I need help getting the right nailer.

[Steve knight]

I don't build a huge amount of things for the most part I mostly cut parts out for others. I have a pc 18 Gage brad nailer that does most things I need. but I have a job that will require nailing 1" plywood to the face of 2x10's
with glue my pc may work but having to apply glue could be a real hassle. I have to cut 27 sheets of 1" ply into strips and nail them onto 20' long 2x10's 37 of them.
so I am thinking of getting a bigger gun for the job. any recommendations? It would have to be avalible locally as I will need it monday or Tuesday.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
You're in 15 or 16 ga territory, using 2 to 2.5" fasteners - IMHO.

The 16 ga is going to leave slightly less of a footprint since it's still a brad.
The 15 ga is going to hold a little more secure since it's more of a true finish nail.

I personally feel the 16 ga is the more veristile of the two because it can do everything the 15 ga does with the help of some adhesive.

YMMV & I'm sure someone else will feel the opposite applies.

The only thing I'd stop short of using a 16 ga on would be hanging a heavy soild core door.

I've been running a PC 16 ga straight line gun for the last three years & I've been happy with it.

However - despite everything I said above, were I to go out and buy another single gun today, it would be a 15 ga angled finish nailer.
The only reason being that all too often, the 16 ga straight line guns are included as part of a package of one sort or another.
15's generally aren't.

[Dustin Lorenz]

Is this more for some type of construction rather than appearence? If so I would just go by a box of ring shank nails and start poundin. :D Of course your on the borderline of having enough boards to do that I would use the excuse to go buy a finish nailer. (16ga) If you don't think you will need the nailer for any other job and don't want to break down and buy one I would go get a box of finishing nails and a nail setter, would be a lot more work but you could save some money. Then again I shouldn't talk :rolleyes: I dropped over 300 on the airless paslode finish nailer and have only shot about a dozen nails out of it in the last three years. Still using the first can of fuel!:D

[Prashun Patel]

I prefer a 15ga as a compliment to an 18ga. I'd only get a 16ga if I didn't want to invest in 2 tools.

15ga will handle all light construction jobs.

[Greg Johnson]

I have a Hitachi 15 gauge,a PC 16 gauge and a cheap 18 gauge. I find that I use the Hitachi 15 way more than the 16 gauge. I really like the gun and have had it for several years now. It has gotten very good reviews. On a recent project that needed 2 sizes of nails, I loaded my 16 with 1" and 15 with 2". It was really nice to just change guns instead of having to load and unload each time. If you were to add a 15 to your toolbox, it would give you a wider range of capability.

Just my thoughts....

Greg

[Erik Frederiksen]

I like cordless, got the DeWalt 15 guage angled one. Better than the paslodes which fire fuel meaning noisy, smelly and maintenence. The DeWalt uses only batteries and is very slick, I bought a refurb for 200

[Chris Kennedy]

I recently was in a position to buy a new nailer. I have a PC 18 gauge, and needed something with more holding power. I opted for an angled 15ga -- the 16 gauge brads were fine, but still on the small side for what I was doing. The 15ga looks like it will make a lot of construction jobs easier.

I got a Bostitch, by the way, and it seems nice (although I have only used it a few times so far). The Ridgid was on clearance at my local HD at the time, although they were out. You might find a good deal on that.

Cheers,

Chris

[Steve knight]

no hand pounding for me. last time I nailed a bunch the hammer flew out of my hand and almost hit me in the head (G) my hands don't deal with holding hammers for long times.
most of the time I find if I need different nail it is because I need something beefier rather then longer.
glue would add a hassle and I bet I would use 2 gallons of glue at least. we are talking 740 feet of wood.
I think the 15 is the way to go. want to get a oilless to make life easier.

[Matt Evans]

Now that you have the gauge narrowed, a few brand recomendations.

Porter-Cable was making good nailers, at least until 3 years ago. I don't know about any of their more recent guns.

Senco is a tried and true Nailer/stapler manufacturer. I have never had an issue with any of their products.

Hitachi makes a nice, lightweight nailer. For cabinets and such, I would personally go with Hitachi. They are durable, for their weight, and pretty easy to service.

Paslode is another tried and true nailer manufacturer. One gun out of 25+ that I have used had problems, and that may have been due to abuse rather than anything else.

Ridgid makes a decent framing gun, and I have used one of their finish nailers with no problems. They are pretty heavy duty as well, so that was a plus in my book. I don't have the experience with them to form much more of an opinion though.

One of the shops I did install for used Bostich oil free nailers, and on every one of them the firing pin was forever needing replaced. I thought it was a quirk of the shop, but then I bought one. I needed another firing pin/driver in less than two weeks. It was sold the next day and replaced with a Hitachi, which I have used with no problems ever since.

Hope that helps.

[Jeff Wright]

Kinda off the subject BUT . . . .

I have a Grex pin nailer that I love (my bigger ones are Porter Cables). On the Grex, I prematurely messed up the small rubber seals from using too much oil. I am one who reads the directions on my stuff and it said to regularly squirt some lube oil prior to using. Well, I would put in two or three drops in each time. I soon found that the nailer would jam. When I called Grex they knew before I said it what caused my issue. They were kind enough to mail out a replacement seal with great instructions on how to replace it. I appreciate their good support. Lesson learned: Don't over lube any pin nailer. So now I will only put one drop every so often, not every time I use it.

[Steve knight]

thanks for all of the info and glad you told me about the Bostitch. the company may not get my down payment to me in time so I may have to borrow a stapler. thats actually the best tool but not something I would have a lot of need for in that large of a gage.
most of my use of a nail guns is to pin materiel down on my cnc router's table.