My wife said I could finally get a nail gun.
Wow.
Now, after thinking about it, I'm debating either electric or air. Both about the same price, I don't have an air compressor big enough for one. I will primarily use it for crafting, i.e., birdhouses, shelves, etc,........But, I want one big enough to use in a bind, like on the side of the house, etc.
Will I be happy with an electric, or should I just go ahead and get an air compressor and air gun?
Whatdayathink, huh?
Thanks,
Cleve
DO NOT get electric. Air. is the only choice if you want it to actually do what you expect it to do. With electric you eill need to keep a hammer near by to finish what the electrics start. If you have an air compressor with a tank it will likely be large enough to power most any nail gun with the exception of some palm nailers. Air nail guns are Low volume High pressure users.
Chances are you will need 2 nail guns for bird houses and exterior house repairs.
Thanks, good advice.
Cleve
No. No one I've ever run across has been.
You'll find having a small compressor around very handy also.
Air. I got a bostitch deal at lowes, and it came with a free palm nailer. The nailer was about 3 times the price of the compressor I use to run it.
air.
How small is your compressor, anyway? Nail guns don't take much at all. I got a Bostich nail gun/ pancake compressor combination that works fine. I use the compressor for blowing out the shop, filling basketballs, and oh, yeah.... running the nail gun. I've since added a brad gun, upholstery stapler and round head framing gun to the collection. The pancake has enough oomph to run them all.
It also isn't nearly as noisy as I'd been led to believe an oiless compressor would be.
Go with air.
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I have an electric and it works pretty well where you'd use small 5/8 or less brads or staples.
What I wanted to know is how does electric work???? At first I thought there was a mini air-compressor inside but that's not the case. Then I thought that the Craftsman 19.2V battery just wound up a spring but it's too smooth in recoil for me to believe that. What I mean is that any spring stapler/brad (like an arrow) has a huge recoil when it fires that is un-pneumatic like. This is closer to pneumatic.
So how does an electric brad/stapler work? Is it an electric solenoid fires the brad? Or is it just winding a spring?
Anyone?
Thanks
MAB
Porter Cable currently has a package for around three bills that has a pancake compressor and _two_ guns, one a 15 or 16 gauge and one an 18 gauge brad nailer.
Watch for link wrap:
I have a craftsman electric brad nailer. I have never been happy with it. It just does not have enough oomph to push the brad all the way into anything harder then pine, and then even with dry pine it has trouble.
Air. Lots of other uses to justify the cost of a compressor (besides the fact that air nailers perform better).
I found myself driving around looking for airhoses that work, and don't want you to feed them 50 cents. Now I can fill the air in my tires with my Porter Cable compressor. Nice when you have 2 cars.
Also nice for basketballs, bicycles, air mattresses, etc.
I would go with air. You can get a good Porter Cable or similar quality brad nailer, that will fill most needs, in the $100 range. Watch the ads.
There are also a lot of good packages offered now that provide a small compressor and one or two nail guns at a very good price. My son just bought a set for his job trailer for less than $200 (Oil-less pancake compressor and a Delta brad gun - I think the compressor is PC) .
One caution. These small compressors do great with nail guns and low-demand tools, but not good for continuous demand such as sanders, sprayers, etc. After you get going you will find out that the host of tools and accessories available make compressed air one of the best things to have in your shop. You might consider going with a larger (3-5 HP, 20 to 30 gal tank, etc). My preference is the conventional oiled pumpers. Oil-less machines do recover quickly but the noise makes my fillings hurt (I don't think they do as well in service life - opinion).
On 14 Oct 2004 04:10:47 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@post.com (Maab) calmly ranted:
POORLY, just ask any upholsterer who's been in business for a month or more.
Ayup. The energized winding sends the hammer down onto the staple to drive it in.
------------------------------------------- Stain and Poly are their own punishment
An afterthought:
I'm going to take a load of shot for this, but...................
An acquaintence was getting himself into the finish carperntry business 2-3 years ago, after being laid off. Starting on a shoestring he purchased a couple of Harbor Freight nailers, a brad and a finsh nailer at VERY low prices. He said his plan was to use them until they died and then hopefully be able to step up to a Porter Cable or Delta. As of a couple of months ago he was still using them. Beat up, dirty but still working.
Point is - If you don't plan to use it a lot, don't spend a lot. I have a Porter Cable brad nailer but I might have to consider HF for supplemental stapelers, etc.
Thanks for that report :-)
I have one of those super cheap $15 when on sale Harbor Fright 18g brad nailers. It's been in service for about four years now -- and the danged thing has outlasted a Porter Cable brad nailer that I bought for "quality" and out-and-out snob appeal :-/
Yeah. Funny thing he also said that some of his collegues used HF nailers too but kept the Dewalt and Porter Cable cases close to the door of their job trailers for appearances.
Don't know if it is true but............Hell, you know how us woodworkers are!
Well, if your wife OK'd it now is the time to get the compressor too. I had an electric and it is OK for certain jobs, but you won't be happy with it. Since I got a pneumatic gun I never use the electric; air is definitely the way to go. I have two 18 ga. brad guns from Harbor Freight. One shoots up to 2" brads, the other up to
1 3/16" They are frequently on sale for around $20 and $14. Not too long ago they had a narrow-crown stapler (up to 1 5/8") on sale for $23, and it has been surprisingly useful around the house.By the way, you don't need much of a compressor to run these things. All I have is an old "painting unit" tankless, that I've connected to a portable 5 gal carry tank, and it works fine.
This is exactly where I'm at. I have a Bostich framing nailer, Senco finish nailer and a P-C brad nailer, all purchased for very low prices off that online auction place. (patience pays off) I will be adding a HF 1/4" crown stapler and another brad nailer or two. It is nice to have multiple nailers rather than to keep changing nail sizes and settings on the tool.
Now my gripe is finding some place I can buy nail strips for the framing nailer in quantities less than 4,000.
Tim Douglass
No kidding. I buy a particular length galvanized nail for a Paslode airless nail gun for putting up pickets. The nails cost me $78.00 per box.
Try looking at a Rental store. I have seen smaller packages of nails available for the rental guns.
what the porter cable has that the HF doesn't is oilless operation.
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