Framing Nail Gun

[Charles Webber]

I need to buy a framing nail gun. I am not familiar with them. I will be building crates for a company in my garage. After reading reviews, I am leaning towards the Metabo HPT 36V cordless forming nailer. I was worried about the cordless thinking it wouldn't be able to keep up, but after reading a lot of reviews it seems the battery life will be ok. Plus I am in a garage so not having to hear the compressor noise will be a big plus. And I would also have to buy the compressor if I went pneumatic so the price is about the same. Can anyone give me any advice on if I am making a mistake by buying cordless as well as this particular nail gun or any other? I have to buy soon so can't do much more research (want to start building this weekend).
THANKS!!!!

[Cameron Wood]

That weighs 16+ lbs vs about 9 lbs for comparable air one. It will probably last a small fraction as long (I recently sold a Hitachi one over 30 yrs old & still worked fine). When it breaks, you are dead in the water. Some very quiet compressors available these days, and the air will run different tools.
I would think about a coil nailer- compact & holds a lot of nails, and a 1/2" crown stapler. Not sure what crates you are building, but most have plywood, which is often stapled. Mine takes up to 2" long.

[Cary Falk]

I would have no issues with buying Metabo/Hitachi nail guns. I have several. That being said I'm not sold on battery nailers. I have a 16- and 18-gauge Dewalt battery nail guns I bought to put up trim in the house, so it is quieter, and I don't have to either have a compressor in the house or have a hose running everywhere. From a functional standpoint give me a regular nail gun. If I am in the garage, it will be air nail guns. It may be just the Dewalts. I don't know. Also, buy a full head and not a clipped head framing nail gun. clipped head are not up to code in some places.

[Richard Coers]

Also, buy a full head and not a clipped head framing nail gun. clipped head are not up to code in some places.

Clipped head nailer will be fine for crates.

[James Jayko]

I had that Hitachi battery powered framer. It was great. I mean, I did a basement and wasn't framing house after house, but I have nothing but good things to say about it.

[Cary Falk]

Clipped head nailer will be fine for crates.

Sure, but if you need it for some framing later you will wish you just got a full head in the first place.

[Charles Webber]

I should have stated I need to use 3" common nails for the build. The crates are heavy duty that have to hold a lot of weight. So the only plywood is the bottom pallet style base. The frame of everything else is 2 x 6. The person that was building them before me was using 3 " decks screws and 3" common nails (about 100 per crate).

[Aaron Inami]

I have started seeing fencing contractors using cordless nail guns in the last year or so. It's much more convenient than having to deal with portable air compressors and hoses.

That being said, the weight is not 16 lbs. The specifications say 11 lbs for the Metabo 35V cordless framing nailer. This is compared to 7.5 lbs for the normal Metabo air framing nail gun. While 11 lbs is not that much, the difference between 11 lbs and 7.5 lbs in one hand is considerable. It depends on your muscle amount and endurance if you are building a LOT of crates at a single time.

[Cameron Wood]

Common nails are .148, that gun will not take those.

What did your predecessor use?

[Warren Lake]

cameron i have that framing nailer purchased from an old retired framer. still works fine, can double fire a bit too easy but thats probably operator error. The cartridge for the nails is very long rather have a coiled one but it works well. No experience with battery. Swivel fitting on those things makes them nicer to use.

[andrew whicker]

100 nails then?

I would go pneumatic all day over battery. Not only is cordless heavy, it's heavy in an unbalanced way. You have to sort of fight the weight. Air nailers seem to be weighted better in my experience. I have a relatively cheap rigid framing nailer. I have heard the Hitachis (old ones at least) are pretty sweet.

My friend (ex framer) swears by top load. My rigid is bottom load which I guess is slower. Idk. I don't build houses.

[George Yetka]

How often are these being built? If they are every once in a while you can buy a couple $100 pneumatics. If 1 breaks toss it. If its all day every day I would go for something nicer. I would not go cordless though.

Alot of the crates we get similar to the one you describe are put together with a collated screw gun (they do 3"). These are better for the end user. Id rather unscrew than break my back prying.

[Tom M King]

I did build houses, and have a number of framing nailers. A cordless is a Lot slower. I just don't like them for almost anything. If the wood is hard, a heavy nailer is better all the way around. My first framer was a Senco SNIV. It's heavy, and not made any more, but if I need to drive nails in dry Oak, or even a lot in dry Pine, it's the one that gets the call. For building pallets I would bounce nail most of the nails required. If you're going to bounce a hundred nails as fast as possible you need a good supply of air.

[roger wiegand]

Are you paying for the consumables? If so I'd compare carefully. At 100 per crate it will add up quickly. FWIW I hate the Bostich pneumatic gun I have-- double fires at the slightest provocation, but I'd still go with a pneumatic, albeit a higher quality one. Most of the year you can put the compressor outside the door so you don't have to listen to it. If you don't already have a compressor you'll learn to love it for many different uses.

[John Pendery]

Used to do a lot of framing, still occasionally do some. You will regret a battery framing nailer. They are clunky, slow and cumbersome for continuous use. I recommend whatever the Metabo version of the Hitachi NR83A2 is and a pair of 3M work tunes to compensate for compressor noise if you are working alone.