LIDL pneumatic nailer/stapler & compressor - any good?

[Jim K]

& compressor =A390

observations/constructive comments/experiences?

Cheers Jim K

[Andy Dingley]

Nailgun

Why do you need one? I hate nailguns. Horrible at putting nails where you = need them, far too good at putting them where you don't want, like into you= . Only thing I really use them for is building theatre set flats, where it= 's lots and lots of nails in a semi-production environment.

My favourite nailgun is a thirty quid Vaughan framing hammer that looks lik= e an ice axe and a well-fitting nail pouch.=20

Any compressor is better than none. This one is too small and too noisy to= be a good workshop compressor running all sorts (like random orbit sanders= or gritblasting). It's a cheap way of inflating tyres, sinking nails or ru= nning a diegrinder though.

[Bob Minchin]

> £20

I have a similar machine from Aldi bought several years ago when they were about £50 complete with a tool kit.

The pressure difference between on and off is too great for consistent nailing. If the regulator is turned down to below the ON pressure threshold, this enables constant pressure but this it too low to to drive anything larger than the smallest of brads (18g) in fully.

If you are a dabbler, then fitting a switch with lower hysteresis should fix the problem. I have not bothered and just use my compressor for a blow gun.

It is inadequate for any serious spraying and very noisy indeed.

Overall the compressor is not bad value for money for odd jobs, but it is not a professional tool by any stretch of the imagination.

Bob

[John Rumm]

> £20

Can't argue at the price...

It will be an 18 gauge brad nailer - which are not particularly thick, but are reasonably tough. I tend to use one in the workshop for tacking jigs together, and sometimes fixing trim.

The downside of the ones that also do narrow crown staples is that the firing pin needs to be wide enough for the staples. That means on non sophisticated nailers that don't have a decent depth setting capability, you will tend to get small "slots" punched into the wood where the pin follows through and hits it. Also the nail will fire from one side of the slot, which makes skew nailing in one direction harder than the other.

So given the choice, I would prefer a headless pinner that just nails, however the one pictured will still be better than nothing - especially for jobs like pinning the back onto furniture or even gate planking.

Again, ok for a small compressor. It won't keep up with continous use of high volume tools like a large spray gun or a sander etc, but will nail, inflate, blow, and drive impact wrenches just fine.

[Roger Mills]

> £20

I've got one of these compressors, which I bought a couple of years ago when they were £80. [If you want one, you'll need to get there early. I bought the last one, only a few minutes after they opened!]

As others have said, it's very noisy, and doesn't have enough welly to keep up with high-demand tools. It's fine for inflating car tyres and blasting the dust off things - for which you need to buy the £10 air tool set, with tyre inflater and pressure gauge, and selection of nozzles. The compressor itself only comes with a long flexible hose - so is no use until you buy some tools.

[Andy Dingley]

What's the tank pressure? It should be high enough to mask this effect.

Is your regulator flowing enough air? Is the delivery hose after the regula= tor too long and too narrow? The tank pressure should be about 130psi, the = regulator about 90 and the pressure at the tool as close to that as possibl= e (my workshop plumbing delivers at 110psi and I have regulators by each be= nch to avoid this drop).

[dennis]

My Aldi filter + lubricator + regulator came with a faulty hose. They had not drilled the hole to let the air through the plug that stops the flow when you disconnect the quick connect joint. It meant you got the pressure at the tool until you pressed the trigger. I did wonder if it was a common fault.

[John Rumm]

I notice a slight drop on mine[1] when using a framing nailer and 95mm nails... even with the regulator screwed down tight there is enough drop off to make the last couple of shots before the compressor recharges to mean you might not drive the nail completely.

I do tend to use long hoses though, and have an inline oiler on the output of the compressor.

(SIP 25L compressor)

[robgraham]

I'll +1 to most of the comments, though I think I got mine from Aldis and actually the noise isn't too bad. In terms of performance I've mainly been using it for driving 10 x 25mm staples from a professional grade gun. That does occasionally stutter due I suspect to the pressure being a bit low and fire a blank, but it's great for basic frame assembly and has been a toy I've found really productive and I've enjoyed using.

Rob

[Arfa Daily]

I'll + another 1 to the comments. My Aldi compressor has been a fine addition to the workshop tools. Yes, it's a bit noisy, and if you give it really serious welly, it doesn't quite keep up, but I have used it with a Toolstation nail / staple gun, which actually works with remarkably low pressure, so did not find any problem with the compressor keeping up, even when I was shooting brads at a high rate of knots when cladding the counter in our burger joint. I also used it recently to pin the edge trim to the skirting board when I re-laminated the lounge floor. It's a pretty big lounge, and it is extremely tedious either pinning or gluing the trim by hand from memory, and with my knees as they are now, the shorter time I'm on the floor bending about at funny angles, the better ... :-(

Anyway, it was an absolute breeze to do with the nail gun. Took a few minutes of 'tinkering' with the pressure and depth setting on the tool - and I think that it is essential to do this - but once set properly, it was able to drive the brads perfectly with barely a visible mark on the surface of the trim. Certainly no worse than by hand pinning and head punching.

Just as a slight aside, if the OP does get one and needs other air tools and fittings - like quick release connectors (I replaced one of the fixed ports on my dual port Aldi one with a quick release connector) - the Toolstation Silverline own-brand tools, and their range of air fittings, seem reasonable quality for very sensible prices.

Arfa

[Steve Firth]

£20

I use a Lidl nail gun on the farm for quick fix jobs. On the bad side T nails are fairly weak and you need more than you would of round wire nails. Staples are stronger and prevent twisting. If you look at commercial use of nail guns for things like fencing and other outdoor work staples are used in preference to nails.

Most of my jobs are things like attaching cladding or repairing old fences and gates. Works fine for that. I can power the gun off the tractor and it's light to carry around.

Jobs that need strength are done with framing nailers and coil nailers using annular nails. Pallets for example are often annular nailed.

You'd need a different nail gun for that sort of use.