Air nailers, what do the names mean?

[shipbadger]

Hi all,

I've been considering adding some sort of air nailer to my arsenal of tools. There are already a couple of compressors lying around so I just need the nailer, but therein lies the problem. When I watch Norm building things he's always talking of fixing 'with a few brads'. Looking in the various catalogues I find terms such as framing nailer, which looks like its for big stuff; framing pinner, presumably for picture frames, T head nailer, headless nailer and so forth. Can someone point me to a reference for what each type of nailer is for or give a brief explanation. What I'm looking for is something like Norm uses and/or possibly something that fixes pins to aid the glue up of structures made of ply. (What I don't need is the heavy duty Paslode machines like Tommy Walsh uses)
Tony Comber

 

[promhandicam]

For a basic brad nailer you can't go wrong with one of these. It can fire up to 50mm brads and the nails themselves are inexpensive and can be used for general assembly / 2nd fix work. If you want something finer for fixing mouldings to furniture for example get yourself one of these. This, as the name implies fires a pin with no head which leaves an almost invisible fixing - you won't need to fill afterwards. I don't actually have the axminster version, I have a makita, but I gather the axminster is quite adequate.

HTH,

Steve
http://www.allford.co.uk

 

[SeanG]

+1 on what steve said.

I have the axminster brad nailer, It did a fine job of strengthening my mdf shelf units. From watching Norm I think its the same type he's refering to when he adds a few 'brads' and is great for holding utility pieces together.

 

[Mcluma]

I have the 18g nailer, and i have never found the heads to be a problem. i have fired over 1m nails with them, and its still going, I bought a combination 10yrs ago at B&Q compressor and nailer, only recently i bought a staipler to go with that (better for fencing)

One tip get a very long hose. between 5 and 10mtrs

 

[shipbadger]

Thanks for the advice guys. Had to go to Devon yesterday so a detour to Axminster seemed in order and I now have a headless pinner and an 18g nailer. Off to find out what they can do this afternoon.

Tony Comber

 

[Oryxdesign]

Steve has hit the nail on the head, I have both of those plus a bigger one that I use for 1st fix stuff and I am very happy with all of them. Much cheaper than buying a padslode too.

 

[dance]

Ok, I'll bite.

- Why is the headless brad gun cheaper than the nailer that fires brads with heads?
- If you can only afford one, which one is more versatile? Is one stronger than the other? Is it useful to own both?
- There is a £200 price difference between these (which are reportedly very reliable + usable) and branded Makita guns. :shock: ?!

 

[shipbadger]

Ok, I'll bite.

- Why is the headless brad gun cheaper than the nailer that fires brads with heads?
- If you can only afford one, which one is more versatile? Is one stronger than the other? Is it useful to own both?


Dance,

I can only speak for the Axminster guns which I've owned for about two weeks! The headless pinner is physically smaller than the T head nailer. The bigger gun has the ability to 'bump fire' that is you hold the trigger in and when you tap the working end on to the wood a brad is fired. If the trigger is not depressed no brad is fired so a brad will not be fired accidentally. It obviously also works normally. This gun also enables you to adjust the depth to which the pin is fired by altering a control on the gun and there is also a simple catch to stop the trigger being depressed. The headless pinner lacks these refinements and adjusting the depth to which the pin is fired requires adjustment to the air pressure at the compressor. That explains the price difference, not that great for the Axminster models. As to which is more versatile, hmmm...... They don't really do the same job, think of the pinner being a way of driving panel pins in and the other as a way of firing small gauge nails. If you can only afford one you need to decide which type of work you need it for most.

Tony Comber

 

[promhandicam]

Ok, I'll bite.

- Why is the headless brad gun cheaper than the nailer that fires brads with heads?
- If you can only afford one, which one is more versatile? Is one stronger than the other? Is it useful to own both?
- There is a £200 price difference between these (which are reportedly very reliable + usable) and branded Makita guns. :shock: ?!

I think my earlier post explained the difference quite well between the two guns - the headless pinner fires something the diameter of a dressmaking pin which would be impossible to hammer in, the other a regular brad. The price difference between the two axminster guns is about £4 so not sure where you are getting £200 from or are you comparing them to the price of a pair of makita guns :? My Makita headless pinner was about £30 more than the axminster version - IIRC.

 

[dance]

Sorry. Yes, your post did explain the difference between the guns, but I guess I was looking for real-world examples of when you might want to use a brad over a pin - and now that you've described the pin as the size of a dressmaking pin I can see that it's something one would use for finish work or to hold something in place while it glues, whereas the brad would be used in place of a small nail.

I'm getting £200 from as in that seemed to be the cost of a Makita brad gun when I did a price check on the web. Perhaps somehow I was looking at ultra high spec ones??

 

[promhandicam]

. . . I'm getting £200 from as in that seemed to be the cost of a Makita brad gun when I did a price check on the web. Perhaps somehow I was looking at ultra high spec ones??

If you want a (possibly) better quality brad nailer than the axminster then I'd look at the bostitch guns which are well regarded in the trade. There appears to be a new bostitch brad nailer which is around £130. There appear to be some good deals around on the older version - just avoid the ones that fire brads and staples as they leave a larger indentation in the timber that will need filling.

 

[Dibs-h]

. . . I'm getting £200 from as in that seemed to be the cost of a Makita brad gun when I did a price check on the web. Perhaps somehow I was looking at ultra high spec ones??

If you want a (possibly) better quality brad nailer than the axminster then I'd look at the bostitch guns which are well regarded in the trade. There appears to be a new bostitch brad nailer which is around £130. There appear to be some good deals around on the older version - just avoid the ones that fire brads and staples as they leave a larger indentation in the timber that will need filling.

Screwfix were doing a really good deal on the older version\s - in the last qtr of 2010. Around £80 or thereabouts.

 

[Digit]

I used to be most unimpressed with Norm and his 'few brads'. Then the day came when it was a choice between hammer and nails, plus punching them below the surface, and a brad nailer.
So I bought a cheap nailer, when it gave up the ghost I bought the Ax AW 50N a few weeks ago. Used within context I wouldn't be without it.

Roy.