time for a nail gun... which type?

FrankInWI · April 30, 2006, 05:38:20 PM

OK, so I'm going to be doing a lot of nailing. Time to buy a air powered nail gun I guess. :-/ Can some of you offer tips on what size, type and brand to buy? It's for framing; floor joists, etc. 8-) Thanks!

peg_688 · April 30, 2006, 06:30:04 PM

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First build Frank ? I'd say no nail gun learn to nail by hand first, some nailing can only be done by hand so well thats my first thoughts .

If you have to spend the money get a full round head nail gun , not a clipped head nail.

Senco SN-60 , Bostich all make good guns . Shop tool crib of the north / Amazon . com for pricing . The clip head nails cost more per nail around here anyway.

Of course with a nail gun comes a compressor , for a framing nail gun you'll need a twin tank one , not the smaller pancake style , the latter don't compress enough volume to run a framing nail gun .

look on line see whats out there for $$ , try hock shops / pawn shops , a lot of folks seem to need cash quick so some times you'll geta good deal.

Good luck and consider no gun for your shed first, PEG

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Bouncer · April 30, 2006, 08:03:33 PM

I used the Paslode cordless nailer and it worked great.
kevin

peg_688 · April 30, 2006, 10:07:43 PM

Daddymem not with me running it ;)a framing nail gun on a light pancake compressor will result in poor proformance . either the driver will not return all the way, causing jams , or every tenth or so nail won't drive all the way . And the little compressor will run just about all the time your nailing . The compressor should put out 3.4 or more cfm, better yet over 4 cfm for bigger guns / multiple guns . Most pancakes don't put out that much cfm.

Do it if you want to,, just don't expect either the gun or the compressor to give proper results , it might work if your willing to nail slow / wait for the compressor to catch back up . If thats the case I can out hand nail that system for a lot less $$$.

The nails are cheaper as well.

PEG

Amanda_931 · May 01, 2006, 12:39:30 AM

I'd be with PEG for learning to nail first with just a hammer.

If I ever get a nail gun I expect I'll change my mind--the way I did about cruise control on a car--but if in the new house there are only about two days of nothing but hammering--subfloors and roof sheathing--I'm not sure it's worth it.

glenn-k · May 01, 2006, 01:38:54 AM

Yup-- even for my semi-fast nailing, I wouldn't want to do it by hand. I can always buy another nail gun but was only born with 10 thumbs. :-/

Daddymem · May 01, 2006, 05:12:00 AM

PEG has missed the big picture here. You probably aren't a pro and won't run the gun as fast as a pro. You probably won't work like a pro having many hands doing many things so you can continuosly drive nails. I've seen pro sites and amatuer sites with guns, the difference is night and day. You still will run the gun faster than hammering by hand, but I believe hammer skills are essential, not everything can be done with a gun. We plan to do a lot by hand, but there are some parts we will use the gun for. My pancake puts out 5.3 SCFM @ 90 PSI, the other ones are just under 3 SCFM IIRC. We bought the bigger one to use for non-nailing purposes in the future. Between $400-$600 should get you in the game for a beginner (new). We jumped on ours because it went on crazy sale for $320.

Daddymem · May 01, 2006, 12:04:07 PM

I like my pancakes in tall stacks

glenn-k · May 02, 2006, 01:56:59 AM

I like 'em stacked too.

rwalter · May 05, 2006, 01:50:38 AM

Unquestionable with out a doubt the Paslode framing nailer. It has been the best tool for construction that I have purchased. I've been working on my house with limited help and it makes fast work out of framing. I used it it for several other projects to and it flat out just works great! No cords to drag around, it easily can be operated with one hand leaving the other hand free to hold the wood your nailing. In my book it is a must for the solo builder. On top of that its been very durable and dependable. As my father-in law says "It's the cat's meow." The only down side has been I keep getting family members asking to borrow it. Now on a more serious note I do wish the clip held a few more nails, it actually holds quite a few but I'd like to see it just a little bit larger.

http://www.paslode-cordless.com/

Here is a link to the house I used it the most on.

http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1119804568

JRR · May 05, 2006, 10:08:50 AM

Tavis Smiley had a brain surgen as a guest on his TV show last night .... she shared the story of removing the nail from the guys brain ... the nail being delivered by a pneumatic nailer.

No thanks. I don't care for one.

The time wasted by swinging a hammer, I figure I'll save by not going to the emergency room.

May 05, 2006, 12:28:07 PM

Cordless sounds good to me. That or a generator/compressor.

JRR · June 06, 2006, 12:31:02 PM

At last, a pneumatic nailer I might feel safe using. Look at the video, this thing looks like something we could all use for nailing in close quarters:

Air Palm Nailer:
http://www.toolcenter.com/8400.html

John_M · June 06, 2006, 01:02:45 PM

Wow, thats a cool little tool. Just wondering how durable it is? It is not something you would use as much as a framer or a roofer I suppose!

glenn kangiser · June 07, 2006, 01:04:13 AM

I'd like one to drive spikes - 60d or more --- guess it's the 22oz framing hammer like mommymem uses for me. I'd hate to have to arm wrestle her :-/

Daddymem · June 07, 2006, 05:09:43 AM

You should see her go with the nailgun too

Pala · June 07, 2006, 10:19:09 AM

That palm nailer works great. Saves the day in some tight spaces. TICO nails on hangers, like in the photo, especially.

We used a Senco SN-57 framing nailer, Bosch coil nailer to put up the HardiePlank, and Porter Cable 18# and 16# finish nailers for on the PT Townsend Cutie. All running on the little Porter Cable pancake compressor that comes with the finish guns combo box.

Skilling up on the hammer is good. It's always good to learn and improve. But a nail gun sure saves a lot of time.

June 07, 2006, 10:29:43 AM

No that one only goes up to 50d nails!

But it is one at a time.

williet · August 04, 2006, 07:24:45 PM

QuotePancake compressors will run framing nailers. I've got a porter-cable pancake (Amazon search:CFFR350C for example) made for framing but you can get one of them compressor kits (Amazon search:CFFN250T for example) that come with a couple different finish nailers and still run a framing nailer off that...just not as many nails in a row as the compressors made for framers. Have I run mine framing yet? Not yet, but I have seen sites that use the lesser one with no problems. Taunton's Fine Home Building has a decent article about compressors...worth the read.

So, which nail gun did you end up with. We're looking at the Porter-Cable and the Ridgid. Any thoughts on these

?? I'd like the round head nails .....

Daddymem · August 05, 2006, 05:31:52 AM

This is the one we bought:
Porter Cable

We couldn't pass up the clearance price of $320 for that, we were watching for the others to go on sale like this one but figured by the time we bought a framing gun we'd invest more than what we actually got. Funny thing is, FirstDay didn't send the nails for the gun so we haven't used it very much at all. I imagine we will get a finish nailer to do trim work and perhaps hang the siding with it. When we are done with the house this compressor will be used since it run tools too.

williet · August 05, 2006, 02:18:14 PM

We decided on the Ridgid OF45150 Twin Stack Portable Air Compressor and the Ridgid R350RHA framing gun. Maybe they will be a good choice for us.

Amanda_931 · August 05, 2006, 09:10:22 PM

I'm with Ozark Flyer on that strategy for using a generator.

time for a nail gun... which type?

FrankInWI

peg_688

Daddymem

Bouncer

peg_688

glenn-k

Amanda_931

glenn-k

Daddymem

glenn-k

Daddymem

glenn-k

williet

Daddymem

williet

Amanda_931