Nail Guns. Air, Fuel or Cordless?

I don't absolutely NEED a nailgun. I fixed a place on the back porch the other day and split the furring strip at all three places I nailed it. I KNOW an air nailer would have been better.

I was in Home Depot today doing research. The man who was helping me was high on Paslode Fuel Cell guns. I also looked at a Dewalt 18V cordless gun.

My gut instinct is to get the Porter Cable air powered Finish Nailer that my buddy recommended, and run it from an air tank for quick repair work. Then perhaps later getting a small 120V compressor to run it longer.

I'm going to help my buddy with tree removal tomorrow, and will drain his brain!

But I KNOW some of my fellow CPFers know about this stuff, so speak up!

I also was looking for one about 2 years ago and ended up going with air. I could justify the compressor because of the crossover use for our car tires and the blow gun to dust off things like the engine or even the fins on out baseboard heating units.

This is the one I picked up but at the time it only came with the 16ga nailer not the 18ga or staplers and then it was $299 http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=5960

I have a Finish Nailer, Brad Nailer, and Framing Nailer (all Porter Cable)....
The little air tank that comes with Finish/Brad Nailer will mess up if you use it with a Framing Nailer...
I have a HUSKY 5 Peak / 1.7 Running HP, 17 Gallon Husky Air Compressor from Ho De Pot

We have a full size Compressor in a fixed location in the garage. We'd need better than another 100ft of air hose to reach the back porch, and MUCH more for several other out-buildings.

I see the FN250B will operate from 70-120 PSI. Would I be able to get several shots from a portable air tank?

Obviously more hose would be the cheapest solution. But from Pressure Washer experience I know there is such a thing as too much hose....

Unless you absolutely need a cordless nail gun, I'd get a pneumatic one. The battery guns don't have a lot of pop, and the Pasoldes are expensive to run and maintain.

Nail guns don't need much air flow. Run your 100' of 3/8" or larger line, put a small tank on the end of it, and plug in your nailer. The tank on the end helps with faster cycling.

Oh, and you'd get a bunch of shots from a portable tank with anything but a framing nailer. But each shot would get weaker pretty fast, unless you filled the tank to over 100 pounds and regulated down to 80 or so. This isn't a big deal in air tools where you'll just lose power, but in a nailer your nails will be at different depths.

I have air nailers. Easier to run IMO and I have a lot of cordless stuff.
I have the Porter Cable set. I bought the Brad nailer, finish nailer combo with the pancake compressor for $278 at HD. You got a free air stapler at the time....

I have refinished the entire house and had no issues.
Personally, I have a 15 gallon compressor I use for work that I like better than the compressor. It is on wheels and able to use more hose to accomplish my needs.

Get an air nailer.

If you don't use it much, a battery nailer will give you battery problems.

An air nailer can be stored for a while, and still be ready to go when you need it. It's cheap to operate also.

I have had a fuel cell paslode framing and finish nailer.
good points:
1. portable
2. instant recharge with new fuel cell, no waiting for battery to charge
3. cool
bad points:
1. special valves are needed for cold weather operation
2. they still take a rechargeable battery to fire the sparkplug
3. they have a sparkplug, it is a wear item
4. the fuel cells, once pierced, will leak down. So those 10 nails you needed to drive just cost you $8 in fuel cells
5. they are LOUD, very LOUD. much louder than air
6. they will not "bump fire". this is where you hold the trigger and bump it against the wood. an air one will fire each time, the fuel one requires a release of the trigger each time
7. the safety on the nozzle end is MUCH stiffer than an air safety, so much so that you will get tired of pressing it
8. the combustion by products require cleaning of the gun. this requires cleaner and oil and about an hour's worth of time.

Get air.

Then you can buy a whole bunch of air-powered tools.


Doesn't McGizmo make an air-powered flashlight?

How about the Bosch or IR or Senco?

Buddy confirmed two things. A finish nailer will get several shots from the air tank, and there's no such thing as too much air hose.

So I think a Porter Cable FN250B is in my future. I understand Senco is as good as it gets, but buddy swears by PC.

Also, he has a fairly new Homelite 16" chainsaw, and a very new Stihl 18". The Stihl does everything better by far except it weighs a bit more and costs a LOT more. The Homelite was WAY cranky to get running from cold. I think it needs more main jet.

We actually need a new saw much more than an air nailer....

how did we get to stihl chainsaws..

love my Stihl 046 and MS460!!

uh, i thought that if you hooked an air nailgun to an air bottle it would explode?

I like the Paslode fuel-powered nailguns too - the only annoying thing is they can overwarm and take a couple mins to cool down.

they basically squirt a bit of gas into a chamber and ignite it, firing a piston that launches the nail.

my dad got his Paslode for free (cast off from a friend who upgraded to a newer model). Bonus is the battery works in our cordless drill too

we also have an air one.

For things that are annoying to get to, we use the Paslode - like when we were putting up a fence. BTW i dont find the Paslode more noisy than the air gun - it's actually quieter....

We use the air gun for 'piles of nails, put em in fast' situations....

nice 'boomph' sound and slight smell

--neg

Sorry Cy! But I stand a much better chance of getting a saw in the near future over a nailer. Need one worse too!

Not sure a Stihl is in my future though... buddy paid $400 for an MS560 (As I recall the model #)

The TS700! ! ! Oh wait. . .Sorry! That's a Cutquick and not a chainsaw. Spoke too soon. . .

I use fuel, but...

I've got a Paslode finish nailer, and I love it! However, they're not for everyone.

You have to have a certain set of conditions or specific need for them to be worthwhile. For me the Paslode actualy made economic sense. I've done lots of interior remodling and refurbishing of my home and I knew that it would be taking several weekends over the course of a few years to acomplish, and I had lots of finish nailing to do. Once I was done, I also knew that I'd only use the nailer infrequently for ad-hoc projects thereafter….

So my criteria was:

1. Have a need and a duty cycle for a nail-gun that justify's buying one, rather than renting a gun and compressor at the prevaling rates...

2. AND Have a need and a duty cycle for a nail-gun that DOES NOT justify renting or buying a compressor, where the lifetime expected expense on fuel cannisters will be less than the expense of the minimum quality compressor you can buy.

I fit into that range perfectly. I did the math for a pneumatic, and the smallest least expensive (non-junk, this is important) compressors that would run a nail gun. The Paslode + fuel over it's expected lifetime came out ahead. Then the convenience of not dealing with setup of a compressor was gravy.

Of course, there's always the times when a compressor is impractical, or you need the freedom only a hoseless/cordless can provide. Like a site without power, and buying a generator (if you don't already own one) would make a pneumatic more expensive than a Paslode + fuel, or an inaccessable area where running a hose is difficult or impossible, like a high roof etc.

So I like my Paslode, but when, where, and how you use it has to make economic and practical sense.

Tools - buy the good one once instead of the cheaper one. Buying good costs less than replacing the cheap one.

Saws - Stihl or Husqvara

Nailers - Usually, air is the way to go, especially if you already have compressed air available. Only sometimes is the Paslode a better choice, as folks above mentioned and explained why the Paslode was a better choice for them. The cordless isn't really in the same league.

Also, are you talking framing nailer, or finish nailer, or brad nailer, or roofing nailer? For framing nailers, some locales/codes require full-round-head nails and other locales/codes don't care. Sometimes you want a full-round-head anyway so that the look is a round-head nail that looks like it could have been hammer-driven.

Air hose - yes, there is a thing as too much hose. Just like using too long of a too thin extension cord, you can starve a tool of the Ooomph it needs. Most of the time, for hand tools, using decent 3/8 hose and fittings will take care of that (don't run your air tools at the end of 300 feet of cheap 1/4 hose).

Like Norm says, "Wear your safety glasses!" The collating tape or plastic spits out, dust gets splattered airborne from the exhaust, etc. And be careful, air nailers are fast and impersonal, they don't care what they shoot a nail through. And wood sometimes splits or has a knot that deflects a nail sideways, keep your body parts clear of the area.

Still have all my fingers, and haven't shot a nail through me, but I did nail my boot sole once.

Good thread and good advice. Not much to add, but:

If you can, get a larger compressor than one of the pancakes (or, of course, get both). You'll probably graduate into other air tools -- impacts, ratchets, sanders, cutters, etc. You need air flow for them. The CFM rating of a compressor is much more important than the PSI or tank capacity. Generally, at least 8.5 cfm at 90psi is needed to run a cutter or sander for continuous use. A ratchet or impact will be ok on 6cfm, but you might have to let the compressor catch up from time to time.

A good point was made earlier about using a second tank. Most guns are made to operate at 100psi or less. If you put 140psi in a tank without a regulator, you'll probably blow out an o-ring or two. A cheap regulator from HF on the tank can fix that. And the second reservoir is very good to have at the end of a long hose run.

Your certainly get what you pay for in all power tools, but some of the lower end pneumatics (sears, HF) are good values, particularly for sporadic homeowner use. Pneumatics are simple and easy to work on.

If you guys haven't used a palm nailer, try one. They are great for nailing in hard to reach places and for driving large nails (I sometimes use 60p spikes in dock and bulkhead work). They also work underwater, as do some cutters and drills.

Keep'em clean and oiled, use quality fasteners and the air tools can make your life lots easier. Plus they're fun.

BTW if you ever have a one-time real need for a Paslode, you can rent them from most large equipment rental shops.