Air Nailer

[Mike Burke]

I'm looking to buy a air Nailer for my hobbies wood shop.
Is there a "Best" brand ? We have a Porter Cable at work and seems to work ok. It's a 18 ga
Any suggestions on new air Nailer ?
Thanks

[Jim Colombo]

Mike;
I went with WEN a dew years ago and have been very happy with them.

Jim

[Lisa Starr]

Like I've said other times, I run an 18 ga Grizzly finish nailer. I like that it accommodates 5/8" thru 2" nails and rarely even needs adjusted to "set" the heads. At $39.95, I consider it disposable, but the 1st one lasted 14 years. I'm using the 2nd one now.

[Jim Becker]

Mike, there are many threads on this subject, so check them out in addition to comments you see here. There's no one "best" brand, but there are budget, good and very good brands, with escalating costs as can be expected. Lots of folks are quite happy with super-budget guns from Harbor Freight, while others with more production focused needs prefer higher end tools from Omer, Grex, Cadex and others. The one underlying rule is: buy good, name-brand fasteners, not those from places like HFT. ;)

I have a mix of pneumatic tools that include old Accuset by Senco, Senco, Porter Cable, Dewalt and Grex, depending on the gun and when I bought it.

[andy bessette]

Senco is the gold standard.

[Mike Cutler]

I've had a set of Porter Cable's I both probably 15 years ago. They've been fine for me. The set consisted of a framing nailer, brad nailer, and stapler.
I'm not a framer, or in the construction trades, so that might explain why they've lasted me so long. A professional would probably have much nicer guns.

[Bill Dindner]

I really like my Cadex Pin nailer, if I was in the market for a high end 18 gauge I would look closely at Cadex.

[Cary Falk]

I have older Porter Cable and Bostitch. I bought a refurb Hitachi 15 gauge which I am happy with also. If I were buying new I would probably buy a refurb Hitachi or Harbor Freight.

[Jim Becker]

Senco is the gold standard.
They used to be, but like many of the names, folks have been saying that quality isn't what it used to be.

[Mike Burke]

Thanks everyone for the input...Thanks

[Steve Rozmiarek]

They used to be, but like many of the names, folks have been saying that quality isn't what it used to be.

Yep, I use quite a few of their older guns, great stuff. I bought a 15g recently that is a moody bugger. Like my senco 18 gauge, but in the field my bostich 18 gets grabbed more often because it shoots 2" and has a belt hook. It's heavier, but has never caused trouble. Bought a senco joist nailer and some other stuff after the 15 g, and it all works fine. Probably just a bad gun design.

This is the junker, a model 42 although mine isn't "XP":

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51e0ElOmL8L.jpg

[Allan Dozier]

Not counting my framing nailers and a gas powered Paslode I use on fencing but for the shop I now buy Cadex. I had Porter Cable ones but they are the main reason I swore I would never buy another Porter Cable tool. My 18 ga malfunctioned even after a complete rebuild kit. I have Cadex in 16, 18, 21, and 23 ga. On a side note, I have found myself using the 21 more than the others, usually where I might have used 18 in the past.