The world's first collated wooden nail system - built for builders who refuse to compromise on natural materials.
Shop the LIGNOLOC® System
In 2015, BECK's CEO Christian Beck returned from a series of trips to steel manufacturing facilities around the world. What he saw didn't reconcile with what his customers were trying to build — natural, breathable, low-carbon structures being held together by a material he couldn't square with the environmental weight of producing it.
He set a project group to one task: develop a structural fastener made entirely from renewable materials, one that performed as well as steel.
Eight years of research, testing, and certification later, LIGNOLOC® became the first collated wooden nail system in the world to receive European Technical Assessment approval (March 2023) and US structural approval (October 2024). It is now used in homes, hotels, schools, industrial buildings, and award-winning timber architecture across Europe and North America.
Steel Nails Have No Place in Natural Timber
Steel nails were never ideal for timber - they were simply what was available. In a heritage restoration or a natural-materials build, the fastener matters as much as the wood around it.
Steel corrodes. When it does, it bleeds into the surrounding grain and leaves black iron-tannin stains that no finish will cover. It conducts heat and cold through the assembly, undermining the insulating value of the wood itself. It reacts with the natural acids and resins in oak, cedar, larch, and Douglas fir. And when the building eventually comes down, the metal has to be picked out of the wood before anything can be composted, reused, or returned to the soil.
Beech wood has none of those problems. It can't rust. It can't stain. It can't create a thermal bridge. And when its working life is done, it becomes soil again - just like the wood it held together.
Corrosion & Staining
Steel reacts with wood's natural compounds. Wood can't rust. No black stains in oak, cedar, or larch.
Thermal Bridging
Metal conducts heat/cold, reducing energy performance. Wood conducts heat and cold at roughly 1/400th the rate of steel.
Machining & Environmental Damage
Metal destroys tool edges; compromises post-processing. At end of life, the nail returns to the earth with the timber.
LIGNOLOC® nails are made from compressed European beech wood, compressed to 1,300 kg/m³ - nearly as dense as many hardwoods. When shot into timber, friction and compression heat the nail's surface, releasing the wood's natural lignin. That lignin acts as a natural adhesive, fusing the nail to the surrounding wood fibers. The result is an inseparable mechanical and chemical bond - no glue, no formaldehyde, no metal.
"More sustainable. Nail by nail. For future generations."
- Beck
Small Ways to Make a Big Difference
Shop the LIGNOLOC® SystemLignin adhesion creates a bond that strengthens over time, not a mechanical grip that loosens.
Compared to conventional steel nail systems.
Unlike metal, wood doesn't conduct heat or cold through the assembly.
Won't rust, stain, or react with wood's natural tannins and oils.
Nails are shot directly into solid wood and wood composites (OSB, MDF, plywood, gypsum fibre).
Saws, routers, and planes pass through wooden nails without any tool wear. Machine away.
From Shingles to Structural Walls - One Natural Fastener
- Wood shingles & shakes - The natural companion to cedar. No black streaks from corrosion, no thermal weak points.
- Wooden façades & cladding - Larch, pine, cedar, accoya. Heads available for a visible, finished look.
- Structural timber framing - Approved for load-bearing wall assemblies per Eurocode 5 and recognized US timber codes.
- Wall cladding & ceilings - Clean, low-profile fastening that disappears into the grain.
- Furniture, cabinetry, joinery - Pass-through machinability makes them ideal for built-ins that will later be planed or routed.
- Saunas & corrosive environments - Steam, salt air, and thermal baths. Anywhere metal fails, wood holds.
- Wood shingles & shakes - The natural companion to cedar. No black streaks from corrosion, no thermal weak points.
- Wooden façades & cladding - Larch, pine, cedar, accoya. Heads available for a visible, finished look.
- Structural timber framing - Approved for load-bearing wall assemblies per Eurocode 5 and recognized US timber codes.
- Wall cladding & ceilings - Clean, low-profile fastening that disappears into the grain.
- Furniture, cabinetry, joinery - Pass-through machinability makes them ideal for built-ins that will later be planed or routed.
- Saunas & corrosive environments - Steam, salt air, and thermal baths. Anywhere metal fails, wood holds.
Three systems. One Principle
LIGNOLOC® is a matched system - each pneumatic nailer is engineered to drive a specific nail diameter. Choose the system that fits your application: finer nails for interior work, heavier gauges for structural framing and exterior cladding.
System 1 - F33 (Ø 3.5 mm)
The finest gauge in the LIGNOLOC® line. Best for interior finish work, furniture, cabinetry, and low-profile cladding where the fastener should disappear into the grain.
- LIGNOLOC® F33 Pneumatic Coil Nailer
- LIGNOLOC® F33 Stepped-Shaft Wooden Nails, Ø 3.5 mm - available in multiple lengths
System 2 - F44 (Ø 3.7 mm)
The everyday workhorse. Sized for general carpentry - sheathing, siding, interior wall cladding, and small structural work. If you're only going to own one LIGNOLOC® system, this is usually the one.
- LIGNOLOC® F44 Pneumatic Coil Nailer
- LIGNOLOC® F44 Wooden Nails, Ø 3.7 mm - available in multiple lengths
System 3 - F60 (Ø 4.7 mm & Ø 5.3 mm)
The structural gauge. Built for framing, Nail-Laminated Timber (NLT) assembly, and exterior applications where holding power and load-bearing capacity matter most.
- LIGNOLOC® F60 Pneumatic Coil Nailer
- LIGNOLOC® F60 Wooden Nails, Ø 4.7 mm - available in multiple lengths
- LIGNOLOC® F60 Wooden Nails, Ø 5.3 mm - available in multiple lengths
Specialty - F60 Headed Nails (Ø 4.7 mm)
When the fastener becomes part of the aesthetic. A finished, visible head for exposed façade work, shingle installation, and cladding where you want the nail to read - including the "rivet-look" detail used on modern larch façades.
- LIGNOLOC® F60 Wooden Nails with Head, Ø 4.7 mm - available in multiple lengths
Natural Materials Work Best Together
A LIGNOLOC® nail is one piece of a broader approach to building - one where every material is chosen for how it ages, how it holds, and what it leaves behind. These are the materials our customers most often use alongside it.
Cedar Shingles & Shakes
The natural roof and wall covering. Install them with a fastener that won't stain or rust through.
Pure Linseed Oil Paint
Allbäck's breathable, penetrating paint. Finish the same wood you've just fastened - no plastic film, no barrier coat.
Genuine Pine Tar
Traditional exterior wood protection. Brush it over a LIGNOLOC®-fastened façade for a century-long finish.
From the frame to the finish, from the shingles to the fastener. LIGNOLOC® is what happens when a nail is designed with the same care as the building around it - and it's the piece most natural-materials projects have been missing. Whatever you're restoring or building, there's a system that fits.
Shop the LIGNOLOC® SystemQuestions About Which System You Need?
Give us a call toll-free at 1-866-516-7787, Mon-Fri, 10-5 EST, or send us a message.