My first experience of nail guns :-(

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone

Does anyone use one of those electric or air nail guns? today I purchased the Rapasco heavy duty nail/stapler which Argos had at £7 cheaper than Axminster.

The build quality is fantastic, its only plastic but its such a good quality plastic that at first I thought it was metal as it was so rigid, however as for the performance thats another story.

I loaded it up with the supplied nails & if you watch the new yankee workshop when Norm uses his air nailer you will know that he just holds the workpieces together using a clamp & with one hand just nails it in one easy push of the trigger, not so with this gun, the nail was left sticking out of the wood by about 3mm :roll:

With the other hand I tried a little pressure on the next try & sure enough it drove the nail into the wood perfectly flush, but there was severe marking on the wood even with the little plastic nose attached which is supposed to prevent any damage to the wood, whatever I tried it was a real hit & miss type of thing with either the nail not being driven into the wood properly or driven in with so much force that the plunging mechanism on the nail gun had totally damaged the wood with nasty 1 or 2mm deep marks.

Im taking it back tommorow for a refund as im not happy with the performance of this machine, im thinking an air powered version which has adjustable pressure may be a better buy.

Any thoughts or comments on this sort of thing? & does anyone own a air powered nail gun? if so are they any good?.

Thx & I will be doing a review of my new Sheppach HMS260 very shortly, Charlie is in the process of uploading the first review I have done on the Record DX5000 extractor so hopefully it should help people when choosing new equipment if they can read some reviews here.

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Norm Fan,

Sorry to hear about the nail gun that you bought, I looked atried one a while back at a small show near us and I was not impressed. When it fired, it hit with such force, that it jumped in my hand and marked the wood everytime I tried, so I did not buy it.
Go for the air powered nailers is my advice, I have a 18g nailer from Draper and it works a treat, just like the one's Norn uses, I have no complants. If you go on their web site, you can see them there and buy on line as well, mine came the next day, go to www.drapertools .com. It has not marked the wood at all, whether I use it on hard or soft wood, I think it cost about £60. In fact I love uses it, it's great fun, you have to be careful not to get carried away and have nails all over the place. Hope this helps.

 

[wood1000]

In the high school shop I use a pc air nailer and love it!

 

[sawdustalley]

Yeah i've had bad experience with nailers. First of all I had a rapesco - had the smae problem.

Then got the £100 cosmos air nailer kit from :twisted: argos !
This thing worked well for a while and worked 'just like norms' but then one day it failed and burn't me (Now badly) on my arm. So if your going to get something with compressed air - MAKE SURE YOU SPEND A FAIR AMOUNT. Compressed airis not something to be messed with. If you get a bubble in your vein - you can die !

I really wouldn't go near a bottom end nailer machine or compresser again. I'd go for Paslode or Elecktra Beckum...

 

[Anonymous]

This Bubble in the vein business, Mythe Or Fact?

I have a friend (mechanic) who always panics near the air compressor in the workshop "you get a bubble in your vain you'll die man" To annoy him we would chase him with the blower attachment. You can use the blower too clean down tools and clothing if you wish.

Is this bubble in the vein business just a over used scare or does it only apply to industrial bar levels?

I can't see a blower at say 100/150 bar is going to force air into you veins and it seems a lot of people have an unhealthy fear of this happening.

Anyone know for sure the facts?

 

[Jaco]

Sorry, but I tend to be a bit old fashioned. What would one use a nail gun for?
I generally use screws, dowls, biscuits and the odd panel pin.
:shock: :?:

 

[Anonymous]

We've got an nail gun powered by a small compresser from Air Pinner Direct. It's great when you need to move rapidly or you've got lots of nailing to do. It's also invaluable when you need to nail whilst keeping one hand available for use as a Mark 1 Clamp !

The stapling facility is very useful too, especially when upholstering and you want to focus on keeping material taut without being distracted by the stapler.

Yours

Gill

 

[Martin]

Evening all!

I bought an Accuset compressor + brad nailer about 2 yrs ago and have had no problems with it (btw: Accuset is from the same company that produce Senco nailers).

It was about £260 at the time, and as I recall you couldn't get the sub-£100 nailer kits that you can find today. Anyway, I've been very happy with it - does what it says on the tin so to speak. My motto is buy the best you can afford, and in general I've never regretted doing this (better than that sinking feeling, when you realise why the price was so good).

I know you can always take things back, but that just wastes time and effort (and my time is very valuable to me - I spend most of it at work - tinkering with wood is my hobby).

The only minor downside on this setup is that the compressor is quite noisy, and cycles on and off in order to keep up pressure (which can make you jump if you're not used to it!).

As for the bubble in vein issue, I would say you'd have to be very unlucky or very careless to have this happen with an air nailer - even if it's possible (which I have my doubts about).

That's not to say you shouldn't treat compressors with respect (as with all power tools), but I just can't imagine how this could happen.

Anyway, just my 2cents....

Cheers,
Martin

 

[Jeff]

I have the rapesco and as for nailing it is a piece of crap. Stapling is ok. I last year bought an electra beckum combi which fires staples as well as brads. i used the staples for building my shed for attaching the t&g. The guy in the shop advised staples as they don't pop out when the wood contracts. Anyway the eb combi hits the mark and you can get a bubble in the vein but this would usually occur with an injector system as in an engine which at 10,000 psi +. My compressor doesn't quite mach that pressure. Happy woodworking.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone

Lots of good comments floating around in here now, thanks for the advice everyone, ive taken the Rapasco nailer back now as it was indeed a piece of crap, im going to hold off for a while & see if I actually need one when building stuff, if I do find I need one I cant afford the more expensive models but as "Sawblade" pointed out to me, the Draper does indeed look very good.

Instead im thinking of buying the biscuit jointer first, which leads me to yet another question (yep im full of it) :lol:

Does anyone have any experience or maybe know somebody that has used the Draper biscuit jointer? its the PT8100 which is on the draper site at £59, it has an 800w motor & overall seems pretty good.

I found a review in a magazine & the overall verdict was pretty good unless you are going to use it all day long which then it wouldnt be up to the job, but its only a hobby with me so this isnt an issue.

However you cant beat actually asking somebody who owns one or has tried one, so anyone got this one?

Nick :wink:
Ps, ive just finished reviewing the Sheppach HMS260 Planer/thicknesser so that should be online here soon as Charlie uploads it, (no rush mate)

 

[sawdustalley]

I have the ferm biscuit joiner. It've very pleased with it. great and sturdy and accurate !

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with James - the Ferm jointer from screwfix works fine for me

 

[kityuser]

i could`nt disagree more.
I`m "all for" cheap tools that work well, but the ferm biscuit joiner??????

the fence on the front was only clamped on one side (the vertical sliders), when the fence was clamped down it did`nt sit square with the saw blade!!!!!! :shock:

which ment that the resulting slot was nearly 1mm off!!!!

i had this experience along with my fathers` next-door neighbour (who also bought exactly the same tool, and had the same problem).

we may have just got bad examples of a good tool (MAY), but i took it back to the shop where i bought it, and now settle with a biscuit joiner router bit , until i can afford the freud joiner i want
not a ferm fan anymore !!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm damn, ive just placed an order for the Ferm biscuit jointer as well :shock:

Too late now , from what I can tell by looking at the Ferm site, it looks a lot better than the Draper version, I saw the Draper in my local store this morning & it was ok but nothing special.

I will let you know how I get on with it.

[Sawdustalley]
Ive been reading your article on how to do biscuit joints on your site, it seems very easy to do & the Ferm from what I can tell seems to be ok at the job, do you get any problems like your biscuit cuts being angled or anything like that?

Thx guys,
Nick :wink:

 

[Jeff]

Just got the Ferm biscuit jointer myself and so far it works fine although I am using the number 10 setting for number 20 biscuits as the No 20 slot takes most of the biscuit in one side. I also have a bisciut jointer bit for the router and to be honest is more hastle than its worth. I'll stick with the Ferm biscuit jointer for the time being as it's only for occasional use so no point spending a fortune when there are other toys,I mean tools,I want.

 

[sawdustalley]

Nick, glad you liked my site....

I have had no trouble with my biscuit joiner at-all ! I've never checked it for square or allignment to be perfectly honest - maybe I should.

I've had no real trouble with getting it all to fit at the end though, so that probably means everything is aye okay !

It's very easy to get hooked on doing things the biscuit way. I'm currently in the process of making, taking photos and writing (For Sawdustalley) how to make a small oak cabinet. I used No. 10 Biscuits for the corners of the cabinet frame and it went fine. Keep your eye out on my site for this project as it will probably appear within the next few days !

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I guess if at the end of the day its all fitting together nicely then there cant be too much wrong with it.

Hopefully I should receive it tommorow or the next day, im looking forward to trying out a joint using biscuits, ive also ordered 100 of each size biscuits.

I will keep my eyes open for that Oak cabinet, it sounds interesting.

Thx again
Nick

 

[DaveL]

I will add my comments about the Ferm biscuit jointer, very good value for money!

Jeff, I found it needed the depth of the slot adjusted, I found a web site :- http://www.huntfamily.com/metz/joinereval.htm that has lots of advice on setting up and using biscuit jointers.

I did look at buying a router bit, but that will only allow you to join the edges of boards.
One of the most useful things I have done is join edge to surface, not sure if that makes sense, look at this:-

The sub frame in the box is located using biscuits, no fixings through the side of the outer box. I have done the same for shelves.

There was a comment on rec.woodworking (sorry Charley) that the Ferm jointer is a copy of an AEG one from sometime ago.
It may need more care in setting up than some, but it costs in some cases £100 (or more having just glanced at the Rutlands Catalogue) less than many others, that a lot of wood for making things :lol:

OK I am going back to the workshop, must get another coat of poly on the latest project before bed!

Regards,
DaveL

 

[Anonymous]

Would any one recommend the Axminster entry level Buscuit Jointer over the Ferm?

There are some great comments on the ferm Buscuit jointer but for a little more money is the Axminster a better tool or is it the same tool in a different uniform?

I can't comment not having had my hands on both tools

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Norm fan,

Well I might as well put in my 2p worth again as you have asked about biscuit jointers, I have just ordered a Freud, I have seen the Draper, not in the flesh, but in pictures and was not impressed. If there is any play in the sliding mechanizum, you won't get good level joints, now I'm not saying there is in the Draper one, but at that price soemthing has to go and it could be build quality.
I am waiting for my Freud to come, but I had a good look at one in Machine Mart on Saturday and I could not fault it, not play anywhere, but it was too expensive there at £140, so I ordered from MTS Power Tools and got it for £109. My advice, pay a bit more and buy the Freud, but I am very happy with my nail gun, very handy.