Any air nailer advice?

Peter Rideout

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Nova Scotia, 45°N 64°W
Larry and I had a discussion about this (and many other topics) in NH, but I don't retain information like I used to :rolleyes:
I'm looking to get a medium size air nailer for construction work (I don't think I need a spiker and have a good Makita finish nailer. I'm also thinking it would be a nice Christmas gift for Debbie, since I'm out of ideas there :rofl:
Any advice/experience on make, model, features etc would be most welcome.
 
Since you're a novice with a framer, whatever brand you get, DO NOT disable the safety by setting it for sequential nailing. Pulling the trigger for each nail makes you have to think about what you're doing.

The pros do use sequential, and it is a lot faster, but even they sometimes nail their foot or hand to the framing. You don't need that!:rolleyes:
 
jim is correct on the rapid fire setting, as for brand , hatachi, senco, makita you get what you pay for.. the one thing you want to look at is round head vrs clipped head. some brands hold as many with either but some dont.. also get a gun that will handle as many different sizes as you can get.
 
Larry is right if this is something you will use day in and day out, buy the best you can.

For me, I wanted one to build my shed and make the modifications to my shop. After that I knew it was likely to sit on a shelf for, perhaps, years at a time. I picked up this DeWalt at HD on sale for around $160. By my count I fired over 3,000 nails with it this summer and I cant remember it misfiring once. I used 2 different size nails for framing and sheathing. If you're looking for something for occasional use I can tell you I was pleased with my purchase.

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Bostich is made in Rhode Island (at least - used to be).

I work in Rhode Island.

Where I work now there is 1 engineer coworker, my boss the engineering manager, a production supervisor and a couple of machinists that used to work at Bostich. I even applied to work there at in the mid 90's. Based on all the engineering and manufacturing that I have been privy to about Bostich I would need to say that they are probably the best nailer out there. I also know a few full time contractors that use Bostich. Bostich makes an oiless nailer. I have used a few different Bostich nailers. YES - they are nice.

I had my Porter Cable air nailers before I met these Bostich people. I get flack for it too. I need to make sure I put oil in at every use. I do that!! I have had my nailers since 2002 and oil at every useage. I have gone few a few cases of nails without a hitch. Even dropped the framer a few times off a ladder.
 
Go to where you are going to get nails and get a gun they stock nails for. Don't matter what kind it is if the nails can't be gotten readily than the gun is no use.
 
I bought a PC framing nailer 10 years ago when I built my 20x24 shop addition. I also used it for a 20x12 lawn equipment building. Never had a problem with it.
 
Not a big fan of return air nailers. A friend bought one at auction, and I have the image (xray?) at work, where it shows he was lucky and a double tap, sent the nail, over the bone in three fingers, nailing them together.
Know what your nailing to/through, and don't disable the safety features. Medical professional relative called one day to B&M to the tool users of my family, that we better not have any of "those damn air nailers", after pulling a nail that was double tapped, from the brain, out of the eye socket. (double tapped, into a wall with some sort of steel behind it, ricochet, first one stopped in the safety glasses, second one went through)
I myself had a knot on the backside of a 2x. and it redirected the output, to where I had put my knee bend down and nail. (thankfully I had transferred to sitting on the floor)
 
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