Milwaukee Brad Nailer: Hose & Brads

[Michael Aldridge]

Have a shiny new Milwaukee 7150 Brad Nailer in transit and I don't see Milwaukee brand brads anywhere, so I suppose they do not make them. I was wondering if anyone who has this nailer has a preference for one brand of brads over another? Also, I'll need a sturdy 25' hose. Poly or rubber? Coil? Any particular brand that you favor?

[Per Swenson]

Hello Michael,

Any 18 gauge brad will work, p/c, senco, bostitch etc.

As for the hose, I use braided poly only.

There are different brands out there, but they look like this.

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/welcome.pl?ref=froogle+page=/a/ab/coilhose/flexeel.htm

Stay far away from the coiled type. My opinion.

Per

[Alex Shanku]

I agree with Per. Since we bought a few of the un-braided poly hoses last year, I would never want to switch back. Rolling the 100' hoses is tedious, however.

We use the bright green hoses, available all over, fwiw.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
My overall preference for brads is Porter Cable.
I usually buy the small plastic bubble packs of them unless I have some large project in the works.
In my humid garage - where I store things - the boxes have a tendency to get a very slight film of rust. That causes jams. The smaller bubble packs run a little more, but it beats having to toss 3/4 of a box because they have "gone bad".

Hoses - I buy whatever is on sale. Usually poly. I do have one 25' section of rubber hose I use in the shop and onsite as a "whip end". The added flexibility of the rubber means less fighting the hose.
I'm prone to being hard on hoses - so I buy ones that I don't feel bad about tossing when they tear.


- Don't try to scrimp on quick connects. Cheap ones leak. Leaks mean more cycles on the compressor. It's false economy. By saving a buck or two on the connector, you're shortening the life of the far more expensive compressor.