Nail guns.

[K78]

Mains, battery or compressor powered. Which is the better option?

 

The makita model that matches my batteries is expensive with poor reviews. ?

[Onoff]

Paslode IM350+ Li-ion or similar.

 

BiL has one. Not that I'm jealous!

[PeterW]

Framing ..? Finish..? Brads ..? What do you want to use it for ..?

[K78]

3 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Paslode IM350+ Li-ion or similar.

 

BiL has one. Not that I'm jealous!

 

Why are expensive toys so tempting?

[K78]

2 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Framing ..? Finish..? Brads ..? What do you want to use it for ..?

 

It will get very well used. Framing, flooring, cladding, fencing. 

 

I’m glad I read the reviews before dropping £450 on the makita. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by K78

[Alexphd1]

Sounds like a 1st fix nailer you are looking for.

 

My local tool shop (think old fashioned sweety shop but with tools??) is a big makita stockist, they only sell and rent paslode and dewalt(only dewalt power tool they stock) they also do air nailers but didnt pay much attention to them...... if you already had dewalt batteries then no brainer I picked up a new bare dewalt for £190 plus vat. Paslode are more expensive but hold value very well.

Another point I save almost £10 per box on not buying gas.... I reckon I have went through 30 plus boxes so far. 

 

A few guys on here speak highly of the Hitachi.  Worth a look.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Alexphd1

[nod]

I’ve a 1st and 2 nd fix Hitachi 

Same gas and nails as the pasloda 

Half the price from Tool Monkey 

 

[ToughButterCup]

I rarely pour cold water on any tool-related purchase discussion: buying one - even a simple thing like a plumb bob - is one of life's pleasures to be savoured, thought about, over-researched, talked about in the pub, dreamt about.

 

But.

Every chippie I know - and respect -  says don't buy a first fit gas nailer  unless its used weekly. They need too much love and care. Bit like a whiny child. Always catching colds.  Damn Damn Damn.

 

My sincere apologies.

Ian

 

 

[Sue B]

Peter has wanted a nail gun for many many years.  However, he has form with tools which have resulted in a ban on the purchase from me and the kids.

Chain saw - “it slipped” and landed just above his knee cap when he was doing a tree pruning course when in his early 20s.

Angle Grinder - “it span” when it hit a hard spot when cutting into a wall for joist hangers.  He blamed it on the fact he is left handed so the spin undoes the handle (it seems like an excuse to me).  It hit his chest just under his bra line - I think he was trying to do a self moob removal of truth be told.  

Luckily they were both fairly superficial with no damage to bones, ligaments or tendons under the surface.

You will understand I’m sure my refusal to allow a nail gun into the house.

[Pete]

22 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

I rarely pour cold water on any tool-related purchase discussion: buying one - even a simple thing like a plumb bob - is one of life's pleasures to be savoured, thought about, over-researched, talked about in the pub, dreamt about.

 

But.

Every chippie I know - and respect -  says don't buy a first fit gas nailer  unless its used weekly. They need too much love and care. Bit like a whiny child. Always catching colds.  Damn Damn Damn.

 

My sincere apologies.

Ian

 

 

Had my Ist fix Paslode nailer for about 7 years and apart from the very infrequent nail jam it has never let me down yet

[Nickfromwales]

22 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

I rarely pour cold water on any tool-related purchase discussion: buying one - even a simple thing like a plumb bob - is one of life's pleasures to be savoured, thought about, over-researched, talked about in the pub, dreamt about.

 

But.

Every chippie I know - and respect -  says don't buy a first fit gas nailer  unless its used weekly. They need too much love and care. Bit like a whiny child. Always catching colds.  Damn Damn Damn.

 

My sincere apologies.

Ian

 

 

Yup. My gas hitachi 1st fix doesn’t like long gaps at all, but is a great gun. I have both 1st & 2nd fix guns and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. 

The service kit is only £40 odd quid iirc and servicing is easy so unless you’re a roofer / TF contractor you’ll struggle to justify the extra spend on the Paslode. 

 

I will soon buy buy an electric ( battery ) 1st fix, probably the DeWalt unless Makita sort their ? out.

 

80% of my kit is Makita, chopsaw is DeWalt, big SDS and breakers and laser are Bosch. I’ve killed enough stuff to know what lasts so I’m settled on those 3, ( with Hitachi for the nailers ). 

I have a compressor and air guns too, they are great but will live in the man-shed for my own use due to practicality. I did run my air framing gun off a cheapo B&Q 24L compressor for years without issue, just needed to be running a lot of the time which I think helped kill it eventually. Was perfect for 2nd fix / finish / stapling etc so you don’t need a huge compressor if the work is light. 

[ToughButterCup]

So, there you are @K78 , just buy one. You have my permission. Just a question of price now.?

[Gone West]

I've got Senco 1st and 2nd fix gas guns, over eight years old now. The 1st fix only gets dragged out occasionally these days to fix fence panels and the like but still works ok after a battery charge.

[Big Jimbo]

I have got 2 paslode nail guns, and 2 air nailers and a compressor. The paslode guns save a huge amount of time if you are getting into any sort of serious chunky woodwork. My air nailers fire 18gauge brads up to 50mm long, and 23gauge brads up to 20mm long. I love all of them, but you defo need to take care when using both. I had a 100mm paslode nail skip passed its intended piece of wood, go through a fence, and pass about 2ft from my neighbours head. I also managed to fire a 50mm brad into the top of my leg. I had to laugh when i got to hospital, as when they wheeled me through the hospital they were saying "Got one here who has been shot in the leg" everybody turned round to see who had been involved in a gunfight.... It had gone through the flesh, and stuck in the bone. Dont under estimate the power of either type.

[Alexphd1]

Hold fire. Dewalt ain't firing in nails fully home today...think (hoping) needs a clean, never cleaned before.

[MarkyP]

I have a 1st fix hitachi, it did a lot of work during my roof framing, sarking fixing, counter battening and so on, saved me many, many hours. It's paid for itself in time saved, I really ought to sell it on but it's handy now and then, and I think I have a bit of a tool addiction. Has been reliable, good tool. The joiners I used to help me with  some of the framing and 1st fix used paslode however they were impressed with my hitachi and it takes the same nails and gas. It's amazing how quickly you can get through a bit of 1st fix timber work with a gun and a cordless skill saw. 

 

You have to shop around for nails though as they can be expensive. When I was last buying I followed my joiners and bought Fox NailMaster nails, a lot chepaer than paslode and they worked fine and were decent quality. 

 

[Mr Punter]

Paslode im350 for first fix. Compressor and air nailer for second fix as the holes are so much cleaner.

[Simplysimon]

6 hours ago, Sue B said:

Peter has wanted a nail gun for many many years.  However, he has form with tools which have resulted in a ban on the purchase from me and the kids.

Chain saw - “it slipped” and landed just above his knee cap when he was doing a tree pruning course when in his early 20s.

Angle Grinder - “it span” when it hit a hard spot when cutting into a wall for joist hangers.  He blamed it on the fact he is left handed so the spin undoes the handle (it seems like an excuse to me).  It hit his chest just under his bra line - I think he was trying to do a self moob removal of truth be told.  

Luckily they were both fairly superficial with no damage to bones, ligaments or tendons under the surface.

You will understand I’m sure my refusal to allow a nail gun into the house.

sounds like one of my mates, came in with blood running from his knee. 'i'd finished cutting the hedge (chainsaw) so thought the grass looked long and decided to cut it (chainsaw)' bounced off kneecap whilst swinging it.

broke his wrist, had lightweight cast on it, phoned me,  'i can't grip the engine from the bike, i was thinking about cutting a bit off the cast round my thumb with the angle grinder to give more movement'.

many more like that!

[joe90]

Yup, I fired a 90mm paslode nail into a finger (it hit another nail in the wood and turned sharp left ?), I managed to extract it with a pair of pliers and my workmate said shouldn’t I go to hospital, my reply was “nah, they know nothing about paslode nailers ?”. Finger works fine ?.

 

i have both first and second fix paslode nailers and apart from cold gas not working (leave it in a cup of tea for a while) they have been great, expensive to use but speeds up work no end. I have air brad nailers in the workshop where the compressor is.

[Mr Punter]

Very easy to hit a nail or a knot and it is very tempting to take a firm hold of the thing you are nailing, but if your hand is within 4 inches of the nail it can still be vulnerable. I have seen nails bend right round and make their way out of the same side of the stud.

[Crofter]

I had the loan of a (Hitachi) gas nailer, it was good but they don't like the cold. You end up swapping gas cartridges frequently, and keeping one in an inside pocket to warm up.

 

I've since bought a cheap 2nd hand deWalt air nailer. I also have a very cheap (Clarke) coil nailer. They both run off a little 12l compressor, and the total cost of the two guns and compressor was less than £200. Nails are cheap as chips, they're totally reliable, no batteries or gas to worry about. You have to lug around the air hose but I didn't find it all that much bother.

 

The big advantages of the coil nailer are that you can get more nails in a coil, they have full heads rather than clipped heads (looks much nicer for cladding), and you can set it for semi-auto firing so you keep the trigger pressed and just bump the nose onto the wood to fire. I used it for all my sheathing/sarking work where you're firing a 50mm nail every 150mm along the edge of a board, and the semi-auto mode was lightning fast. Just don't bump it against your leg with your finger still on the trigger!

[Jeremy Harris]

I've had an air nailer for years; bought it second hand very cheaply and it's never once faltered.  Just needs a bit of oil now and again.  Gas nailers seem to be mainly a European thing, as when I was in the US every framer seemed to use an air nailer.

 

The guys who nailed our cladding in place had a problem with cold gas cartridges, and one of them kept a spare cartridge tucked inside his pants to keep it warm....

[K78]

Thanks for all the advice. 

 

Hitachi come out top on a lot of google top 5 lists but Paslode are not that much more expensive. As mentioned previously judging by the prices of used ones on eBay, paslode seem to hold their value. 

 

I’ve wanted a nail gun ever since I seen arachnophobia ?

[PeterW]

Buy the cleaning kit for the Paslode and it will be fine - will keep going and going..!

[Ed Davies]

Haven't had any problems in the cold with my Paslode nailer. Probably partly because I'm a bit of a wimp about working in the cold anyway but I was nailing the sarking under my floor during the “beast from the east” weeks last year