Electric Nailer/Stapler

[Scott]

Do these cheap air nailers mar the wood if it's relatively soft? Or do they have pads on the nose? Or is it not an issue like it is on the dreaded Rapesco where you have to lean harder on it to fire the brads deeper?

Cheers

 

[Scrit]

They can mark the wood as they do not have a cushion foot, but as I tend to punch the brad under and fill with Brummer I normally don't see it as a problem. I have a Senco oil-free gun in the shop which doesn't mark much (and from experience is about as good as it gets), but that was over £200 + VAT. The only other guns which touch it are the Maestri 18g gun and a couple of the Bae ones.

18g pinners generally don't have depth control - you need to adjust the pressure using the regulator to "fine tune" depth setting, and the hardness of the rimber will have some bearing on the results. You have to face it that you're probably not going to punch a 50mm brad into solid oak (pine, though, is no problem), although 30mm is straightforward.

I don't regard brad nailers as "fine woodworking tools". What they are is a quick and dirty means to fix a carcass together whilst the glue sets, or a fast way to assemble a jig, or a quick way to pin a prototype together (without glue) so I can see what it will look like or show a client, or 1001 other things where speed and versatility are the keys, If you are using an 18g brad pinner this way marking shouldn't be a problem. If you intend to use it to tack fine beadings, etc. then it's not the best tool and you really need to be looking at a 22g or 23g pinner or some other solution.

Scrit

 

[Scott]

Thanks Scrit

 

[Neomorph]

(snip)...I don't regard brad nailers as "fine woodworking tools". What they are is a quick and dirty means to fix a carcass together whilst the glue sets, or a fast way to assemble a jig, or a quick way to pin a prototype together (without glue) so I can see what it will look like...(snip)

Scrit

You missed out as a wonderful gardening tool... Useful for making trellis or...err... making more trellis... and making bird boxes or trellis... and seed trays and... err did I mention trellis?

 

[Scrit]

I've sat and pondered the differences in the guns I've used this morning and decided to put down the pros and cons of various features in the hope that it may help someone select their "ideal" air pinner. These notes apply to 18g brad pinners but will also have some validity for other types of nailers and pinners:

1. Depth of Set Adjustment
This is a "nice to have" but isn't really all that essential. It is generally only found on pinners over the £100 mark. The same effect can be had by adjusting the air pressure at the regulator. In any case it is normally necessary to check the depth as a pin will punch into MDF a lot more easily than it will into oak.

2. Safety Guard Location and Nose Design
All the cheaper guns I've seen have the safety guard (a sort of prong) located in front of nose. This can restrict visibility of the pin location in some cases. Visibility is also improved by the unit having a slender nose. The safety must be depressed before the gun can be fired. Some higher price guns have an anti-mar (plastic) foot on the safety guard. Guns with the guard behind the nose include models by Paslode, Hitachi and deWalt.

3. Jam Clearance
When a pin jams in the slide clearing it can be a pain if the gun doesn't have a quick release mechanism for the driver guide cover. Part of the solution is to lubricate the gun regularly and to buy reasonable quality nails, but jams do happen, especially if you hit a knot or another nail. The type of cover woth an Allen key cover is slower to clear than the type with a latch. Latch covers appear on models by deWalt and Paslode.

4. Nail Carraiges
The nail carraige should be easy to open and close and should allow you to see how many nails you have left.

5. Exhaust Ports
It isn't very pleasant getting a blast of air in the face every time you fire a nailer so guns with a port which can be directed away from you are better than those with a fixed port. This is potential problem because you frequently need to have your face near to the gun to see where you are placing the brad. Some guns, like my Senco, have a rear-facing exhaust port at the back of the handle to overcome this problem.

6. Weight
A lighter gun may need to be held harder against the surface to overcome kickbac, especially on harder timbers. The flip side is that it is less tiring to use in a raised arm position for extended periods.

7. Is Size Important?
The size of nail or pin you want to drive depends on the use. For carcass construction without glue, putting down floors, etc you need to consider a 16g (or even a 15g) nailer. For carcass construction where glue and rebates, etc will be used to "assist" the joint, larger section mouldings, make prototypes, etc then an 18g pinner will do the work well. For very fine mouldings a 22g or 23g pinner is the business. For furniture work I find an 18g pinner the best all-rounder.

Hope the above helps someone when they are making a choice

Scrit

 

[Neomorph]

Thanks for that Scrit. I've been thinking about getting a compressor system for the last year. I'm a bit mad that the guy in B&Q talked me out of getting a compressor + nail gun last year and suggested a cordless nailer instead. OK ithe cordless nailer is less hassle with no cord to trip over and came with two batteries but that's all it can do... nail! If I had bought the compressor I could have used it to nail, spray, blowgun etc.

 

[Scott]

I've sat and pondered the differences in the guns I've used this morning and decided to put down the pros and cons of various features in the hope that it may help someone select their "ideal" air pinner.

Thanks for taking the time Scrit. That's very helpful

Cheers

 

[RogerS]

Having read around this topic, I'm still confused over a couple of points.

Brad nailer vs finishing nailer. Are they the same thing?

Scrit mentions 22g or 23g for fine work. I've googled hoping to come across such a beast but no luck.

Brads seem to be specified by length alone. So what is the diameter of a 'brad'?

What I'm after (I think) is something that I can use to join thinnish stock (probaly ash..probably under 10mm thick) while the glue sets. Thinks ...something the size of moulding pins..ie very fine.

Does one fire the brads (nails/ pins?) all the way in or just part of the way so that they can be extracted once the glue has set. What do you do about the holes left?

Going round in ever-decreasing circles here!

 

[Colin C]

Roger

I will post a pic of my fine pin nailer ( 22g ) later.

I have just had a look as screwfix used to do them but no longer do, have you tried Machine mart?

 

[RogerS]

Roger

I will post a pic of my fine pin nailer ( 22g ) later.

I have just had a look as screwfix used to do them but no longer do, have you tried Machine mart?

Thanks for that..looking forward to the picture. Which model is it?

I checked out the one that Scrit uses but that was 18 g. I just searched again and came across this one but as you will have gathered from my post I have no frame of reference to know whether the spec is any good or not ! I'm also the faced with deciding on a compressor (and there's another black art as far as I can see :wink: )

 

[Jake]

I've got this one and it seems a fine tool. I think they are re-badged Sencos.

I bought the compressor and gun package, and it seems good kit - if more pricey than the budget stuff, especially the oil-less stuff.

If you don't need portability, you could get a lot more compressor for your money from machine mart etc, though.

 

[RogerS]

Many thanks for the link, Jake but which one? The 23g one? Any suggestions re compressor?

 

[Jake]

I got the 18g one, the brads are pretty tiny, but it depends just how delicate you want to go - it looks like 18g = 1mm and 23g = 0.8mm, so there's some difference. In the end, it's still a nail gun, and leaves little holes I wouldn't want on show - I only use them on things that are hidden or destined to be painted.

As for compressor advice, the usual is to buy as big as you can afford. I haven't got room for that, and wanted to be able to use this on joinery around the house, so I got the 20l senco package from Rutlands - it does 6.4cfm which is pretty good for a portable, and while pricey was less than the bostich/makita/dewalt equivalents.

Bigger, less portable compressors will give you more cfm for the same or less money, and will let you spray with an RP or HVLP gun, etc - my senco would be very marginal for a small RP gun at very best.

If you plan mostly to use this in the workshop then look for a machine mart oiled compressor with a 50 plus litre tank - if you get something that can do 10-12cfm that should cover pretty much anything you might want to do.

I got the impression when I was looking into it that, like power tool watts, one brand's cfm is not necessarily the same as another brand's cfm.

I would look for an oil-less one for sure, as they last longer and are less extremely noisy.

 

[Shultzy]

Roger - I've had difficulties trying to decide which type of nailer to buy. Decided that this would be a good starter, but the 18g may be too large for you. I did read that there is an adjustment to control the depth of nail but I'm not sure if this is the depth above or below the surface. I need a larger nailer for when I build my workshop but haven't decided which one.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.as ... 2007&g=102

 

[Colin C]

Hi Roger

Here are the pic's for my 23g pin gun

Last one show some 18g pins next to some 23gpins

I hope that helps