Bosch FNA-250-15 Angled Finish Nailer?

[Dave]

Hi. I'm considering buying a Bosch FNA-250-15 Angled Finish Nailer. It's light at 4 pounds and has good reviews, but I have one qualm. And that qualm is that it has an oil-type air motor that requires a few drops of oil before each use.

I've never owned a nail gun that has an oil type motor. My woodworking is just as a hobbyist, so it's not going to get in the way like it might with somebody using one frequently on a job site.

Supposedly, if this oiling is done properly, it's not going to mar your wood. So my question is, how much of a PITA is it to have to put in a few drops of oil before every use? Thanks.

[Leon]

The task of adding oil is simple. How much is not so simple.

I have a Grex pinner which I might shoor 20 times or 200 times I add a couple of drops before each use. I had an o-ring fail premature IMHO. Four or so years. I added 2 drops of oil before each use and after a couple hundred nails when using a lot.

The Grex rep says that you can both under oil and over oil. I probably over oiled.

That said I replaced the o-ring in 10 minutes and I was good to go.

As always oilless is the least trouble.

FWIW I have owned a Senco finish nailer, oilless, for about 23 years now. It had to be overhauled at about the 12 year mark but has worked flawlessly with the exception of that one time.

[Larry Jaques]

I used lots of oil when I had air tools as a mechanic. Now, I put a couple drops in the end of the tool before I use it for the first time that year, and maybe once more if I use it a lot that year.

My heavy-duty CP air chisel gets oil before each and every use, though.

PTFE is your friend.

-- ...in order that a man may be happy, it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work. -- John Ruskin

[Puckdropper]

Dave wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The biggest pain is just keeping track of that little bottle of oil. Mine lives on a corner of the bench, generally protected by the miter saw fence.

Putting a drop of oil in before use is no trouble at all. It's just part of the process for using the tool: Oil, connect, adjust pressure, use.

Puckdropper

[Dave]

On 29 Feb 2012 18:27:10 GMT, Puckdropper

Do you oil it *every* time before use or just when you think of it?

[Puckdropper]

Dave wrote in news: [e-mail]:

No, not every time. The instructions said oil daily, but I believe they were referring to a full day of work and not shooting a dozen nails. I'll sometimes use it without oiling before hand if I had just used it yesterday.

Do understand, though, that these are not expensive guns I'm using. Sometimes the cheaper items will take more abuse than the more expensive ones. Without any way to know if the gun needs oil or not, I'm really just guessing.

Puckdropper

[Larry Jaques]

I have a couple oil squirt guns full of Marvel Mystery Oil, the oil I use in my pneumatic equipment. One is usually found in the cabinet with the tools, the other on left rear side of the vise workbench. If I can't find one, I can usually find the other. Then, when I find the missing can, I put it back where it belongs.

I used to keep one in my toolbox with the Loctite, but both leaked and really messed up a drawer.

-- ...in order that a man may be happy, it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work. -- John Ruskin

[CW]

I have a couple oil squirt guns full of Marvel Mystery Oil, the oil I use in my pneumatic equipment. One is usually found in the cabinet with the tools, the other on left rear side of the vise workbench. If I can't find one, I can usually find the other. Then, when I find the missing can, I put it back where it belongs.

I used to keep one in my toolbox with the Loctite, but both leaked and really messed up a drawer. =============================================================== For those that really don't want to mess with it, there are inline oilers available. One shop that I worked at had two air hookups at every workbench. One was strait from the air dryer and ran at 150 PSI. That was for blow guns. The other was 90 PSI with an inline oiler for air tools. The the boss would go around every Monday and fill the oilers.

[-MIKE-]

I installed an oil reservoir on my tank because the instructions on the Hitachi framing nailer I recently bought said to do it. I'm guessing every nailer instruction say this, but I've never read them. :-)

Now I'm in that boat of having oil in the hose, and I can't blow dust off my face with the compressor any more. So, I'm either going to instal a Y splitter before the oiler, or just go back to putting a few drops of oil in the gun every time I use it.... which is what I've always done.

[Han]

"Mike Marlow" wrote in news:c4114$4f4fbeb9$4b75eb81$ [e-mail]:

Gass will design and patent a gadget to protect you ...

[-MIKE-]

Yeah, that's what I'll be doing. Nice experiment, anyway.

Yes, and if you lick an outlet it tastes like cotton candy. :-)

[CW]

I installed an oil reservoir on my tank because the instructions on the Hitachi framing nailer I recently bought said to do it. I'm guessing every nailer instruction say this, but I've never read them. :-)

Now I'm in that boat of having oil in the hose, and I can't blow dust off my face with the compressor any more. So, I'm either going to instal a Y splitter before the oiler, or just go back to putting a few drops of oil in the gun every time I use it.... which is what I've always done. ================================================================== That was our system. the air would come out of the compressor, through the drier then run to a connector on the back of the table. Front of table had one connector for full pressure air, the other had a regulator and oiler.

[Larry Jaques]

"Our new BLOWstop(tm) will Save the Children! It instantly converts all air blow gun air down to 0.5psig @ 0.005cfm, making air safe for everyone again! Buy now and get a pre-90-patent discount, bringing the price down to only $4,723.16, plus $86 shipping and handling fees. Prices per item/we do not combine shipping."

-- ...in order that a man may be happy, it is necessary that he should not only be capable of his work, but a good judge of his work. -- John Ruskin