Steve Maskery
Established Member
Having done a few reviews of things I am fairly happy with, I thought I'd do one of a tool less satisfactory.
Sometime last year (I really can't remember exactly when) I bought a Rapesco 181 nailer. It was about £40, if I remember rightly, and I bought it because I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Paslode.
I nearly took it back the first time I used it. I found that the magazine cover jumped open of its own accord on a regular basis. Worse still, nails were not driven in far enough, so I had to go round with a nail set and hammer. This would not have been so bad if the nails had been as hard as nails, but I found setting them almost impossible, they just bent. Perhaps it is because they do not have a point on them, they rely on the brute force and ignorance of the drive unit to penetrate. I found that if I used my other hand to hold the head of the gun, resisting the recoil, the nails were well set, but the surface of the wood was marred by the firing pin, even with the plastic cover in use. I ended up using it for workshop jigs and the like, and areas which are not seen.
This week I made a replacement base for my tablesaw. Birch ply, rebates and grooves, PU glue and nails. Very Norm. I was halfway through nailing when the thing stopped. I had PU glue going off by the millisecond (fortunately it was clamped up), so I dismantled the head to remove the jammed nail. Except there wasn't a jammed nail. I checked the fuse, it was fine. Dead.
I rang the number helpfully printed on the machine. My mobile said "Calls to this number are barred". My house phone got though to a message which said "We regret that this service is no longer available, but we will put you through to an advisor. You will continue to be charged at 60p per minute". Th lady said, "There is nothing else you can check, sounds like the drive unit has gone". If it was less than a year old they would replace it, otherwise I could buy another one for 50% off. Buy another one? I was still on my first packet of nails! Trouble was, I could not find the receipt and didn't know exactly when I bought it. I politely declined her generous offer.
Stuff that for a lark.
So I took it back to B&Q, whence it came, explained to the Nice Young Lass on the desk that she could trace it with the serial number if she had access to the stock-control program, who said, "No problem, we have one in stock, would you like to go and get it?".
Well their computer was lying, they didn't, but they did have the 191 which also does staples. It cost me a tenner to upgrade, which was reasonable under the circumstances (although I begrudge it going to Rapesco), so I now have a new gun. I was stupid enough not to take the original pack of nails out of the box. Doh.
I commented to the NYL that that was easier than I had expected, considering I hadn't got the receipt. "Oh I, don't like arguments," she said, "people shout at me". Bless.
But I have to say that the magazine cover on this is better than the 181, though the firing pin still makes ugly dents in the surface. Bigger ones than the 181, actually.
Verdict?
Cheap, cheerful and rough. Not a fine tool, but convenient when it works, if you are not bothered about the finish.
Sometime last year (I really can't remember exactly when) I bought a Rapesco 181 nailer. It was about £40, if I remember rightly, and I bought it because I didn't want to spend a fortune on a Paslode.
I nearly took it back the first time I used it. I found that the magazine cover jumped open of its own accord on a regular basis. Worse still, nails were not driven in far enough, so I had to go round with a nail set and hammer. This would not have been so bad if the nails had been as hard as nails, but I found setting them almost impossible, they just bent. Perhaps it is because they do not have a point on them, they rely on the brute force and ignorance of the drive unit to penetrate. I found that if I used my other hand to hold the head of the gun, resisting the recoil, the nails were well set, but the surface of the wood was marred by the firing pin, even with the plastic cover in use. I ended up using it for workshop jigs and the like, and areas which are not seen.
This week I made a replacement base for my tablesaw. Birch ply, rebates and grooves, PU glue and nails. Very Norm. I was halfway through nailing when the thing stopped. I had PU glue going off by the millisecond (fortunately it was clamped up), so I dismantled the head to remove the jammed nail. Except there wasn't a jammed nail. I checked the fuse, it was fine. Dead.
I rang the number helpfully printed on the machine. My mobile said "Calls to this number are barred". My house phone got though to a message which said "We regret that this service is no longer available, but we will put you through to an advisor. You will continue to be charged at 60p per minute". Th lady said, "There is nothing else you can check, sounds like the drive unit has gone". If it was less than a year old they would replace it, otherwise I could buy another one for 50% off. Buy another one? I was still on my first packet of nails! Trouble was, I could not find the receipt and didn't know exactly when I bought it. I politely declined her generous offer.
Stuff that for a lark.
So I took it back to B&Q, whence it came, explained to the Nice Young Lass on the desk that she could trace it with the serial number if she had access to the stock-control program, who said, "No problem, we have one in stock, would you like to go and get it?".
Well their computer was lying, they didn't, but they did have the 191 which also does staples. It cost me a tenner to upgrade, which was reasonable under the circumstances (although I begrudge it going to Rapesco), so I now have a new gun. I was stupid enough not to take the original pack of nails out of the box. Doh.
I commented to the NYL that that was easier than I had expected, considering I hadn't got the receipt. "Oh I, don't like arguments," she said, "people shout at me". Bless.
But I have to say that the magazine cover on this is better than the 181, though the firing pin still makes ugly dents in the surface. Bigger ones than the 181, actually.
Verdict?
Cheap, cheerful and rough. Not a fine tool, but convenient when it works, if you are not bothered about the finish.
) I only use it for rough work.
