18 ga pneumatic brad nailer advice?

[roger wiegand]

Looking for a new 18 ga pneumatic brad nailer. My old Senco SLP20 is falling apart and doesn't work about every third time I pick it up for reasons that are not entirely clear. Too much frustration and replacement parts are too expensive.

I was ready to order one from Grex, having heard good things about them, but there are many reviews on Amazon of the 1850GB that say it won't fully set 2" brads. I haven't been using 2" brads, too long for my Senco, but it seems that it would be a nice option to have in a new nailer. People on Amazon love the $29 Wen brad nailer, but somehow I have my doubts, having bought a couple of their products in the past.

So, which one do you like? Past threads here, as is typical, contain warnings against most every brand, the old days when you just bought Senco and didn't think about it seem to be past-- Not very happy with the one I have! Reports on recent experience would be appreciated. I'm not a heavy user, but I want one that works consistently and well. No need for a cordless (hoseless?) model.

[Jim Becker]

Well...if I were having to replace my old Accuset (Senco)...it honestly would be the Grex. I'm also wondering if the folks being dismayed by 2" brads (a rare use anyway due to the thinness of the wire relative to holding power) have things setup correctly for that, both at the gun and compressor wise. For fasteners that long, I'd be picking up my 15 gage nailer (or a 16 gage brad nailer which I don't own currently). I've been very happy with my Grex pinner, so that's why my interest would be in their brad nailer.

[Ben Rivel]

From my research I decided to go with Omer. Havent been disappointed since.

[Matt Schrum]

I just bought a used Porter cable 18 ga brad nailer (the BN200C) off of an internet auction site for $32. It should be delivered today-- so while I haven't gotten any trigger time on it, I do not have any complaints about the 16 ga Porter Cable nailer I've been using for the last few years. I'd expect the same from this model.

For me, I would rather buy a used higher end brand than a new, lower tier brand. In my opinion, Porter Cable isn't super fancy, but I feel it is better than some of the other brands I saw selling new for the same price as a used Porter Cable. YMMV

[roger wiegand]

Good points-- at this point 2" brads are only a theoretical possibility, and I've been getting along fine with 15 ga finish nails in that size range.

[Greg R Bradley]

If your Senco is a SLP20XP that was made in US and painted Grey, fix it!

If it is a newer red Chinese POS or a non XP series, toss it.

[Ric Flanders]

Personally I had a (black) Senco that didn't last but a couple of years of hobby use. I bought a Bostich to replace it and it has now survived over 4 years. The Hitachi nail guns are rated highly so we got one at the school i help out at now and these kids eventually kill everything. So far the Hitachi is holding up better than we all expected! It might be my next gun brand as the kids usually kill the Bostich guns in less than a year which held up better than any of the other common brands we used.

[Greg Parrish]

Surprisingly the ridgid 18 ga brad nailer is really great and gets good reviews. Very quiet and love mine. Requires no oil. It replaced a really old craftsman. Considered the porter cable, bostich, hitachi and dewalt versions as well as the grex. Would love a grex but the price on the ridgid was hard to beat.

[Ole Anderson]

I have an older Bostitch with a max capacity of 1 5/8", I bought my son the newer Bostitch that takes 2" and with the pointed nose can work with Oak T&G flooring when the floor nailer won't work. Happy with both. But then we don't shoot millions of brads. I also have the 15 ga nailer and their pin nailer. Like them both.

[Greg R Bradley]

The good Senco are grey, normally with a red cap on the air unit. They black ones were an early Chinese POS, the newer ones are red wrinkle paint. The good units are quite old but the ones made 10-20 years ago mostly all clearly say "XP" on the end of the model number.
The Rigid ones that were excellent were one, or possibly two, versions previous to the current ones at Home Depot.

You can't get very far determining the quality with a brand name. One good Rigid that has now gone downhill. Great Senco that were still sold when they tried to compete with the cheap stuff. Grex made great 23ga pinners but most of the other Grex units are marginal, some downright junk. Cadex has had some turkeys. Max was the ultra premium seller of the same factory that supplies Grex and had premium manufacturing and assembly in Japan with stellar QC. Now they sell marginal stuff. Omer probably has all good stuff.

[Cary Falk]

I have older porter cable, bostitch and a refurb Hitachi. I wouldn't hesitate getting another refurbished hitachi or bostitch. I'm not sold on new porter cable .

[Jim Dwight]

I have a 15 gauge (HF), 16 gauge (Bostitch), 18 gauge (Porter Cable) and 24 gauge (or is it 23, Bostitch). I also have staplers and a flooring nailer (HF). My Harbor Freight (HF) nailers work as well as my others so my future purchases will probably be HF. My favorite 18 gauge is not pneumatic, however. I am about done retrimming my house and the vast majority of the nails have been driven by my Ryobi brad nailer and have been 2 inch 18 gauge. It works great and not having to mess with the compressor is very handy. I have the little Senco which is very portable but it and the hose are still one more thing to mess with. Easier to just pick up the Ryobi and fasten the trim. It's not as cheap as my HF pneumatics but reasonable versus the "better" brands being discussed at a little over $100 - more if you need batteries and a charger but still not bad. I've driven around 12-13,000 brads with mine and it still works the same as when new.

[Earl Rumans]

I have been very happy with my Cadex http://www.cadextools.com/en/?p=2604 and it hasn't given me any problems with 2 inch brads but I haven't tried 2 inch in any very hard woods.

[Mike Henderson]

I have the Senco and it's been very reliable. I also have a Grex 23 gauge and it's very good.

Mike

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I do not have a personal history with pneumatic nailers but I got a few months ago my first one: Makita AF505N (https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/AF505N), a 2", 18Ga. brad nailer. I have used it since then for a couple of thousand of 30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm brads... No single failure. I am very glad. The thing is very reliable. I can recommend it although it is not exactly the cheapest one in the market. I paid the equivalent to USD 100 in Brazil, including our monumental tax burden but it is worth each penny.

Let us know your choice and your experience when it arrive.

[James Biddle]

From my research I decided to go with Omer. Havent been disappointed since.
I've wanted to replace my Senco, 18ga, 1-1/4" nailer for awhile. I need an 18ga that supports longer nails. I wanted to love the Grex because of my 23ga Grex pin nailer. But everything I read said the 18ga is nowhere near the same quality of the 23ga. I can't buy their 18ga nailer because of the good ratings of the 23, even though my experience is the same; Grex makes a really good 23ga pin nailer.

I have a Omer 15ga nailer with plastic pins that I bought when I bought my CNC to nail stuff onto the CNC table without the fear of destroying a cutter for whenever I screw up. It's worked flawlessly shooting plastic nails through MDF and Plywood and releasing with a hammer whack.

My biggest complaint against Omer? They make, arguably the best nailer on the planet and surround it with the worst packaging ever. It comes in a box, not a plastic box, with the nailer shifting around enough to break the foam inserts. But, damn if it doesn't shoot nails better than everything I've ever used.

[andy bessette]

I just had my old SP20 rebuilt. Great tool.

[roger wiegand]

Based on reading here and elsewhere I've ordered the Omer. I'll let you know what I think when it arrives, but it will be a decade ir so before I know anything about reliability (I hope!!)

Also interested in getting my Senco refurbished, but I need a working tool sooner than that.

[John TenEyck]

I had a Bosch 2" 18 gage that I got for free when I bought a 12" DCMS. It was great for about 2 years, then quite. Glad I didn't pay for it. Well maybe I did, actually. Anyway, I now have a red Senco and it's been fine so far, no misfires, though I doubt I've run 1K brads through it yet.

I'm finding brad nailers of limited use. They are great for work where an occasional mistake is OK, but for most of the trim work I do, the kind where mistakes really show and time is not nearly as important as a "perfect" result, I find the old manual method with hammer and nail set best. After 5 or 6 instances where the brad took a 90° turn and blew out the side, or turned around completely and came back out right next to the entry hole, I don't use a nailer anymore when it really counts. The old school approach of predrilling the hole, and setting the brad with a nail set rarely fails. This certainly isn't an approach a pro trim carpenter can use to install a house full of molding, but it's what I do installing door and most cabinet trim. The only place I now first reach for a nailer is when it comes to the little 23 gage pin nailer, which is just about perfect for delicate trim.

John

[larry senen]

the omer site is not clear on whether or not one gun can drive plastic AND metal pins. does it?

[andy bessette]

Plastic pins blow!

[James Biddle]

Plastic pins blow!

I've had the exact opposite experience using my Omer gun and Raptor nails; they hold stuff down on my CNC and release with the whack of a hammer. That is, they have a lot of tensile strength and much less shear strength. What was your application?

My Omer nailer for plastic nails is 15ga and my Omer trim nailer is 18ga, so I can't comment on the interchangeability.

[andy bessette]

18-gauge plastic pins were supplied me by Raptor to try in various boat building applications. Only the very shortest ones worked in the very softest of wood, wood unsuitable for any of my uses. In all materials I commonly use (teak, various mahogany, fir, various plywood) the pins virtually exploded every time I pulled the trigger.

[Tim Bueler]

I have several various Senco pinners and staplers. Had one recently start acting up like Roger's. Even though it's an oil-less nailer, and since I needed it right then, I dumped some air oil in it. Maybe 15 or 20 drops. I'll be goll danged if it hasn't worked flawlessly since. Might be worth a shot if you're going to can it anyhow.

[Pete Staehling]

If you have problems with any nailer, it might makes sense to look at the nails, pins, or brads first. In my limited experience, the HF ones don't work well in even a good gun and the good stuff works well in even the HF guns.

[Brian Behrens]

I built a new house last year. I trimmed the entire house with a Hitachi 18 ga I got at Lowe's. I shot 2 boxes of 2" brads in the 3/4" solid wood trim and casings without one hiccup. That's 10,000 brads. I used 2" because the trim is on solid T&G walls. I still use the Hitachi all the time in the shop. I think I paid around $79 for it.

[Dave Cav]

I built a new house last year. I trimmed the entire house with a Hitachi 18 ga I got at Lowe's. I shot 2 boxes of 2" brads in the 3/4" solid wood trim and casings without one hiccup. That's 10,000 brads. I used 2" because the trim is on solid T&G walls. I still use the Hitachi all the time in the shop. I think I paid around $79 for it.

Is that the combo nailer/stapler?

[Lisa Starr]

I'm on my 2nd Grizzly Brad Nailer. The first one lasted 17 years. It shoots 3/4" thru 2" nails with no trouble and without needing any adjustments when you change sizes. I'd avoid the Nailer/Stapler Combo unit, as the one I used for a small job, left too large of a divet when shooting brads, at least for my liking.

[Brian Behrens]

Is that the combo nailer/stapler? , No it is just a nailer

[Ray Frederick]

What PSI are you all running your 18 gauge guns at?

I've been getting poor performance from a Porter Cable 18 gauge on one of the tiny 100 psi max 1/3hp Harbor Freight compressors. Trying to narrow down if the issue is the gun or the compressor just isn't up to the task. Mostly nailing into Poplar in 3/4" thickness. Not setting has been the main issue, or the bending over itself.

Works fine with my 23 gauge guns but I know that doesn't prove anything. Don't have another gun handy at the moment and both the carpenters who work with me have gone all cordless except 23 gauge so they are no help. I'm cordless with my 16 gauge but stick to air for the 18 and 23.

[Alan Lightstone]

I have the Senco and it's been very reliable. I also have a Grex 23 gauge and it's very good.

Mike

Same combo here, and no issues, though I don't use them a ton. Although, perhaps apples and oranges, my Senco is a cordless. Not sure if that makes it more or less reliable.

[Lisa Starr]

Ray -- My Griz says the range is 60-100 psi. I adjusted my little Hitachi Compressor to kick on at 70 psi, as from 60 - 70 psi the nailer won't always sent the 2" brads.