Nailer Question ...

[Boilermaker]

I am in the market for an air nailer and compressor but need some guidance with what kind I should get. I've seen bundled deals for brad nailers, finish nailers, etc. I really don't know what type of nailer to get. What is a good general purpose nailer. When is it best to use a brad nailer and when is it best to use a finish nailer? I plan to use this mostly for woodworking and maybe some crown projects. Also, what size compressor do I need if I wanted to use it for installing hardwood floors?

 

[nelsone]

Hi Scott,

I have the PC pancake compressor which has done well for most of what I have asked of it. It will power any nailer you will get. As for the nailers themselves, it all depends on the project. When I use a nailer for a woodworking project it is usually a brad to minimize the hole that is left. With trim, crown or baseboard and such, I use a finish nailer. I would like to have a pin nailer to use in place of the brad nailer a lot of times!

 

[Tarhead]

I am in the market for an air nailer and compressor but need some guidance with what kind I should get. I've seen bundled deals for brad nailers, finish nailers, etc. I really don't know what type of nailer to get. What is a good general purpose nailer. When is it best to use a brad nailer and when is it best to use a finish nailer? I plan to use this mostly for woodworking and maybe some crown projects. Also, what size compressor do I need if I wanted to use it for installing hardwood floors?

I have an $8 HF 18g brad nailer that holds up to 2" brads (actually I bought 3 of them when they were on sale ~2yrs ago...using the second one now while I get a round tuit to rebuild the first one). I used 2", 18g brads to attach the crown job I just finished and the quarter round after we installed hardwoods. The hardwood floor was installed with a floor nailer and a 16g finish nailer for face nailing along the edges. The floor nailer uses a lot of air and my little 2 gallon compressor could not handle it. That compressor is just fine for the 18g but the bigger nailers need more air...both volume reservoir and CFM's if you want to shoot more than a couple of nails/minute. I now have a 3hp, 27gallon compressor and a long hose.

Brad nailers and pinners are used as clamps to hold wood that has been glued. You don't depend on them to hold things together on their own. The 16g and bigger are more for holding wood without glue.

As a hobbyist my HF cheapies will more than meet my needs. If I did this full time I would go with a Grex 2" 23g pinner, and a Passlode pneumatic 16g angled finish nailer. They're mighty good at what they do.

Mark

 

[McRabbet]

I agree with Ed -- I bought one of the PC pancake combination kits for $299 from Amazon.com when they first came out with a finish and brad nailer -- they have served me well for more than 5 years. I also bought a used PC FR350 framing nailer and the pancake does just fine pushing 3-1/2" sinkers into studs (I put up several walls in my shop and it sure made it much easier). I use the brad nailer for lots of woodworking projects to secure stock and the finish nailer for moldings and heavier cabinet construction where the nail holes won't show. I use the pressure adjustment to control nail depth when I change from short brads to linger finish nails and it give you great control.

More recently, I've seen PC kits that offer 3 nailers (they add a pin nailer) for about the same price or even less. I think it is a pretty good set.

 

[Bas]

I have a brad nailer, finish nailer and crown stapler. I use the brad nailer for woodworking projects. It's the most heavily used of the three. I use the finish nailer for nailing baseboard. It's also good for light "framing". I haven't done any crown molding, but I suspect I'd use the crown stapler for that. The stapler is also useful for nailing thin (1/8") board, e.g. as the back for a small cabinet.

As to what to use each gun for, the finish nailer uses bigger and longer nails. You'd be hard pressed to shoot a brad through baseboard and drywall into the stud. Conversely, you don't want to use finish nails when tacking a face frame to a bookcase.

For woodworking, you may also consider getting a pin nailer. It fires tiny nails that are almost invisible.

You don't need much power to drive these nail guns. Just about any 2HP unit will work (and for most brad nailing, even a dinky 1HP is OK). A floor nailer requires a bit more oomph. I suspect a 2HP unit would work, but you'd have to go slow. You might be better off renting something larger when doing flooring.

There are often deals on combo packages - compressor + nailers + hoses etc. I'd start looking for one of those at Home Depot, Lowe's etc.

 

[scsmith42]

Ditto Ed and Rob's posts. I have had very good service out of my PC pancake compressors. One nice thing about them is that their tank pressure is 135PSI, rather than the 120psi found in most other units. The extra 15psi really stuffs some additional reserve air capacity into the tank, increasing it's usefulness.

The one piece of advice that I would offer is to add some additional storage capacity inline. Rolaire makes a nice tank that can be added, or you can buy a $35.00 5 gallon air tank from Northern and plumb it inline.

The extra storage capacity will help keep the pressure levels more consistent at your tools when you're doing a lot of consecutive nailing.

You'll need a larger CFM compressor if you try to run multiple tools simultaneously.

 

[Ray Martin]

Scott,

I've used P-C, Bostitch, Paslode and Harbor Freight. All of them did what I needed them to do. I have HF and P-C with a P-C panckae compressor now and am very happy with them. The P-C stuff came as a package; compressor, 16ga, 18ga, narrow crown stapler. Great deal... Home Depot. Think Amazon has the package for about the same.

Ray

 

[skysharks]

Scott- got to agree with what has been posted.

allot has to do with what your needs are.
If you are talking about solely in your shop/house situation.
Mobile repair/contracting etc.

I do allot in the shop, but I also have need to have the same stuff to be mobile.
I love a portable compressor and brad nailer. But there are times when the umbilical cord gets in the way. Then I go for my paslodes. I have both the framer and a finish nailer.
Pricing of course is high for the convenience of the paslodes. But if we are talking mainly for the shop/occasional outside shop then go with compressor and air guns/brad/stapler, etc.

 

[woodydiver]

ill agree with all that has been said. Just one thing, be careful of the psi on some nailers. If you allow the psi from the compressor to go to high you can blow the o-rings. I recently purchased the rigid RH350 framing nailer, its top pressure is 120psi (which is only needed for 3.5" nails). The rigid nailers also have a lifetime parts warranty.

All my other nailers are senco, (most purchased from ncww or craigs list). I have never had a jam in the senco nailers and they work great.

have fun,
curt

 

[scsmith42]

Just one thing, be careful of the psi on some nailers. If you allow the psi from the compressor to go to high you can blow the o-rings. curt

Curt - good point. On my PC Pancake compressors, although the tank pressure is 135psi, I regulate the output down to 100. No problems driving 3.5" Maze PTL nails with my PC FR350Mag nail gun.

 

[Nativespec]

This has no compressor. They also sell a finish nailer in 15 and 16 gauge.

It is good to have a compressor for cleaning dust, inflating tires and for the times you need a framing gun. You can buy this gun for about what you would spend on a compressor, fittings and decent brad gun.

David