21 ga vs. 23 ga nailer

[Rob Wilson]

I currently have an 18 ga nailer and have thought about getting a smaller gauge also. How does the 21 ga stack up vs 23 ga?

I'm not sure what sort of projects I'd be looking at with either one. Guess what really got me started thinking along these lines is the 21 ga nailer that Woodcraft has on sale currently for $80 (vs $130 regular price).

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5178

I almost said maybe I don't need either one, but figured I didn't dare say that here - or all I'd here is "you can never have to many tools".

[John Gregory]

I have the PC 23 guage. I use it lots more than I ever thought I would. Pins are easy to find and buy. How available are the 21 guage to buy?

[Steve Clardy]

First I've heard of a 21 gauge I guess.
I have 15, 16, 18, and 23 gauge.

[Doug Ketellapper]

I'll echo John. I have the PC 23 gauge and it's a great tool, and pins are readily available. Like Steve, this is the first I've heard of 21 gauge.

[Doyle Alley]

I'll echo John. I have the PC 23 gauge and it's a great tool, and pins are readily available. Like Steve, this is the first I've heard of 21 gauge.

The current Woodcraft sale flyer lists a 21 gauge nailer.

[Jerry Bittner]

I have one, 23 gauge, and surprisingly I find more use for it than I ever thought.

I know this will cause the big name brand advocates to shudder, but like I said, I thought for as many time as I would be using it, I decided to go the Harbor Freight route and picked one up for less than $30 -- case and nails included.

So far, no problems.

http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/categorySearch.do

[Philip Glover]

Rob,

I have a Max 18ga and a Grex 23ga. If you already have a 18ga go for the 23ga. It just seems that a 21ga is too close to 18ga to be of a real benefit.

Regards,
Phil

[Charlie Plesums]

I have the PC 23 gauge... got it to hold moldings on the center of a work piece until the glue dried (too far away from the edge to clamp). I have used it for lots of projects, but all were basically hold something until the glue dried... the pin is too small to provide strength by itself.

I wouldn't want anything thicker than a 23 gauge for this use... any larger and I would have to fill the holes. I do also have a brad nailer for other things where the nail adds strength instead of just holding something light in place until glue dries.

[Wes Bischel]

Rob,
I noted the same thing last year when I was looking for a pinner. I ended up going with a 23ga unit if for no other reason than it seemed to be the industry standard.

I think you'll find a lot of projects to use it on - I know I have!

FWIW, I went with the Air Locker P630 available from Toolmarts.com - $60 plus shipping. It has worked really well.

Wes

[M. A. Espinoza]

I have one, 23 gauge, and surprisingly I find more use for it than I ever thought.

I know this will cause the big name brand advocates to shudder, but like I said, I thought for as many time as I would be using it, I decided to go the Harbor Freight route and picked one up for less than $30 -- case and nails included.

So far, no problems.

http://da.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/categorySearch.do

Do you have an item number for that HF unit for 30? Clicked on the link and got nothing?

I've used a HF 18 ga and crown stapler for a couple years and they work pretty well. They miss about every 15th shot but other than that they work well for how I use them.

Just don't use air guns hard enough to justify top quality.

[Hoa Dinh]

I bought a 23-ga pin nailer from "thetuulshed" on eBay for about $30 delivered. It is the same as the Bynford normally sold elsewhere (e.g. Amazon.com) for $49. The look and feel are better than those of the HF nailers that I own.

An example is item 4457192478 there.

[Scott D Johnson]

45658-0VGA (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45658) $60 "Contractor Series"
93656-0VGA (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93656) $25

[Stan Mijal]

I have the PC 23 guage. I use it lots more than I ever thought I would. Pins are easy to find and buy. How available are the 21 guage to buy?


Omer uses 21 gauge pins. They are actually available at a number of on line retailers. Just Google it.

I have had that Woodcraft 21 guage nailer/pinner and it has worked flawlessly. I particularly like the using of 21 guage nails where the standard 18 ga is just too big, but need a little more holding power than a pin.

[M. A. Espinoza]

Thanks for the links. I'm sure I'll go with one of those three. The auction from tuulshed looks pretty much identical to the HF "contractor".

Don't need a pinner often, but there have been times I wanted something smaller than 18 gauge when tacking on trim. Be nice to at least have the option and the price is right.