Finishing nails are used where the nailhead must be hidden. They have small heads and smaller diameters than common nails.

Finishing nails, seen in profile, have a barrel-shaped head with a small diameter and a dimple on the top. After the nail is driven almost flush with the surface, the point of a nail set is placed in the dimple and the head driven below the surface. The resulting small hole can be filled with putty. Outdoors, in time the hole will tend to close by itself when the wood fibers swell.