We're about to enter the carpentry phase (timber box beams, roofing etc) of a self-build strawbale house and I plan to buy a used Paslode first fix nail gun, probably an Impulse IM350/90CT (reasonably plentiful older model and affordable at around £200ish). I need to use ring shank nails in most external situations, anyone know if this gun has any limitations in that respect? I've seen hints that it can't cope with 90mm ring shanks. Any idea of the min and max lengths of nails it can use?
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adidat
I will not buy anymore tools...
have you got an air compressor to hand? i really like my my air first fix bostitch nailer, yeah the hose gets in the way, but there bulletproof. give it a spray of wd40 every morning and it works all day!
adidat
adidat
MikeG.
Established Member
Pord":20txi0h5 said:
You know you'll need to recharge batteries on the Paslode? Are you geared up for that?
You're going to need a massive ramp for level access if your suspended floor is sitting on top of those tyres. Whereabouts in the country are you? I designed an "Earthship" rammed earth earth-bermed straw-bale building in the Orkneys, a few years ago. One of the more interesting jobs for Building Control!!
Lons
Established Member
You can charge the batteries from a 12 volt vehicle, just need the adapter.
I had a 350 for a number of years and never had an issue with ringshanks though from memory I only ever bought 1 box of 90mm the rest being smooth galvs. Plenty of 63 and 50 though.
The Paslode, unless it's improved can be fussy with other brand nails unlike the DeWalt cordless I replaced it with which uses just about any available. It's a pita in other ways as well, needs very regular stripping down to clean and lubricate and I found standard gas was iffy in cold weather.
Shame you don't have mains electricity to charge a cordless as imo they are much better. Others may well disagree of course so just my twopennerth.
I had a 350 for a number of years and never had an issue with ringshanks though from memory I only ever bought 1 box of 90mm the rest being smooth galvs. Plenty of 63 and 50 though.
The Paslode, unless it's improved can be fussy with other brand nails unlike the DeWalt cordless I replaced it with which uses just about any available. It's a pita in other ways as well, needs very regular stripping down to clean and lubricate and I found standard gas was iffy in cold weather.
Shame you don't have mains electricity to charge a cordless as imo they are much better. Others may well disagree of course so just my twopennerth.
MikeG.
Established Member
Lons":er37yxga said:
That's my experience too. I went through two of them in 5 years and vowed never to use one again.
Trevanion
Greatest Of All Time
You really can't get cheaper or more eco-friendly than a hammer and a bag of nails, wouldn't take much longer once you get a good hammer arm. Nothing to go wrong either so long as your hammer handle doesn't shrink and the head flies off :shock:
I went through this a few years back, in the end I bought myself an expensive (comparatively) Eastwing hammer, well balanced and easy to use, ring shank nails about 60mm long, I got the technique down to a fine art and only needed at the maximum three blows to seat the nails, compensating for the density of the wood is easier with the hand than with a machine, not only that if its not your main means of income the Paslode becomes an expensive paper weight afterwards, whereas you can never do without a hammer.
Jonathan S
Established Member
Pasloads are fantastic when they are working!
Very frustrating when there not!.....In an ideal world you want a couple as back up...so expensive.
15 years ago I built my present timber home....off grid....and at the time no PV.
I used no nails at all, just screws....12v makita with a long lead to a selection of old car battery's....would last a couple of days before I had to change over batteries.
Well done for going off grid....It rocks!
Jonathan
Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk
Very frustrating when there not!.....In an ideal world you want a couple as back up...so expensive.
15 years ago I built my present timber home....off grid....and at the time no PV.
I used no nails at all, just screws....12v makita with a long lead to a selection of old car battery's....would last a couple of days before I had to change over batteries.
Well done for going off grid....It rocks!
Jonathan
Sent from my SM-J530F using Tapatalk
MikeG.
Established Member
Trevanion":3icney9l said:
I built a couple of timber frame buildings* entirely with a wooden handled hammer, and yes, hammering in 4 inch nails was quick and efficient. However, the principle difference between hammering and a nail gun is in aligning the two pieces of wood you are attempting to join. With a hammer, each blow of the hammer on a nail in the plate bounces the stud away from its location. Everything moves, because the plate also moves around as you hit the nail. Yes, you get used to this, and compensate for it, but it's a nuisance. With a nail gun, you line the two pieces of wood up and pull the trigger, and they stay precisely where they were put. That is the one thing that makes a nail gun worth having. The fact is, you still need a hammer anyway, to drive home those nails which the nail gun left up because they hit a knot or a denser grain or a wetter piece of wood, or just because the damn machine keeps moving out of adjustment......but the nail gun sticks the two bits of wood together in the position you want much better than hammering by hand does, and that really is worth the faffing around that goes with the territory.
*One of the them was a large house with double stud outer walls (ie two walls, one inside the other), so massive amounts of nailing. Oh, and lots of sawing. All done with a handsaw.
Lons
Established Member
Exactly what MikeG said.
I bought my first Paslode because I was about to convert a grade 2 listed stable block ( shell ) into a large house. Needed to construct a full 100 x 50 inner wall frame to isolate from the 600mm stone walls along with all the stud walls and floor for upstairs. Extensions and roofs as well so a formidable job for a hammer and nails and the time that was saved purely due to the alignment Mike mentioned paid for several Paslodes and all the gas and nails.
Many other jobs followed where they were just as useful.
As I said they are however a pita and I found myself stripping them down every night at home which countered some of the above saving, did get it down to a fine art though!
I'm now retired and the Paslodes sold but have hung on to the DeWalt which doesn't get used a lot but very useful when it's needed and almost no maintenance.
I own and use a couple of Estwings as well btw so a nail gun certainly doesn't make them redundant
I bought my first Paslode because I was about to convert a grade 2 listed stable block ( shell ) into a large house. Needed to construct a full 100 x 50 inner wall frame to isolate from the 600mm stone walls along with all the stud walls and floor for upstairs. Extensions and roofs as well so a formidable job for a hammer and nails and the time that was saved purely due to the alignment Mike mentioned paid for several Paslodes and all the gas and nails.
Many other jobs followed where they were just as useful.
As I said they are however a pita and I found myself stripping them down every night at home which countered some of the above saving, did get it down to a fine art though!
I'm now retired and the Paslodes sold but have hung on to the DeWalt which doesn't get used a lot but very useful when it's needed and almost no maintenance.
I own and use a couple of Estwings as well btw so a nail gun certainly doesn't make them redundant
