Pin Nailers

[Michael Drew]

No experience with the brands mentions, but I did buy a pin nailer last year, and use it more frequently than I thought I would. It's great when I'm gluing edge banding on cabinets, and I shoot the pins to just hold the boards in place till I can get a clamp on them. Very handy. I use up to 1.5" pins, but would shy away from longer, unless maybe I'm working with non-wood stuff??

Don't buy the Makita pin nailer. I did, because I LOVE my Makita brad nailer. I don't know how they screwed up the pin nailer so much, but it absolutely refuses to shoot 3/4" pins. And coincidentally, 3/4" is the length I tend to reach for the most often. I gave my Makita to my son, and bought a Metabo. The Metabo works well. I use the Grex pins. They seam to work well. (in retro spec, I should have just bought the Grex nailer too).

Don't buy. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pin nailer #2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Jim Becker]

I have the 1 3/16 Bostitch and it has never jambed for me. While I agree I have wished for a longer pin on occasion I will also say that my 2 inch brad nailers occasionally angle a brad nail in a goofy direction due to grain in the wood. I think this would be significantly worse with a pinner. I am not saying not to get the newer pinner but take in mind the possibility the pin may exit oddly with respect to where you put your hands.

Many of us have learned that "lesson" the hard way...when the hard metal entered our fingers. Grain deflection is real when these small fasteners get long and flexible and anything that would guide a long 18 gage brad "off the path" will do an even better job with a 2" 23 gage headless pin! Been there...done that. That said, there are times when the longer fasteners come in handy, such as for tacking up trim while gue dries. Even without heads, angling them into whatever is behind the material being fastened will provide some reasonable holding power.

[Ron Citerone]

I’ve never “pinned” my finger but have seen enough pins pop out where you wouldn’t expect. Be careful where you hold the molding!

I used mine a lot more than I expected on the cottage renovation.

Mine is a Porter Cable and I am quite satisfied with it’s perfomance.

[Patty Hann]

While I'm partial to the Grex, that 2350 looks like a nice pin nailer and is the better choice based on what's already been said. I really love having a pin gun around...very versatile for both projects as well as temporary fixtures.

I too like the grex but its 2x the price. having 2" option is nice.

HAHA....Grex...The Festool of Pin nailers.
Or is there already a spendy [non-bilious**] Green pin-nailer out there?

Btw, for those interested in this sort of thing here is the color coding for "Festool Green":

Festool Green.jpg

**Ryobi= bilious green

[Patty Hann]

At this point in the world of nailers I'm not real sure I'd stick too much money in a pneumatic nailer.
Cordless nailers have come a long way and seem to be getting better all the time.

I did consider a cordless one.
A woodshop teacher(friend) has a cordless Milwaukee that he is happy with.
I use the Milwaukee cordless platform (for all of my whopping 3 cordless tools) so that would have worked out conveniently enough.

But 1) I don't know at the moment how the cordless nailers stack up to each other, and
2) Not being in construction, not having to travel, and not doing "assembly-line" projects to sell, I don't use cordless.

I really don't like it. I dislike having a tool die on me in the middle of use, and the cost of the batteries, not to mention the disposal/landfill problem.
I'm not against them per se...like any tool it has its place/use. Just not for me.
The only cordless tool I use a lot is my Red drill, then the Rover flood light. Occasional use is the OMT.

[andrew whicker]

No experience with the brands mentions, but I did buy a pin nailer last year, and use it more frequently than I thought I would. It's great when I'm gluing edge banding on cabinets, and I shoot the pins to just hold the boards in place till I can get a clamp on them. Very handy. I use up to 1.5" pins, but would shy away from longer, unless maybe I'm working with non-wood stuff??

Don't buy the Makita pin nailer. I did, because I LOVE my Makita brad nailer. I don't know how they screwed up the pin nailer so much, but it absolutely refuses to shoot 3/4" pins. And coincidentally, 3/4" is the length I tend to reach for the most often. I gave my Makita to my son, and bought a Metabo. The Metabo works well. I use the Grex pins. They seam to work well. (in retro spec, I should have just bought the Grex nailer too).

Don't buy. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pin nailer #2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

What do you use the 3/4" pins for?

[andrew whicker]

I have nothing to add to OP's question and it sounds like it's been answered.

I just wanted to say that I've been super agnostic on nailer brand and have been happy with all of mine so far except my one Porter Cable. It's kind of nice to buy pneumatic tools, you don't have to worry about battery compatibility! The freedom!

Rigid framing nailer
Metabo HPT cordless 16g
Bostitch 18g
Porter Cable 23g

They've all worked pretty well. The biggest problem child is the Porter Cable (bought a cheap, stripped down brand because I was only using it for one job... maybe.. kind of thing). It does that thing where it sneezes sometimes and nothing comes out. I'm impressed w/ the build quality of the Bostitch so I'll have to upgrade the PC some day down the road to Bostitch or better. The PC doesn't have depth control so I have to adjust the compressor pressure. Not the end of the world, but obviously the best method is to have the compressor set at a pressure and all your guns have depth control.

It's hard / impossible to say whether you got a dud from the factory line or the brand's overall quality is poor.