Which pneumatic nailers?

[Joe Ruszczyk]

I'm getting ready to add a nail gun to my shop and need suggestions. I plan to do mainly finish type work to start, but I can see myself building furniture in the future. What unit should I get to handle finish nails initially. What would you suggets I add later that would easily handle 2x4 or somewhat larger lumber? Thanks for your suggestions and comments!

[Bill Wyko]

It just so happens I use both. The bosch or the porter cable for the finish nailer. The porter cable for framing. IMHO:)

[Michael Lutz]

My Sencos have worked well for me, finish, brad, and framing.

Mike

[Von Bickley]

I would vote for Senco.;)

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Pretty much pick your "color".

I'm partial to the Porter Cable gray myself. I have one of the "gray" straight 15 ga finishing nailers.
If I could have jusitified the PC 350 for a framing nailer, that's what I would have got. As it was, I couldn't so I settled for a Harbor Freight for about a third the price.
*shrug* It works. Probably won't last anywhere near as long as a better one, but I'm not into doing a lot of framing so it doesn't matter.
I'll be framing in a basement this weekend -so we'll see how well it does on a fair sized project.
If it comes up "snake eyes", Lowe's has a Bostich on sale with a free palm nailer,,,and they're only 5 min away from where I'll be working.

I also have an odd assortment (3) of low end 18 ga brad nailers/staplers.
My "go to" of the 3 is the Lowes (Tradsman?) magnesium frame one.
I really like the light weight of the magnesium frame a lot.
Oddly, I like the heft of the PC 15 ga. The extra heft reduces the "kick" of the longer nails.
Go figure

One tip I can give you is if/when you get an 18 ga, make sure you get one that does both nails and staples. I didn't think I'd use the staples anywhere near as much as I've ended up doing. Now I probably use 5 staples for every 1 brad I shoot.

[Dar Lounsbury]

Most of them have gotten very good. Everyone has a favorite but you should go to the store and pickup and handle a bunch of them to see how they feel. Weight, balance and size of grip are important if you are going to use it for any lenght of time. Call your local gun nail supply house (not HD or Lowes) and see what most of the framers are using and you probably won't go wrong.

Dar

[Joe Mioux]

I have been very happy with my Senco's

I never used anyother so I can't base a comparison.

I can say that they have always worked very well, no damage to the wood, the sunk the brads below the surface, needed no maintenance and never got jammed.

This is my experience with this brand.

Joe

[Richard Niemiec]

What everyone else said.

One thing, when buying a framing nailer, get the "round" head as opposed to the "clipped" head. When I bought mine I was told that the trend in building codes and code official enforcement is to require round head nails for strength purposes. It started down south, with hurricanes, etc. but seems to be spreading as a requirement. rn

[Greg Cole]

Here's my inventory:
Paslode for framing.
PC for finish nailers & brad. One 90* finish nailer and one 45*.
Hitachi for roofing nailer & siding.

As someone already said.. go and wrap your hands around the different brands. and find the one that fits ya the best. Buy a good brand and you shouldn't go wrong.

[Dan Clark]

I have a Hitachi framing nailer and 15g finish nailer, and PC 18g brad nailer, palm nailer, 1/4" crown stapler, and upholstery stapler. I'm very happy with all of them except the palm nailer. The palm nailer works pretty well, but sometimes you have to push pretty hard to get it started.

I've been thinking about a 23g pinner and have trouble deciding between Grex and Cadex.

Good luck with your decision.

Dan.

[Michael Schwartz]

My Arsenal

Senco 702XP FRH Framing Gun
Porter Cable 16 gauge Finish Gun
Porter Cable 18 gauge Brad Gun
Porter Cable Narrow Crown Staple Gun
Ez Fasten 21 Gauge Pinner/Nailer

Senco Palm Nailer (Technically more of an Air Hammer than a nail gun)


I bought the porter cable guns as part of a 3 gun kit from the borg for 300 dollars. This is a great deal in my mind, espicialy when you add in the fact it comes with a decent compressor, a good (real) 40 foot air hose (not one of those cheesy recoil hoses that say they are 40 feet but are really 10') and 1000 fasteners for EACH gun to get you started.

The compressor is more than enough to run multible finish guns at a time (has two air outlets) And runs a framing gun, but cycles frequently. I would use it to frame 1 house, but not frame every day with it.

The Porter cable guns are all really great, they have an easy depth adjustment, never jam, and set the nails really nice in anything. They are also pretty tough and can take a real beating.

The Ez Fasten gun is ok, has a really nice magazine on it but lacks a good depth adjustment and a contact safety or double trigger. The gun is a bargain if you buy it on sale, but I am not sure I would buy it again due to lack of a double trigger. It is relitivly safe as long as you or anybody arround you is wearing eye protection which is should be manditory with any nail gun anyway. The 21 gauge pins lack any mass, and would most likely bounce off skin or clothing if fired from a few feet. (The rule with this gun and any other nail gun is treat it like its a real gun as far as safty)

The senco framing gun is nice, only had it jam up with bad nails, and it is easy to set the depth and it sets nails consistently into plywood for sheeting. Full round nails are better than clipped head nails unless you are building a fence. If you get a 31 degree cliped head gun, Pasalode makes a offset round head nail that will fit them, although these might not be accepted in all areas.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

Update -$268.00 later - I now own a Bostich framing nailer - and the freebie palm nailer:rolleyes: .

[Cody Colston]

Hello,

Update -$268.00 later - I now own a Bostich framing nailer - and the freebie palm nailer:rolleyes: .

All my nailers...Framing Nailer, 15 ga. finish nailer, 18 ga brad nailer and NC stapler are all Bostitch. They've all worked well, few if any jams and the fasteners are available at the big box stores.

I did have to replace the trigger valve on my framing nailer (after 4 years) and now the one on my finish nailer needs replacing (after 8 years). They aren't expensive nor hard to replace so I deem it a minor inconvenience.

Congrats on your purchase.

[dan moran]

i own a senco framer- but ive used all the others extensively and i like the senco framers the best.. i hear the new up and commer in that market is the MAX brand..

when it comes to a trim gun i like hitachis 15 ga angle nailer- ive used the senco angled one and the straight PC model so id rank em 1- hitachi 2- senco 3- PC

for 18ga brad nailers ive used hitachi and PC and hitachi wins in my book- due to actuation device-- the rubber pads always fall off the pc and whats left often leaves a dent in softer wood..


paslode makes a 30 degree "very nearly full" round head paper strip nail which works fine in my clipped head senco gun..

little trick if you want to do any toenailing with your framing gun: remove the spring that pushes the foot out -- but be careful after that and dont leave your finger on the trigger between operations..

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello Cody,

My only problem with the Bostich is that I was somewhat forced into having to buy the one I really didn't want to.
I was in kind of a jam and had to rush out and pick one up. The Bostich Model F28WW, was pretty much my fourth choice. A Porter Cable 350 was my first choice, after reading up on framing nailers a few months ago.
As I mentioned earlier, I couldn't justify the cost of it though. Since then though, I've accumulated enough "reward" points ($125.00 worth) at Home Depot where I'd have been able to afford one at the end of the present billing cycle - the end of this month.

My "problem" was twofold. I was right in the middle of a project - I didn't have time to wait; other stuff cropped up that made it imperative that I get as much done on the project (framing in the basement) as possible yesterday without wasting any time at all.

As I mentioned in my first post, my "plan "B", in the event the Harbor Freight nailer let me down was the Bostich.
The HF gun failed miserably. Jams galore, all three of the fasteners (screw in the magazine and the two nuts that hold it to the frame) stripped out with the slightest amount of force applied to them, grossly underpowerered - I had to crank the presure well beyond the tools rated 90 psi to get the nails to drive anywhere close enough to flush to finish them off with a hammer, and a general lack of any QC whatsoever.


Since I'd just gotten into a box of 28 degree wire weld nails (about $59.00 worth) w/the HF gun, that box of nails would also have been a write-off, which would also have added to the final cost.

Fortunatly, the Bostich uses the same fasteners.

Don't get me wrong, the Bostich is great! The magnesium frame makes it a pleasure to work with. The thing has tons of power also. I found I could crank the air pressure way down to just above 65 psi and it still drove the 3" nails well below flush in the soft 2X4's.
I'd recommend this model in a heartbeat to anyone.

I'm just kind of sour grapes over the circumstances involved in my getting it.

[Russ Massery]

I've been very happy with Porter cable for all my nail guns. I have there framing nailer down to a pinner.And just about everything in between. All have performed very well with no problems. Some a over 12-13yrs old.I think there a great value.

Russ