Hi guys, couldn't figure out where to place this post. The long and short of it is I'm wondering what persons consider their most useful air tools (ummmmm.... powered by an air compressor.... not sure that came out just right). Although, I already need to clarify what I have just said..... I'm a woodworker... not a mechanic (would love to be a mechanic... haven't made it that far yet).
I have a 23 gauge pin nailer that I love. But, I pretty much use it to tighten up joints that are glued together... I use the pin nailer as a type of clamp. Anyhow, I'd like to have a brad nailer that was capable of actually holding joints together without glue. I'm not sure what guage I should get.
I'd like to be able to "shoot a nail" through a one inch board and half way through another inch board.... So, something that can shoot 1 1/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches. But, the nail needs to be strong enough to hold two pieces of wood together.... is that possible? I don't want a gun that persons use to secure roofs .... but something in between a pin nailer and a serious roof type nail gun.
Well, I'm glad that I've described THAT so well!!!!
OH, the funny thing about this is that I've had a 60 gallon air compressor for a while now!!!! What can I do with a 60 gallon air compressor???!!!! I have dad's old air compressor.... which used to run his car lift. (lots of fun to ride up on as a kid riding big wheels) I suppose he wanted a new compressor, and had an excuse to fix the old one for me..... dad got an 80 gallon SNAP ON compressor, for god's sakes!!!! Hey, it's his money... and I got a perfectly good 60 gallon air compressor out of the deal...... I'm not complaining!!!!!!
Anyhow, if anyone has an opinion about a nail gun to buy, let me know.
cheers,
bird.
Porter Cable makes a nice pin gun that accepts a variety of lengths of 18 gauge brads. Probably the best, and certainly one of the best is the Senco. That's what I have, and have used for the past 10 years. It handles brads from 1/2 inch to 1 5/8 inch. I think it's a "seek no further" tool. I've heard that the Porter Cables are finicky about the nails it will accept, but the Senco takes any brand I can cram into it.
What can you do with a 60 gallon compressor? Anything. Certainly anything you want to do with it, Bird. My personal compressor is a 40 gallon Senco. It's portable, unlike the 80 gallon compressor at my old job. The big difference is how much nailing you can do before the pump starts up again, how long it will hold 100 to 120 psi. I've worked with much smaller compressors, and they've been very satisfactory.
I fought using pneumatics for years, but they have a lot of advantages. You have one hand free to hold things in place, which sure beats trying to hold crown molding in place *and* holding the nail with one hand. They also drive the nails so fast that the wood seldom has the time to think of splitting. So, I have the pin gun, and a 15 gauge finish nailer.
I have a cheap one from Harbor Freight, mostly because I don't use it much. It does work nicely on moulding and baseboards.
18 gauge is the standard because the cost of brads is far and away the lowest.
I use 2 of them. One a super cheap harbor fright special (1 1/4" maximum) and the other a slightly more dressy Sears Roebuck, Senco (at least it looks exactly like a 2" Senco, and is probably a rebranded, slightly lower quality model made by Senco for Sears).
Since splitting the wood is seldom an issue, you can toenail 5 of them in a small space.
But if you want one that actually holds, get a stapler. A narrow crown 18 gauge 2" stapler will actually hold because the leg tips of the staple are cut opposite each other and tend to toenail themselves in.
A larger 15 gauge siding stapler? (usually 2 1/2" capacity) Well I have personally held a short 2x2 up to a vertical frame, shot a couple long staples in at toenail angle,
then hopped up on the 2x2 and stood there for adding the next element!
You have to decide if "buying the best there is" is warranted.
My own rule of thumb, (even though I certainly didn't make it up) is this.
If you are not sure how much you need a tool, get the cheapest tool that will probably get the job done.
If you find you really did need it --everyday--, put that one in the drawer for emergency backup, and go get the best ever made.
Of course, "Catalog Yuppies" who never fail to buy the best right off the bat, and then let it collect dust until they finally yard sale it at 5 cents on the dollar?
Is one the things that keeps the economy alive.
yours Scott
Edit: PS
ANY compressor runs a nailer. I have a tiny toy that works a nailer perfect. Airing up tires if you aren't in a hurry, and nailing, is what all the little portables do for a living.
Any air tool with a motor, makes a difference. An impact gun sucks up a lot of air and you need a couple/tree horsepower to feed it. A standard paint sprayer will work on this size compressor as well.
A sander, grinder, simple drill or open hopper sandblaster?
All these are true air hogs and want over 5 horsepower.
You can get them to run on less, for limited use. But they really want a --big-- compressor.
Grinders and buffers hog so much air, that even professional body shops with really big compressors, mostly use electrics for these jobs.
I use a Porter Cable 18 gauge quite often. 3/4"- 2"
A tip for chisel point brads !! Hold the gun 90 degrees to grain direction. That way the brad cuts the wood fibers on its way in and less likely to split the lumber. Holding the gun parallel to the grain causes the chisel point on the brad to split the grain apart which causes the lumber to split.
Give it a try on some scrap.
Thanks for the help, folks..... what would I do without you guys???? My dog would get really sick of listening to me.....! I'll let you know what I end up purchasing or getting from santa.... yes, I'm still lucky enough to have a Santa!!!!!
I hope you are all doing well,
cheers,
bird
Under $25 for this one that you can use to see if it is what you want, then you can go for the better ones if you need to.
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html)
(http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_14268.jpg)
Quote from: Papaw on December 13, 2011, 01:58:16 AM
Under $25 for this one that you can use to see if it is what you want, then you can go for the better ones if you need to.
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html)
(http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_14268.jpg)
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Thanks Papaw... glad you're always around and continue to deal with my crazy rants, questions, ect.
cheers,
bird
Quote from: Papaw on December 13, 2011, 01:58:16 AM
Under $25 for this one that you can use to see if it is what you want, then you can go for the better ones if you need to.
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-2-in-1-nailerstapler-68019.html)
(http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_14268.jpg)
Looks pretty much like a Senco clone from here. Oh, Scott, I didn't buy from any catalog. I'm an avid flea market patron, and found the Senco for $40. The Porter Cable set me back $50.
Hey that is a new model!
1 1/2 staple and 2" brad? whoa cool!
I would have taken one of those in a shot!
yours Scott