |
| 00 | .04486 | 17 | .28156 | 35 | .51844 |
| 0 | .05784 | 18 | .29472 | 36 | .53160 |
| 1 | .07100 | 19 | .30788 | 37 | .54476 |
| 2 | .08416 | 20 | .32104 | 38 | .55792 |
| 3 | .09732 | 21 | .33420 | 39 | .57108 |
| 4 | .11048 | 22 | .34736 | 40 | .58424 |
| 5 | .12364 | 23 | .36052 | 41 | .59740 |
| 6 | .13680 | 24 | .37368 | 42 | .61056 |
| 7 | .14996 | 25 | .38864 | 43 | .62372 |
| 8 | .16312 | 26 | .40000 | 44 | .63688 |
| 9 | .17628 | 27 | .41316 | 45 | .65004 |
| 10 | .18944 | 28 | .42632 | 46 | .66320 |
| 11 | .20260 | 29 | .43948 | 47 | .67636 |
| 12 | .21576 | 30 | .45264 | 48 | .68952 |
| 13 | .22892 | 31 | .46580 | 49 | .70268 |
| 14 | .24208 | 32 | .47896 | 50 | .71584 |
| 15 | .25524 | 33 | .49212 |
Frequently the carpenter wishes to know the diameter of hole necessary to receive the shank of a screw of a certain gage. Should a screw gage be accessible, he may readily determine this. Should no gage be at hand, he may determine the size of hole by consulting the accompanying table of Wood and Machine Screw Sizes.
Example: What size bit must be selected to bore a hole for a No. 10 screw. By the table, a No. 10 screw is .18944" in diameter. By the table of Fractional Equivalents for Decimal Values it will be seen that a 3/16" bit must be used. The test for gage of screw is always made over the shank just below the head.
LENGTH AND NUMBER OF WIRE NAILS TO THE POUND
| Size | LENGTH INS. | COMMON | CASING | FINISH | CLINCH | FENCE | FINE | GAL. SHINGLE |
| ¾ | ¾ | |||||||
| ⅞ | ⅞ | |||||||
| 2d | 1 | 900 | 1440 | |||||
| 3d | 1¼ | 615 | 810 | 568 | ||||
| 4d | 1½ | 322 | 473 | 584 | 250 | |||
| 5d | 1¾ | 254 | ||||||
| 6d | 2 | 200 | 180 | 300 | 157 | 114 | ||
| 7d | 2¼ | 154 | ||||||
| 8d | 2½ | 106 | 112 | 190 | 99 | 74 | ||
| 9d | 2¾ | 85 | ||||||
| 10d | 3 | 74 | 90 | 134 | 69 | 42 | ||
| 12d | 3¼ | 57 | ||||||
| 16d | 3½ | 46 | ||||||
| 20d | 4 | 29 | ||||||
| 30d | 4½ | 23 | ||||||
| 40d | 5 | 17 | ||||||
| 50d | 5½ | 14 | ||||||
| 60d | 6 | 11 |
Nails are sold in quantity by the keg, 100 lbs. of nails, exclusive of the keg. Twenty, 30, 40, 50 and 60d are "base." Other sizes have certain fixed additions per keg to this base price. For example, the price list adopted by manufacturers in 1896 allows an addition per keg of $.70 for 2d common, $.45 for 3d common, etc.
Wire nails are also bought and sold by weight, the size of wire according to the standard wire gage and the length in inches being taken into consideration in specifying the size and in fixing the price per pound.