Hitachi nailes -- advice??

[jcatora]

Folks,

The local Lowes is clearancing out some nailers and has the Hitachi NT

65MA3 2 1/2" finish nailer for $100 (about half retail - cheapest I found online was $170) and the NT 32AE2 1 1/4" brad nailer for $45 (Amazon shows this for $38). The finish nailer seems a good deal, while the brad nailer is so-so.

Any experience with these (doesn't Hitachi have a pretty good reputation with their framing nailers?).

More to the point, should I buy?

Thanks in advance.

-- john.

They've also got a Porter-Cable combo finish / brad set for $135 (didn't get the model numbers) and some Dewalt stuff as well.

[Patriarch]

jcatora wrote in news:1187968391.447433.28860 @x40g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

No experience with the Hitachi current product, although I did once use their large framer. Well abused, it worked quite well for that day's efforts.

That's a pretty good deal on the Porter Cable, if the 'finish' nailer is the 16 ga. Better still if the 15 ga. I have four or five of those guys.

Patriarch

[Neillarson]

I have no experience with the nailers but i LOVE the router and the drivers I have by Hitachi. I do have the Dewalt D51256K 2 1/2in finish nailer and it is great. All my other nailers are PC but I will definatly consider more Dewalt going forward.

[jcatora]

Was back in there this evening and the PC kit was xx250BBN - a 15 ga finish nailer. None sold since yesterday (nor the Hitachi's - but the DeWalt's were all gone). The PC was normally $159, so 135 wasn't that much of a discount.

-- john.

[Mike O.]

I haven't used the MA3 but we have an MA2 finish nailer that has held up well in pretty heavy daily use. I personally prefer Senco but the Hitachi has never needed a repair in about 3 years. Oh...that little blower thing is just a pain. ;-)

The price seems good. Go for it.

Mike O.

[Swingman]

All my framing crews use Hitachi exclusively ... that should speak well of all their products, but the way Delta and Porter Cable are putting out pure crap these days, along with some legacy products that are still good, you can't ever tell.

That said, I would certainly take a chance on a good deal on the Hitachi.

[Patriarch]

jcatora wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I thought you said $135 got you the 15 ga plus an 18 ga brad nailer. Which would be a good discount.

Patriarch

[jcatora]

innews: [e-mail]:

That's correct. What I was noting in the followup post was that, prior to this discount, one could get the same thing (i.e. finish + brad) for $159, so, comparatively, one is only saving $24. I'll admit that, even at $159, this is a good price.

-- john.

[jcatora]

That has been the experiences I'm hearing on the construction site - that the Hitachi framing nailers are the ones many want. Whether it is logical to extend that to smaller hardware may not hold up. The 5 year warranty says something as well.

Regardless, I got them (finish and brad).

-- john.