Is this a good buy on a Porter-Cable nailer kit?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

My local Home Depot has on clearance, a Porter-Cable three nailer kit, with pancake compressor, 16 gauge finish nailer (model FN250B), 18 gauge brad nailer (model BN125A) and a pin nailer. I usually see a stapler as the third gun in one of those kits, but this one has the pin nailer.

The clearance price is $199. Would this be a good buy?

Thanks,
Louis

[Craig D Peltier]

I thought this was on sale at rockler too for 269. I paid 299 a couple of years ago.

[Paul Stroik]

For that price I would grab it if I didn't already have it.

[Dan Friedrichs]

The compressor is probably junk, but I'd bet the nailers would do OK.

[Ray Dockrey]

I have that combo other then mine came with the stapler. I got it on clearance about a year ago for about the same price. The compressor is noisy but other then that it works fine. Actually it works really good.

[Chris Konikowski]

Do you have a SKU on that. I can't find it at my local HD. He can look it up if he has a SKU though...

[Noah Vig]

I paid more, compressor is not junk but is loud. Guns and compressor have worked without a hiccup for me so far and I have no regrets with purchase.

[Dustin Lane]

The compressor is probably junk

What exactly would make a compressor junk? Or, what should I look out for when buying a basic, first time compressor for nailers/stapler and the like?

Not to hi-jack the thread or anything...The deal the OP mentioned does look good and I might jump on it if it were in my area.

[Eric Roberge]

I have the 6gal pancake too and I agree with what Noah said "It's not junk, but loud"

[Peter Scoma]

definately worth the money. The compressor is not junk at all, you will be pleased

ps

[Dan Friedrichs]

I mean that I expect the nailers might last quite a bit longer than a compressor will. I bought a similar nailer/compressor package, and the little pancake compressor is loud, slow, and feels very cheap (lots of plastic parts, etc). And in under a year of light use, the plastic gasket on the piston (that idea should make some people cringe...) has failed twice, and the check valves on the cylinder have failed once.

It seems like a good deal if the nailers are good, but I would choose to buy a good used oiled compressor (not one of these loud oilless units), and maybe just keep the pancake around for odd jobs. IMHO, YMMV.

[Laurie Brown]

My Home Depot has the kit for $299, and it comes with the stapler instead of the pin nailer. The SKU is 222516.

[Chris Konikowski]

My Home Depot has the kit for $299, and it comes with the stapler instead of the pin nailer. The SKU is 222516.

Yup. Same with mine. :( Still looking for the SKU for the other package if possible...

[Maurice Ungaro]

I paid $199 for the 3 gun kit alone, and have never looked back. It was indespensable in finishing out my house construction (including those last strips of flooring close to the walls).

In short, GET IT.

[Eric DeSilva]

The compressor is probably junk, but I'd bet the nailers would do OK.

For light duty, its not bad. I used mine to power my Paslode framing nailer, and it actually did a fine job--recognizing that I'm not a framer by trade and don't fire off framing nails like a rapid fire machine gunner...

[Andy Bardowell]

What exactly would make a compressor junk? Or, what should I look out for when buying a basic, first time compressor for nailers/stapler and the like?

Not to hi-jack the thread or anything...The deal the OP mentioned does look good and I might jump on it if it were in my area.

Usually these deals have air cooled compressors rather than oil (cheaper to make) which supposedly makes for shorter lifespan.

I have the pinner and love it, only drawback with the PC is that the max lenght of pins is 1".

[Steve Griffin]

I have the 16 gauge porter cable nailer and it's one of my most disappointing purchases.

Lets see--if you want to switch to a longer nail, you need not one, but two tools and a tiny fittlely part which must be installed. Were the engineers really drunk when they thought that was a great idea?

And the pin nailer--actually works pretty good, but like most porter cable tools, they completely forgot that a human hand must touch their product. Zero comfort and ergomatics. And since I often like to shoot pins longer than 1", it's not worth even considering.

As you can tell, I love ragging on my least favorite tool company. (ask me about their routers and orbital sanders and you'll really get me going)

-Steve

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I have the PC FN250B.
Changing fastener sizes is a simple matter of just unloading one size and loading the other.
Aside from being a 16 ga. - which is IHMO it's biggest drawback, mine works very well.
I'd prefer a 15 ga., but with enough Locktite Power Grab the 16 ga. works fine for trim.
I've hung hollow core doors with the 16 ga., but I don't think I'd feel comforatble using it on soild doors.

Re: the 23 ga. The double trigger takes a bit of getting used to. Other than that, I find it quite comfortable to use.

My personal opinon of using pins longer than 1" is that if I need them, I'm probably trying to use the wrong tool to begin with.
And again, with the 23 ga. PC, changing pin sizes is a simple matter of unloading one size and loading the other.

Edit to add:
I believe the new PC kit has the "C" series guns which are oiless.
The old kit - the one being clearanced - has the "A" and "B" series guns, which are oiled type.

[Mike Robbins]

Sounds like a great deal.

Compressor is LOUD, and the nailguns will outlive it. But PSI delivered is PSI delivered, doesn't matter what it comes out of. It's fine for driving nails, but it's not like you're going to run any other air tools other than a small touch-up airbrush off it.

What I gather most folks do is run the compresor hard until it dies, then get a good oiled unit to replace it. This may take years. You might just get fed up with the noise and sell it before then.

[Steve Griffin]

My PC 16 gauge is older, so maybe the new ones do not require the little part, nut and bolt everytime you switch from shorter to longer nails. I doubt I was the only one to notice how absurd that was.

Regarding pin nailers, 50% of the time I'm using 1.375 pins and love them. Especially situations where you are gluing, this holds things together just fine. Obviously it's not appropriate where you should be using 15-18 gauge, but when a pin is enough, there is nothing sweeter than leaving only a pin hole.

-Steve