Shopping for a finish nailer

[Ron Citerone]

Hey Gang,

I am looking for a finish nailer to do a lot of trim at my bay cottage and my Father in Law's place. I need to use stainless nails for the Bay cottage due to the close proximity to salt water.

I have had good success with Dewalt power tools but am not committed. I never owned a nailer. Also, I see angled and straight. If you only had one which would you have.

Thanks, ron

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I've had them all and I like the ridgid.

[Cary Falk]

I am happy with my refurb Hitachi nailer.

[lowell holmes]

Go to Lowes or Home Depot. They both sell good nail guns.

[Rick Whitehead]

I like Senco.I have two finish nailers by them, as well as a brad nailer.They have been reliable, and nails are widely available. I don't know about stainless nails for them, though.

[Scott Buehler]

Hitachi are good and inexpensive. Angled or straight will depend on way gauge and length nails you need for the specific task. I have about 6 different nailers...pin nailer, 18 gauge, 16gauge, framing nailer, roofing nailer...etc...what type of work will you be doing?

[Victor Robinson]

Are you looking for air-powered or cordless?

What gauge? For a given gauge, angled is a little more maneuverable into corners and such, but angled nails can be a little harder to source (e.g. need to buy online instead of walking into the big box store).

I have Hitachi, Bostitch, Senco, and Paslode in sizes ranging from roofing/siding and framing to pin (23g). I really like the Bostitch "smart point" nailers in the trim sizes because the tips offer good visibility.

[Rich Engelhardt]

IMHO - an 18 ga nailer/NC stapler combo gun is the most bang for the buck.

Having said that - I'm really glad I don't have to be limited to just that. ;).

You should be aware though that 15 ga guns come in two different sizes - whether they are straight or angled. There's the DA and FN style fasteners & they don't interchange. Make sure if you go 15 ga, you get the right fasnteners since you probably won't be able to return them if they are opened.
(It was bad enough in my case when I screwed up and was out ~ $20 for a pack - but - man oh man,,,,the price of stainless is outta sight!)

[Ron Citerone]

Hey Gang,

I will be using it mostly for casing molding and 3/4" rustic pine molding/baseboard. Air powered is what I am thinking, but open to suggestion.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

My crew uses Grex, Senco, Porter and Bostich. Honestly they are all good enough. I'd recommend getting one with a belt hook, last nail cutoff so it won't dry fire, and as light as possible. Brand is secondary, just pick one you've heard of before, and you'll be fine. Even the duds are probably just fine, ie I use my least favorite 15g Senco all of the time, so one of the other guys doesn't have to learn it's tricks.

[Jim Dwight]

For what you describe, casing and baseboard, I use my Ryobi 18 gauge cordless. For a cordless it is inexpensive and some "name brand" pneumatics cost as much. I've completely redone this house with it and did a lot in my last house with it. It's fired around 8000 mostly 2 inch brads so far for me and seems ready to do many more.

I also have Porter Cable and Bostitch pneumatics but my more recent pneumatics have all been from Harbor Freight. I have a framing nailer, a flooring nailer, a 15 gauge and some staplers. They all work fine. They aren't quite as nice as more expensive brands but you can get a 18 gauge for about $25.

I use the 15 gauge for window stools and sometimes when putting in doors. I have a 16 gauge Bostitch which also works fine for this but sometimes the angled head of the HF 15 gauge will get into a space easier. I also have a Bostitch 23 gauge pinner I use when putting on returns. HF sells one too and Ryobi just came out with a cordless one.

I have a little 25 lb Senco compressor that works fine and is not hard to move but most of the time, I use the Ryobi cordless. It is just really nice to not have to mess with power cords and air lines. But in terms of bang for the buck, you cannot beat Harbor Freight pneumatics.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I really like Hitachi nail guns. They strike a good balance between being cost effective and usually very good. Sure there are slightly better nailers out there if you want to spend 2-4 times as much, but it's diminishing returns if you aren't doing it professionally, and even then Hitachi can be great.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Cheap nailers are great, but, they do leave more hammer marks, lack rebuild parts and don't work as well with longer fasteners.
The Freeman and HF nailers are great for construction work, but, they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to finer stuff - like trim & furniture/cabinetry.

[Brian W Evans]

The big box stores usually have a Porter Cable pancake compressor with 3 nail guns (16ga, 18ga, stapler) and hose for cheap. I got one of these kits about 12 years ago and the guns are still doing fine, albeit with light use. I just looked and I think the kit I got is even cheaper now at $199.

Keep them oiled and learn the adjustments and I don't see how a more expensive gun could do a better job.

[Ole Anderson]

I have the Bostitch 18 ga brad gun, their 15 ga angled finish nailer and their pinner. No problem with any of them.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

The big box stores usually have a Porter Cable pancake compressor with 3 nail guns (16ga, 18ga, stapler) and hose for cheap. I got one of these kits about 12 years ago and the guns are still doing fine, albeit with light use. I just looked and I think the kit I got is even cheaper now at $199.

Keep them oiled and learn the adjustments and I don't see how a more expensive gun could do a better job.

I bought that set on sale too, and all that is left is the crown stapler. Probably because i hardly used it. The compressor died real quick. Very disappointed in PC.

In this new age of LiIon batteries, if you're going to use the nailer a lot, I'd consider the rather hefty investment of a cordless finish nailer. It is a nice thing to not drag that air hose in and around your freshly made cabinet. Yeah they a bit bulky and don't fit in smallish areas, but the benefits are there. The Hitachi cycles almost as fast as an air gun, but, if using a finish nailer, it never a race to shoot nails.

[Brian W Evans]

I bought that set on sale too, and all that is left is the crown stapler. Probably because i hardly used it. The compressor died real quick. Very disappointed in PC.

In this new age of LiIon batteries, if you're going to use the nailer a lot, I'd consider the rather hefty investment of a cordless finish nailer. It is a nice thing to not drag that air hose in and around your freshly made cabinet. Yeah they a bit bulky and don't fit in smallish areas, but the benefits are there. The Hitachi cycles almost as fast as an air gun, but, if using a finish nailer, it never a race to shoot nails.

+1 on the compressor not being worth much. I did get several years out of it, though, with much more use than the guns themselves.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I do not have a finishing nailers but if I was looking for one of them I would not hesitate to go to Makita pneumatic model.

I have used both bread nailer as well a "heavy duty" 1/2" stapler from Makita (pneumatic) with great results. I recommend them.

[Davis Young]

For stainless steel nails, if you have trouble sourcing them locally, I would recommend fastenerusa in Modesto. They carry the 316 stainless nails in all the gauges for saltwater application.

[Van Huskey]

I don't see how a more expensive gun could do a better job.

One of the main differences between the mid-level and higher end guns like Grex, Cadex, and Omer is the fact they produce smaller driver marks on the wood for a given size.

[Ron Citerone]

For stainless steel nails, if you have trouble sourcing them locally, I would recommend fastenerusa in Modesto. They carry the 316 stainless nails in all the gauges for saltwater application.

Thanks, Down by the bay stainless is absolutely needed. Unreal what happens to steel down there!

[Rich Engelhardt]

One of the main differences between the mid-level and higher end guns like Grex, Cadex, and Omer is the fact they produce smaller driver marks on the wood for a given size.Couple things here.
Grex makes an outstanding 23 ga. pin nailer. Some say they are industry best.
I know I jumped all over a 15 ga Grex nailer I ran across on a 50% off sale.
I ordered it, then decided to have a sort of gloat the next day and read up on how well I had done.

Turns out - all Grex makes in the line of 23 ga guns.

They outsource all the other ones & overall, they are not well thought of.
Definitely do some research on the reviews of Grex guns other than their 23 ga.

The other thing - while I agree 100% about the difference between the lower priced and better guns, when it comes to 23 ga pin nailers, they shouldn't leave a mark of any kind at all.
If they do, then they aren't being operated correctly.
23 ga pin nailers don't have the nose lockout & are designed to shoot a pin from above the surface, not in contact with the surface.

For all the other gauges - you're spot on - -you pay more money for what you don't see - as in tell tale divots.

[Lisa Starr]

Lots of input on this already, so I'll just add a couple of thoughts. 1) I'd avoid a nailer/stapler combo. I had one, and disliked the larger mark left by impact when driving nails. 2) As I've said before, consider the Grizzly 18 gauge nailer. It is a cheap, reliable nailer that handles a large variety of nail lengths and uses readily available stock nails from the big box stores. I had an outdoor project that required 1-1/4" Stainless Steel and was able to purchase them in my local orange store. Lots of people dis the Grizzly stuff, but at $39.95 I think is is a "best buy". My first one lasted 14 years and I'm using a "new" one now.