Pin Nailer review.

I am about to add a pin nailer to my workshop. I have read a few reviews on the Internet. Most of the comments are related to the expensive Pin Nailers. Some review are pushing for up to 2" long pin while the others are ranging from 3/8" to 1". The following video is good

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I hate to spend top money for a pin nailer to be used occasionally for furniture making. This group may be able to provide practical feedback on different pin nailers used by the hobbyists.

Reply to
Denis M
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On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:51:31 -0400, "Denis M"

Grex is one of the better quality nailers I believe, but if you go by many of the recent comments, most cheap nailers will work fine. Or, two of the really cheap ones at some sale, should one die off early.

Reply to
Dave

Do you mean 23ga pin nailer or 16-18ga brad nailer, Denis? Lots of us occasional users have the

Reply to
Larry Jaques

I've never used any of the Harbor Freight nailers mentioned by Larry, but if you're at all apprehensive about them and want to step up to a good quality "brand name" nailer, I can attest that the Paslode T200 is a wonderful tool, and can be had for under $100:

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?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100135357&N=10000003+90401My buddy bought one, and after borrowing it several times and *loving* it I went out and bought my own.

Reply to
Steve Turner

I have the one from HF and its fine for my use. It only shoots 1" pins but its fine for me. Got it on sale for around $20.

The only issue I have with the video itself is that it looks like and probably is a ad for the Grex brand nailer. A brand I have never seen.

The Grex looks good though the best feature I can see is the low nail lockout feature. When you are out of pins, the only way to find out is when your nailed piece doesn't stay where you nailed it.

Reply to
Cliff Hartle

Oh and I found it for $299.

Reply to
Cliff Hartle

I have the Grex 635 and have had it for 3~4 years now. A great tool.

A pin nailer is great for what it was intended but keep in mind that once you start using the longer pins, =>1-3/8" the risk of deflection increases dramatically. The guns are capable of shooting the longer pins but when you get into the harder woods the longer pins will follow the grain.

It is great for adding trim until the glue dries, setting up jigs, and any where you don't want to see the nail hole.

Reply to
Leon

Extra capacity is great when you need it, but thus far I've had very few situations, if any, where my 23ga Omer, limited to just a RCH under 3/4" in pin length, has not been sufficient for my needs (attaching trim).

It would be interesting to see a graph of the most used lengths of those owning pinners ... probably some sales data would tell the tale.

Reply to
Swingman

I'd guess that crown molding would be one of the more common uses for longer pins.

Reply to
Dave

For what it is worth, when I bought my Grex 635 it came with an assortment of every size pin that it would shoot, 900 of each.

I have used every size except the 7/7" and have purchased boxes of

10,000 in replacement sizes of 3/4" and 1/2".

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will sell in smaller quantities of each size.

Reply to
Leon

On Sun, 12 Feb 2012 13:53:22 -0600, Leon

How difficult is it to pull apart pinned wood? Once in awhile, I shoot a nail when the wood isn't aligned properly. Just a dumb mistake, but the worst part is trying to pull the pieces apart without destroying the project. A headless pin would make correcting a mistake like that much easier to correct.

Reply to
Dave

"Crown molding" covers a lot of territory in size, thickness and what it underlyingit.

If I catch anyone working for me putting up "crown molding" in a house with just a 23ga pinner, they'd be corrected on the spot, and fired the second time.

Smaller crown molding, maybe, and smaller molding and trim, like dentil molding, yes ... but, depending upon the length and width of the pieces being installed, you also better back the 23 ga pins with adhesive of some sort on anything over 1/2" thickness if you don't expect to come back to reattach it in short order.

My experience, in any event.

Reply to
Swingman

IME, much easier than pulling apart most material fastened with 18ga brads ... and I use both for making temporary jigs on almost every single project.

If I want something I can pull a part more easily, and of the same length for the material, I use the pin nailer. No comparison.

Reply to
Swingman

Normally not a problem unless you have shot several. Pulling them the rest of the way through when they deflect is a 50/50 deal for me. They break half the time but a file cleans up the burr quickly.

Reply to
Leon

Think what you might be doing with a pin nailer.

The idea is to hold something until the glue dries.

The basic job is to hold some molding to a piece of furniture.

Good luck driving some tiny pin that's 2" long.

Most p> I am about to add a pin nailer to my workshop.

Reply to
Pat Barber

A follow up to my comments about my Grex pinner. I have had the pinner almost 5 years.

I had a problem with it 2 days ago, it would not retract the ram after each shot unless I removed the pins and dry fired.

I called GREX, the receptionist was knowledgeable about the product and almost gave me the remedy but I probably confused her with too much information. She immediately turned me over to Raymond in tech service. Raymond let me describe the problem again in the order witnessed. He guided me through partial disassembley and diagnosed the problem and told me the exact seal that had gone bad. I had a repair kit. He offered a complimentary o-ring almost 4 years after the warranty expired. I refused the offer as I had the repair kit already.

So from that point he had me open the repair kit instruction sheet and told me exactly which o-ring and the part number on the diagram to replace.

Service after the sale and the warranty. I was impressed and 15 minutes later my gun was firing like new.

Reply to
Leon

I agree with wishing luck to drive 2" pins. The gun will certainly do the deed but the pins are too light weight to not be deflected in hard woods.

Reply to
Leon

You know Leon, you just don't mind spending money on a product when you get what you pay for. Whether it's Festool, Grex, or any other product (like my Kershaw knives), I don't mind paying for a good product that has great customer support.

As far as pinners go, I didn't know if I would actually use a one, so I bought one at HF for $12 when they were on sale. I don't use it much, but it is a tool I have come to use more often.

Recently, I had a bath re-do for a realtor. The cabinets were old Doug Fir plywood built on site in the early 50s, and were still really solid. The doors were solid slabs with no features. I filled the pull holes, and put some new, fancy nickel 3 1/2" pulls on the doors and drawers. On the faces of the cabinets and drawers, I put a frame of a 5/8" bead that I held in about 3" all the way around. So it had a kind of traditional look, but with the molding being so small it didn't look too dated.

I really used the hell out of the pinner on that job. It never misfired, jammed, or misbehaved. I did hit a couple of hard spots (probably a knot in the plywood substrate) which caused the pin to turn back 180 degrees. The misfires were easily removed with a pair of pliers.

I liked the fact that with a prime coat, I didn't need to fill the holes. The paint filled them!

Their was also a large pass through between the kitchen and the dining room. It was big enough that it also served as a bar to seat three people. The builder actually took a door, laid it flat, and installed that as the bar top. But years of too many coats of varnish coupled with too many cleanings had made top awful. It had too much old finish to resurface or to put on plastic.

As I had done before for outside table tops, I put on an extra thick

12" floor tile that looked like slate. It came out great, was cheap, and the realtor was thrilled with the end product (especially the price!). A major improvement if you saw the original mess, and actually looked pretty good. (Don't look too close, you know...)

The perimeter pieces that had been cut to match the "grout" pattern began to fall off. Too much gummy stuff under the tiles for them to stick. I took out the pinner, put the end pieces back up one at a time, and then shot them at an up angle so you didn't see them when looking directly at them or from the top. The pinner raised a little tab of plastic, which was easily driven back into the hole with a hammer. You never saw the pins.

Part of the arsenal now, that's for sure.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I absolutely love the "no-recoil" so no chance of denting the work. But, more and more I use the pinner for setting up jigs, which was what I was trying to do the other day when it refused to operate. it is quite good at attaching 1/4" radius quarter around moldings around glass too.

BTY I carried a Kershaw knife for probably 20 years until I had sharpened the point so much that it no remained inside the handle in my pocket. Reaching in my pocket I poked a hole in my finger. ;~) I could never find the same knife locally.

Reply to
Leon

You happen to have any picture of the outside table tops with the tile ???

I k>

Reply to
Pat Barber

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