I've used pierco, and had somes hives draw it out, and others make a mess of it. The frames need to be handled differently, and a maxant hive tool helps a great deal.

The plastic foundations from dadant are more problematic, imo. I've see the beeswax removed and nothing done with the underlying plastic. It can get pretty ugly.

Pure beeswax foundation is best, imo

I was afraid of that, though I've had an experienced keeper in the area do fine with Duragilt. Mainly I'm attracted to not wiring the foundation to the frames... sounds like a pretty serious hassle. I'm not project-averse, but ease of use and durability sound compelling.

using foundations with vertical wires embedded, plus split pins down each side... As you're not going to extract from the deeps, this can be just fine.

Shallows or mediums for honey supers can either be cut comb, or wired. Again, pins and vertical wires in shallows can survive an extractor, presuming you were going to go the way of extrating.

Duragilt or other plastic foundations are usually successful. But experienced beekeepers with multiple hives have options you don't have with one hive, if the foundation doesn't go well.

OK, sounds like wax foundation if worth the effort. So pins seem to be adequate for the beginner? I'm assuming that the first season will likely not generate a lot of honey surplus, though I'll certainly have a couple prepared supers on hand in case they need them. When nailing the wedge in, do you nail into the top aspect of the top bar (downwards into an inverted frame) or straight into the wedge, perpendicular to and thus through the foundation?

For brood frames OR surplus honey frames you'll use in an extractor, drive the nail or staple straight and in all the way. For frames where you'll cut comb out, you can leave a small portion of the nail sticking out, again, straight if you can hammer it that way. a hive tool has always worked in pryingout a wedge without breaking, even if the nails are in all the way,