Finish Nail Gun?

[Davej]

Anyone have the 15 gauge Harbor Freight gun? Or other recommendations?

Thanks.

[HeyBub]

What are you going to "finish?"

I've got one of these:

About less than 1/2 the price and it does stuff like trim, molding, and the like quite well. It countersinks the head about 1/16" and the results are almost invisible.

Brads are much thinner than nails but they must have invisible barbs or glue or something. Once in place they are incredibly tenacious!

Anyway, I'm completely pleased with mine.

[Jim Elbrecht]

No- but for $30 more I'd buy this N62 on Ebay- New, $109, free shipping; item 200306621428

Here's a used one with warranty for$51 including shipping;

330305728785

Depending on where you live Craigslist might have some deals- [not where I live, but I know somebody will suggest it]

For $20-30 I'd grab a HF nailer, but I hesitate to go over $50 on their chinatools. [I own a couple of the brad nailers that I picked up when they were about $10- they work most of the time.]

Jim

[Colbyt]

Most of their stuff is fine for the casual user.

I would be a little concerned about: a.. Air consumption: 8 CFM @ 90 PSI

That seem a bit high to me.

I bought a Senco off EBay, new for a few $ more.

Noisy as heck but works like a champ.

[C & E]

Try Tool-King's reconditioned tools for some deals. I've bought several and never had an issue. Here's the Bostitch that I got

Of course, it's a little more than it was a year or so ago but I feel that it's a bargain and you won't have to wonder if the boat from China will have repair parts the next trip over the pond - just kidding. I have some HF stuff and haven't had an issue with the majority of them.

[Davej]

Ok, so go with a name brand? Bostitch, Senco, or Hitachi?

[SteveB]

Bought a brand new DeWalt 18ga. pin nailer at a pawn shop recently. I like it. $30.

Steve

[Davej]

Base trim and crown molding are the main projects... the hope is the gun will produce neater results than hammering.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I would. It isn't a whole lot more & if it breaks you can get parts and fix it. I can only comment on the Bostitch. I've got a used N62 & I like how it is built.

My brother-in-law swears by his senco. BTW, his is a cartridge gun. No compressor needed, but the cartridges are expensive and only stocked by a couple local stores. I'd stick with a pneumatic as the compressor is really free because even if you don't have one, when you get it you'll wonder how you lived without it. [same with the nailer-- if/when you need to drive and set nails again you'll wonder how you survived the 'old days'/]

Jim

[Davej]

Well, I'm still not sold on the idea of nailers but I'm willing to give one a try. Are all the decent ones air? I have a cheezy compressor but don't really have any air tools.

Maybe I ought to start another thread -- what tools are much better as the air versions?

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

I think even the cheesiest of compressors will run a nailer. I've shot a couple hundred brads out of my cheap HF bradnailer off my

10gallon tank with no compressor attached.

'better' needs to be qualified. If you spend every day working on roofs, off ladders, or in 2nd floor bedrooms, then a cartridge type might be handy. But for mucking about a shop, outside, or an occasional trip to upstairs it is nice to have a steady supply of air to run a tool or two.

And even my cheap $100 HF compressor has paid for itself yearly in the other handy things that it does.

Jim

[gfretwell]

Just be careful not to buy the cheapest HF nailer (the red one). I have the blue one and it seems to be pretty good but I threw the red one away. My real nailers (a roofer and a framer) are Hitachi

[evodawg]

I'll stick with my PC's Although I did buy the 16 penny nailer and it works pretty good. It's very heavy though and when using it which is not very often (framing nailer) my arm is sore after only 1 hour of use.

[Davej]

Ok, but these nailers are the first tool I've come to, other than paint guns, where air is virtually the only choice.

[Phisherman]

Most nailers work just fine on a compressor with a small tank, since they use a very small volume per minute. The nailer really came in handy when installing crown molding. I got a finish nailer that uses the more popular more availble nails. Senco and Senco nails are expensive, but I'd certainly avoid the off-brands or low-end stuff.

[Davej]

Ok, but are these things going to break the first time I hit a nail? For the base trim I've been aiming for the sill 2x4 (against the subfloor) and hit nails fairly often.

[gfretwell]

The red one just jams a lot. I have shot a box of brads out of the blue one without any problems

[dpb]

Be _dxxxn_ sure you're wearing eye protection, then...the biggest concern I'd have would be ricochet if were to dead-center on a 16d, say.

No specific experience w/ the HF nailers; I bought refurb'ed Bostitch for all owing primarily to plentiful choices of ammunition for them and reasonable cost.

There's no real substitute for the purpose when there is a purpose and particularly if time is of any concern -- other than that, there's always the fact that there's nothing you can do w/ a nailer that can't be hand nailed, albeit even if it may take pilot holes or other special efforts to accomplish.

--

[HeyBub]

Why?

[HeyBub]

I can't imagine any of them breaking. They'll probably bend the heck out of the brad/nail and might jam, but they can't really break.

If you study the schematic, you'll see how they work. They release a wad of compressed air against a spring-return piston. This piston thumps (not pushes) the next nail in line out the mouth of the gun.

If the nail won't go the distance - perhaps because it hit an obstacle - the nail ends up protruding from the target! It's not like the piston drives the nail the whole distance - it just gives the nail a hefty kick out the door.

Look at it like this: If you have a nailer that can drive both a 2" brad and a 1-1/4" brad (like I suggested), without any adjustment when you change ammunition, it's obvious the "plunger" on the gun isn't traveling a full two inches, else it drive the shorter nail 3/4" below the surface!