I have an 18 ga hitachi. its awesome for the limited use that I actually do use it. I typically don't fire too many nails in my furniture pieces, but when there is a need then I definitely do it.

 

Aren't the angled finish nailers heavier/thicker gauge nails? So, type would depend on need.

 

For furniture I mostly use an 18 ga. nailer
and a micro-pinner that shoots 23 ga. nails.

For carpentry I have a 15 ga. Hitachi angled
nailer but I rarely use that in the shop unless
I'm building a jig with it or something like
that. It's just kind of overkill for most
shop woodworking where things are glued
together. When using glue 18 ga. nails
hold parts in place quite well.

A 1/4" crown stapler is most useful in the
shop. The tines of the staples tend to fan
out when fired so there's a bit of a dovetail
effect that makes for strong holding. I
use that for cabinet backs, making plywood
boxes, shop drawers and jigs.

I've read reports that the Harbor Freight
18 ga. nailers work well, hold up, and they
are pretty cheap.

In terms of name brands the ones I have
used are Hitachi, Bostitch and Porter Cable.
All work well. There are weight and kickback
differences with the heavier nailers and some
have convenience features like air blowers
and quick-clearing noses for jams. I've never
had many issues with nailer jamming however.
I think nailer design is pretty much mature
at this point and all the brands are reliable.

 

Harbor Freight. Their air nailers are actually quite good and only like $20. Just put a couple drops of air tool oil in the coupling before you connect the hose to help it run smoothly.

 

Harbor Freight. Their air nailers are actually quite good and only like $20. Just put a couple drops of air tool oil in the coupling before you connect the hose to help it run smoothly.

- jmartel

Bingo. Just picked up a crown stapler from them a few weeks back. Wondering how I got along with out one for so long. Love it!

 

I use my 18 gauge most often, but mostly for jigs and fixtures.
A 23 gauge pin nailer is handy for small or delicate trim. I use the pinner to secure glass stops on doors.

Both of mine are Porter Cable. I have not been happy with Bostitch or HF guns.
Very satisfied with P.C. nailers. I currently have 5 of them.

 

PC 16 and 18 ga. here. Have a 23 as well.
My Pcs are old models made in Jackson, TN.
Have done 3 homes with them over 15 yrs. Rebuild for all the gaskets etc.
Well oiled, and I can't complain.
PC pancake comp. that is still working as new.
Remember that I said old stock made in US.
Bill

 

I'll vouch for the harbor freight brad nailer. I use it for trim and tacking things together while the glue dries. Very inexpensive, and it even came with a second plunger but the first ones seems to be holding up just fine so far. I imagine I would laughed out the door in a professional shop, but for what I do it's perfect.

 

My 18 ga finish nailer and framing nailer are Paslode brand and probably 20 yrs old. I recently did a rebuild on them using kits I ordered online.

I purchased HF wide and crown staplers. The wide stapler had a horrible misfire. The crown works great except if held too far upside down, the safety nose piece doesn't engage sometime. Of course, I bought it to staple strips of luan on my ceiling to cover OSB seams.

I picked up a PC wide stapler and 18ga brad nailer. Both of those work great.

 

Aren t the angled finish nailers heavier/thicker gauge nails? So, type would depend on need.

- hotbyte

You're right, they are heavier gauge. I guess I was asking for opinions on what I need. Essentially I would hold the wood down with the nail while the glue dries.

 

A 23ga pin nailer might do you, then. If you need larger nails than that to hold while glue dries, clamps or other means of holding might be best.

 

WEN from Amazon similar to the HFreight

 

Another plus for the Harbor Freight pin nailer!

 

A 23ga pin nailer might do you, then. If you need larger nails than that to hold while glue dries, clamps or other means of holding might be best.

- hotbyte

I agree with this in theory but my advice would be an 18ga narrow crown stapler for two reasons:

1. The 23ga pins are actually pretty spendy. And 23-ga pinners themselves are really costly for decent quality. The Grex P650L is $290-$300, for example.

2. A 18-ga narrow crown stapler does double-duty because it can be used to tack things together for gluing, but is also very handy when doing things like stapling 1/4" ply to the back of a cabinet or book shelf for example.

 

I agree with this in theory but my advice would be an 18ga narrow crown stapler for two reasons:

1. The 23ga pins are actually pretty spendy. And 23-ga pinners themselves are really costly for decent quality. The Grex P650L is $290-$300, for example.

2. A 18-ga narrow crown stapler does double-duty because it can be used to tack things together for gluing, but is also very handy when doing things like stapling 1/4" ply to the back of a cabinet or book shelf for example.

- William Shelley

I don't call $15 to $20 for a box of 10,000 spendy. My Hitachi pin nailer was $89, and while it's limited to 1-3/8" pins, I would use my 18 ga brad nailer for anything longer than that anyway. The Hitachi works like a champ.

The narrow crown stapler is great for fastening where it won't show, but the beauty of a pin nailer is that the hole is almost imperceptible, allowing trim to be pinned in place while glue dries.

I have them all, but if I was just starting out, it'd be a toss up between an 18 ga brad nailer and a 23 ga pin nailer.

 

Tack while gluing . . .

How do you get the pin out after the glue is set?

This is like the CNC thread - is airnailing cabinet making?

Personally I don't use nailers as they don't work on really hard hardwoods like jatoba, purpleheart, ebony and the like.

M

 

I have the HF 23ga pin nailer and it works flawlessly. It's very useful for glue-ups.

 

It is cabinet making but using an air nailer might not be real nailing. ;-)

Tack while gluing . . .

How do you get the pin out after the glue is set?

This is like the CNC thread - is airnailing cabinet making?

Personally I don t use nailers as they don t work on really hard hardwoods like jatoba, purpleheart, ebony and the like.

M

- Madmark2

 

Tack while gluing . . .

How do you get the pin out after the glue is set?

This is like the CNC thread - is airnailing cabinet making?

Personally I don t use nailers as they don t work on really hard hardwoods like jatoba, purpleheart, ebony and the like.

- Madmark2

Rubbish. They work on any wood, and why would you want to take the pin out after the glue is set? Clearly you don't use them - because you don't know what you're talking about.

 

If you are just going to use the nailer for tacking while the glue dries, take back the compressor and buy a cordless brad nailer or narrow crown stapler. You can get a Ryobi 18 gauge cordless brad nailer for about $100 or $150 with battery, and it can drive up to 2 inch 18 gauge brad nails. It is a lot more convenient than cranking up the compressor each time you want to drive a few tacking nails!!

 

Porter Cable and Dewalt nailers for me, though I have a few others as well. PC pin nailer is reliable and has never given me issues.

 

JMalcolm: Let me know how it works on a chunk of jatoba (janka 2800+) and get back to me. Jatoba cannot be nailed with air or otherwise. If you try really hard it'll split. If tapped with a machine screw thread (1/4-20) it holds like cast iron.

Have you actually used any type of pinner/nailer on jatoba (AKA Brazilian Cherry)? If no, then you know not of what you speak.

M

 

I just went out to the shop and shot a bunch of 23 gauge pin nails into some 7l8 thick blood wood (janka scale 2900). Not a problem in the least. If you think this is BS I can make a video tomorrow.

 

My PC guns include a 23g pin nailer and the 18g finish gun. They've surely worked great in m shop.

 

Madmark2: If you spent more time reading the original question instead of trying to bad-mouth other participants, you might be able to contribute something useful to the discussion. In his original question, the OR stated that he had been renting a nailer from Home Depot to tack his wood, and since according to you, nailers can't be used on "really hard woods", his question obviously didn't not concern really hard woods. So your two snide responses were not relevant to this discussion. In answer to your question to me, no, I have never tried to put a brad nail into jatoba, but based on what AlaskaGuy says, it is questionable whether you have either.