This is a terrific video. Very clear camera work, good audio, enough material to make it worthwhile but not a lot of extra fluff. It's just what I needed to know, thanks for posting!
Thanks Collin any information you give is always helpful. and keep making your videos they are very informative, educational for the woodworker and not the least entertaining. Thanks again.
Thank you, Colin. You sure give us a lot of valuable information. I tend to go to your videos first when I'm looking for help on a project or use of a tool.
So simple, fast and clear 's , way's to learn's! Now, can become a diy's, boxes , furniture 's , and wooden ' s ! Works are so happy's with !( learned and trys , so mush fun
G,day Collin, Gary make a very good point and i agree a follow up video would be good but in the video could please also include a short segment on what the different Gage nails would suit what type of timber. I have an 18 Gage nailer and a large house frame nailer that I have never used because I am not sure what I can use them on. any way good video collin.
steve lowe Good comment, I will see what I can do with this. Basically with nailers it's an educated guess as to size. The 18 gauge is for smaller jobs and projects like trim and other uses that don't need a lot of holding power. It sounds like the other one you have is for construction like maybe houses, shed, garages etc. where you do need some serious holding power. Anyway ... thanks Steve ... hope this helps a bit too
+steve lowe The 18 gauge brad nailer will work on all wood types....the thing to keep in mind is the harder the wood the more power you need to drive that fastener into the wood completely. Most air tools tell you their maximum pressure usually in PSI. A lot of them are 90. For hard woods you'll really have to max out the pressure to get the nailer to drive those brads fully into the material. Even then you may find that it doesn't get them flush. I have a no-name brad nailer that says 90PSI max. I've ran it at 100PSI on extremely hard woods and it does just fine but turn it back down to 90PSI and it won't set the nail flush like it should. Its something you will have to play around with on your particular nailer and air compressor. Also, some nail guns you can adjust the driving depth so you'll have to look at your nail gun's manual and find out if yours has those adjustments and if so how to adjust it. For the Framing nailer its main purpose is to drive nails through 2x materials. Many run in the 90-100PSI range normally. Again like with the 18 gauge brad nailer, you'll have to kind of experiment with it and dial your air compressor in to get the results you need. Different materials will require different amounts of force to drive the nails properly. I've found that at 90PSI with my framing nailer, if I try and nail up a board that's soft like cedar it will countersink the nail quite a bit. So I back the pressure off to about 85PSI and it does great. Couldn't imagine what it would do if I left it cranked up to 100PSI and drove a nail into cedar LOL it may shoot it clear through. I've used my brad nailer for many projects. They're great for building jigs, and small items where a regular size nail is too large. Brad nailers will drive nails into wood that otherwise may split if you tried using a larger size nail, or try to use a hammer and a finish nail. Word of caution though, brad nailers and finish nailers in particular seem to be really bad about firing a nail and the nail coming out the side of a board because those nails are thin enough they will follow the grain of your materials you are using. So be careful where you place your hands when you are operating the nailer so you don't put a nail into your hand. I've had several nails come out the sides of stuff I've been putting together and its just a common problem with these types of nail guns. Get into the framing nailers and roofing nailers and its not really a problem.
I love that vintage Brace-and-bit on the wall behind you. I've got my Fathers one, the HE got off his GRANDfather. It must be over 100years old now, and still works perfectly good. (Except it only takes the old square-shank bits).
Just used my pin nailer for the first time today. Read the direction but did not see the part that the pins had to be loaded in direction of arrow.........Thanks for the heads-up.........Luckily I loaded them in the correct alignment.......Keep up the informative videos...........Thank you.........
Good info, I just got my compressor and found that air nailers are very useful. It's a tool that you wonder how you did without it. I use it for glue ups. Thanks Colin.
OMG, I never realized you'd need a different gun for each gauge of nail used! It would be a good topic for another video to tell us the different uses for each gauge of nail (i.e., where you would use each gauge nail, and why).
Is it true you should store air nailers with the air chucks pointing up? Someone told me if u don’t store them upside down so the oil won’t drain out the chuck. Never knew if it was true tho
Wow Thank You !! This was a Great video, I appreciate the versatility and how genuine it felt watching. I honestly felt the same way you expressed about the stapler !!! Electricity isn’t always accessible outside. Hahaha Most importantly I really really really wanna point out the introduction specifically The Vision board. INSPIRATION OVERLOAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for your nice vid. On the stapler, what do you mean by saying it takes all types of staples? Asking because there are so many different types of staples which are a bit confusing to me.
Hi all, just a beginner here asking a pretty basic question. Is there a rule of thumb on what length nail to use for the thickness of the wood you're nailing? Obviously the deeper the nail is the better it'll hold but is there a minimum depth you'd want your nail to go in. For example, I am nailing 10mm ply to a piece of timber would a 20mm nail be okay?
Another great video. That staple gun adapter is genius - always hated the way the staples look uneven. Would I be right in thinking that the continuous setting on the nail gun means the compressor is on all the time (and thus noisy) ?
I have a question regarding the nailer tips. Your (and all other) 18g nailers seem to have a pointer tip, while the 16g nailers have that big hoop for a tip. Why is that? Do the two nailers have significantly different intended purposes? Thank you.
I will be building floor to ceiling kitchen shelves for heavier things like a microwave and heavy mixer. As far as guns all I have currently is a brad nailer. So what do I use that would provide the most support, brad nailer and glue, dowels and glue or a finish nailer?
Hi there and GREAT video!!! I have a 18Ga nailer/stapler and 2-3 out of 5 nails will get bent or just doesn't want to go all the way into the wood and I'm wondering what am I doing wrong???? I made a little drawer and now it just look not professional at all and I used an old recycled computer desk for the wood and this will do the same thing on other type of wood. Am I using a too long nail for the job? I used a 2" for my drawer. My compressor is a 3 gal and set at max 100psi and the dept set at max. It would be SO NICE if you do a video on what nails to use like for ex: use 1 1/2" nails for 3/4 plywood etc… I tend not to use my nailer as much because of the poor results that I get with it and can't enjoy it 100%. If you can't make a video is there a web site that can give me a chart or something to guide me with what 18Ga size nails to use so that I can re-enjoy my nailer again! THANKS!!!
Also important but not mentioned: Wear Safety Glasses anytime you are using a tool with pressurized air. Nailers run best at at certain pressures. Most will not fire if pressure is too low. Proper operating pressure(s) will be printed on unit and/or manual. Longer nails and harder woods often require increased pressure. Some units also have a knob for adjusting depth of nail.
May I use this kind of nailer for fitting a skirting board or dado rail straight on a brick wall with bit of a glue or I'll need something ''stronger''? Sorry, never get one of these, that's why I'm asking.
+oliver S Do you mean you want to nail it straight to the brick? If so, then these guns, even the 16g, will be to light. A framing nailer might do it, but it's not really designed for nailing into brick. There are powder actuated tools that use a blank .22 gun cartridge that shoot a specially hardened nail into concrete. BUT... brick is different to concrete. It is more brittle and might shatter with the impact of any gun strong enough to penetrate it. I would rather drill through the wood, mark the holes on the brick, then drill them with a masonry bit and insert an anchor to screw into.
The only way that will work is if you shoot the nails into the mortar joint and that is only if the mortar is fresh within 2-3 days of installation. Once the mortar hardens the only thing you will do is break the drive pin in your gun. It's not advised to try to shoot into brick with any type of nail gun.
Colin I have all ways been interested in a nail gun but not the gas one is there an elictric one out there Colin please help as it would be good for my small workshop thanks.
+Peter Haughton None of the ones in this video are gas operated. They all operate with an air compressor. Great tools, and very fast. Electric ones seem somewhat slow as many have an extremely small air compressor in them to fire the fasteners. Or they have an electric motor that drives an anvil or hammer to drive the fasteners they don't work as well as the air powered ones. The gas nail guns are kind of the same way, they use a small compressor to fire the fastener and are kind of slow at doing so...definitely not something you would really want to try and build a house with, but for small shop projects they work fine...and so do the electric ones that is if you aren't in a very big hurry as they can't cycle as fast as the air powered ones.
Abdullh Ali To be honest, it really depends what you are doing, but I started off with an 18 gauge and for what I do it has been a mainstay ... so that is one suggestion for you :)
+Abdullh Ali The first air tool I ever bought was an 18 gauge brad nailer. It has been a great tool, very versatile. I didn't buy a brand name one and its been used quite a bit over the years, and still works great. Its limited to its capabilities due to the size limitations of nail length but for small projects it works great. I do have a finish nailer now, as well as a couple staplers and a pin nailer. But if I had to go buy 1 nail gun right now I'd certainly start with the 18 gauge brad nailer.
Sam Cole you would have a couple options. You can buy them all separately. You can find them in a set with the compressor and a few guns. Or, you can get airless and cordless nailer (battery powered)
Thank you sir! I wanted to understand the function, now I know. One more doubt, is the gauge decides to what thicknesses of wood. Like what if we want to nail two one inch thick MDF or any type of wood.
How does an air nailer know how much force to use to shoot the nail? I would imagine that it takes more energy to drive a nail through maple than pine, so do you have to adjust it so it doesn't blow right through a softer wood?
ah thanks! I don't have one (yet), and I've never seen any of the youtubers mentioning that detail. Are there recommended settings for certain nail sizes and woods? Or do people do trial/error testing each time they change woods and/or nails?
Brian Chu Great question Brian, they actually do no know how much force to use, the air pressure to drive these guns is about 90 pounds per square inch (PSI) what often dictates how far the nail penetrates the wood is how long the nail is. A long nail might penetrate pine all the way but only go 2 thirds of the way into oak for example. Air nailers are not very exact, you do need experiment a bit with them.
Sean Connolly Thanks Sean, we have no specific videos on air nailer joinery, but we are expecting to do something on electric nailers in the next few months
Hey Colin, I have a question: I'll be going to nail lots of 9 mm poplar plywood drawers, what nail gun do I need for the job? Will a 23 gauge be sufficient or might a 18 ga be better? Thanks!
sultan Merchant I'm thinking you mean finishing nails?? If so, what it most important is the number of pounds and most nailers require between 80 & 100 pounds in order for the nailer to work properly. This amount of pressure is easily generated by most compressors. The difference comes in how many nails you can drive before the compressor needs to pump more air and a safe size is a compressor with at least a 2 gallon reserve tank when driving finishing nails because they are often driven in smaller quantities, unlike some roofing a house with an air nailer that would be driving in hundreds of nails an hour ... who would need a 7 or 10 gallon reserve tank. Hope this is what you were looking for.
+sultan Merchant Many small compressors will run a nail gun. One thing to keep in mind is different air tools require different amounts of air both in PSI, and in CFM. Most nail guns will run in the lower CFM category requiring 1-4CFM. If you move up to say an orbital sander you are needing 6CFM or more to run the sander. Many nail guns will require in the neighborhood of 90PSI. Pretty much all regular air compressors will give you the right PSI, its the CFM you need to really be concerned about. You can have a compressor giving you 100+ PSI all day long, but if it can't sustain the required CFM you will be having that compressor running all the time. I've ran several different nail guns over the years, using several different compressors. The smaller compressors that you can pickup and carry around, like the pancake compressors or the stacked tank type compressors will easily run a nail gun....they don't do so well trying to run higher CFM drawing air tools like sanders, ratchets, etc. But if all you want to do is run a nail gun the smaller portable compressors will work just fine.
Thanks Colin for another good video. I have got a elect one Witch works quite well. Do you think air ones are better than elect ones, what do you think. Take care Michael.
+POLOAZTECA I've seen people use 18volt DeWalt 16g finishing nailers. They seemed to word quite good. Surely other brands would too. DeWalt now has a 20volt gun that shoot full sized framing nails, it also works surprisingly well.
POLOAZTECA I have a battery powered Porter Cable finish nailer that died on me after using the heck out of it. Luckily, it also has connection for air hose so I can still use it. I have use the battery powered Paslode units-they are top of the line.
I have seen somewhere that those nails sometime take a sharp curve left or right when entering the wood (path of least resistance). On thinner pieces of wood, that could cause the nail to punch out of said thin piece of wood if tool is parallel to wood. Nailing a piece of trim/molding should therefore be performed with the gun perpendicular to wood, as this way, there's a lot more space left and right to account for curving nails.
I'm looking for a small nail gun for picture framing and can't be air since I don't have the room at home for a compressor so, it must be electric, any out there?
+Carl Zorro I have a ryobi 18v nail gun. it by itself cost more than a 3 gallon compressor + hose+ nail gun from harbor freight. I ended up with both setups. I also don't have room for a large compressor but the 3 gallon one ($39 on sale) works great for the nail gun
One thing i do want to mention, the working pressure is different for almost every nailgun. My nailer with 16gage nails and the compressor set to full (8bar) will go right trough a 22mm MDF. I know MDF is alot softer then normal or hardwood. But look in the manual of the nailer, there should be a recommended airpressure your compressor has to be set too.
Personally I prefer arrows stapler that shoots brad nails because the handle is reversed so that when you are shooting either one the pressure is directly over the entry point which helps avoid your staples or nails being proud of the work piece
Adam R Yes, that is true, and that's exactly why I did the video to help people choose which one might be the best choice for them. Thanks for commenting Adam.
+Adam R Yes. For the most part an 18 gauge nail won't work if you try to fire it out of a 16 gauge or 15 gauge nail gun. There are some nail guns that will fire multiple gauge sizes though. I know Harbor Freight sells one that will fire 16 or 18 gauge nails. I'm sure other brand nail gun manufacturers may do the same with some of their nail guns as well. Its a nice benefit as you can carry around 1 nail gun for multiple jobs and be able to install base trim, crown molding, etc. Then switch to the 18 Gauge nails and install the smaller pieces of trim work that are too narrow and/or thin to be able to be fastened with the 16 gauge nails without splitting the materials. Just buy one that suits your needs, and if you can buy a good quality one. I have the HF model and it works great but I don't use it every day or in any sort of commercial use either. The 23 gauge pin nailer is more useful when you are trying to assemble a picture frame and need something to hold the corners together until the glue sets...its a great tool for that. They do not have any real holding ability if you were to nail something together with pins you could easily pull it apart as there aren't any heads on them to hold the pieces together. The 18 gauge brad nailer is for smaller work as well, they do have small heads on them though to help hold your pieces together. These work great on smaller and thinner materials where a larger gauge nail would split the materials. Most brad nailers will work with brads up to 2" in length. Giving you a pretty descent working range for many different jobs. The 16 and 15 gauge finish nailers work great for trim work, and many of them will fire finish nails up to about 2-1/2" in length.
most air nail guns use any where from 60 psi to 110 psi, it depends on the size of the gun. The compressors actual size is not supper important due to the fact that the size just limits the volume of air it can hold. If your compressor can go up to 110 psi (most do) you can use any type of nail gun, it will just be recharging the tank more often. Hope this helps:D
Actually, what you need to know is how many CFM's does the air tool use and at what PSI,most brad nailers need 2-3 CFM @ 40- 90 PSI. Air impact Wrenches use between 4.5 and 10 CFM @ 90 PSI. (the aforementioned is an estimation only)
fred1tim Very good question and it depends on if you care if the head of the nail shows or not and how much holding power you need. 23 gauge, as you can imagine will not hold a lot because it is too fine. 16 gauge will hold more than 18 gauge so you really need to try and gauge what it is you think will do the best job.
This is a terrific video. Very clear camera work, good audio, enough material to make it worthwhile but not a lot of extra fluff. It's just what I needed to know, thanks for posting!
As a beginner, I love the 5 min video tutorial series.....very helpful to get you started. Thanks
Good information about the nail gun. Thank you.
Thanks Collin any information you give is always helpful. and keep making your videos they are very informative, educational for the woodworker and not the least entertaining. Thanks again.
steve lowe Thanks buddy ... appreciate you taking the time to comment
Colin
I like it when you explain in detail especially when it comes to mm & inches
very informative video! my husband is into carpentry works too and he really likes these air nailers to make his work fast, easy and super quiet!
Thanks for this. Been trying to decide what size nailer I need. This has clarified it. Thanks.
Very helpful video and explained nicely. Easy to understand. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
Thank you, Colin. You sure give us a lot of valuable information. I tend to go to your videos first when I'm looking for help on a project or use of a tool.
+MrGr8golf Thank you for that ... appreciate the feedback
Good video for a beginner like me, thank you. Would have liked to have seen something about air supply as well.
So simple, fast and clear 's , way's to learn's! Now, can become a diy's, boxes , furniture 's , and wooden ' s ! Works are so happy's with !( learned and trys , so mush fun
thanks for the time.
that stapler is really neat.
StoneysWorkshop Yeah, I liked it ... who knew a stapler would grab my attention
Thanks for making this video it was very educational.
daveyjmon Thanks for the feedback ... appreciate you taking the time
Awesome video...much needed info for this beginner. I think I now Know what I need to buy!!
+Beth Mahoney Glad this was helpful Beth, thanks for commenting
Great video! It's perfect for what I was wanting to know.
+jdub7771 Great ... thanks for commenting
Great video and lots of great information thanks!
I am just catching on to your videos and really like the way you present your topics. Very presentable and easy to follow. Thank you!
i have a tacwise 18g brad air nailer and i have to say i like it and it was good value. think i now want a 16g for bigger nails....
Really helpful video.
Excellent video. Thanks!
Thank you for your vídeos ,good teacher .
G,day Collin, Gary make a very good point and i agree a follow up video would be good but in the video could please also include a short segment on what the different Gage nails would suit what type of timber. I have an 18 Gage nailer and a large house frame nailer that I have never used because I am not sure what I can use them on. any way good video collin.
steve lowe Good comment, I will see what I can do with this. Basically with nailers it's an educated guess as to size. The 18 gauge is for smaller jobs and projects like trim and other uses that don't need a lot of holding power. It sounds like the other one you have is for construction like maybe houses, shed, garages etc. where you do need some serious holding power.
Anyway ... thanks Steve ... hope this helps a bit too
+steve lowe The 18 gauge brad nailer will work on all wood types....the thing to keep in mind is the harder the wood the more power you need to drive that fastener into the wood completely. Most air tools tell you their maximum pressure usually in PSI. A lot of them are 90. For hard woods you'll really have to max out the pressure to get the nailer to drive those brads fully into the material. Even then you may find that it doesn't get them flush. I have a no-name brad nailer that says 90PSI max. I've ran it at 100PSI on extremely hard woods and it does just fine but turn it back down to 90PSI and it won't set the nail flush like it should. Its something you will have to play around with on your particular nailer and air compressor. Also, some nail guns you can adjust the driving depth so you'll have to look at your nail gun's manual and find out if yours has those adjustments and if so how to adjust it.
For the Framing nailer its main purpose is to drive nails through 2x materials. Many run in the 90-100PSI range normally. Again like with the 18 gauge brad nailer, you'll have to kind of experiment with it and dial your air compressor in to get the results you need. Different materials will require different amounts of force to drive the nails properly. I've found that at 90PSI with my framing nailer, if I try and nail up a board that's soft like cedar it will countersink the nail quite a bit. So I back the pressure off to about 85PSI and it does great. Couldn't imagine what it would do if I left it cranked up to 100PSI and drove a nail into cedar LOL it may shoot it clear through.
I've used my brad nailer for many projects. They're great for building jigs, and small items where a regular size nail is too large. Brad nailers will drive nails into wood that otherwise may split if you tried using a larger size nail, or try to use a hammer and a finish nail. Word of caution though, brad nailers and finish nailers in particular seem to be really bad about firing a nail and the nail coming out the side of a board because those nails are thin enough they will follow the grain of your materials you are using. So be careful where you place your hands when you are operating the nailer so you don't put a nail into your hand. I've had several nails come out the sides of stuff I've been putting together and its just a common problem with these types of nail guns. Get into the framing nailers and roofing nailers and its not really a problem.
Thanks for the information william very helpfull
Thanks for the video, very helpful!
+crownkiwifactoryNZ Great, thanks for your comments
I love that vintage Brace-and-bit on the wall behind you. I've got my Fathers one, the HE got off his GRANDfather. It must be over 100years old now, and still works perfectly good. (Except it only takes the old square-shank bits).
Just used my pin nailer for the first time today. Read the direction but did not see the part that the pins had to be loaded in direction of arrow.........Thanks for the heads-up.........Luckily I loaded them in the correct alignment.......Keep up the informative videos...........Thank you.........
Gene G Perfect ... thanks for commenting Gene
Good info, I just got my compressor and found that air nailers are very useful. It's a tool that you wonder how you did without it. I use it for glue ups. Thanks Colin.
Trees2Pens Thanks for that info, yes I agree, it's one of those tools that you don't know you need till after you have one lol
OMG, I never realized you'd need a different gun for each gauge of nail used! It would be a good topic for another video to tell us the different uses for each gauge of nail (i.e., where you would use each gauge nail, and why).
Barclay's Mommy, Donna Great idea, I am going to be doing more on this later so good to cover that off, thanks for the suggestion
Is it true you should store air nailers with the air chucks pointing up? Someone told me if u don’t store them upside down so the oil won’t drain out the chuck. Never knew if it was true tho
Very nice..answered a lot of questions, thanks.
Great video Colin.
Derek
GiddyUp994 Thanks Derek, going to be doing a few rough building projects in the future, these tools will come in handy
Thank you so much for sharing this video is also perfect because I am looking for a nailer for my compressor. Thanks for sharing Colin!
I'm a trim carpenter by trade and I remember how proud and excited I was when I bought my very first trim gun. Now I own 9 of them...........lol
Whats a good 18 gauge one? What makes a good one vs bad one?
Just found your channel bec of this suggested video. This tutorial is so helpful. New subscriber here.😊
I just bought a electric stapler that also drive nails looking forward to it
Very informative. Thank you.
Gordon Clark Thanks for the feedback Gordon
Great Video. Thanks for posting it.
+DOLRED Thanks for taking a moment to comment
Just planing to buy air nail gun.
Great vid thanks!
Beautiful hand staple gun
Thank You!
Great video!
Wow Thank You !! This was a Great video, I appreciate the versatility and how genuine it felt watching. I honestly felt the same way you expressed about the stapler !!! Electricity isn’t always accessible outside. Hahaha
Most importantly I really really really wanna point out the introduction specifically The Vision board.
INSPIRATION OVERLOAD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bravo.Perfect tutoring. 👍
Great Tutorial!
Pamela Lee Thank you for taking a few moments to provide feedback
I really enjoy your videos.
ארז משה Thank you for taking the time to comment
Thanks for your nice vid. On the stapler, what do you mean by saying it takes all types of staples? Asking because there are so many different types of staples which are a bit confusing to me.
Hi all, just a beginner here asking a pretty basic question. Is there a rule of thumb on what length nail to use for the thickness of the wood you're nailing? Obviously the deeper the nail is the better it'll hold but is there a minimum depth you'd want your nail to go in. For example, I am nailing 10mm ply to a piece of timber would a 20mm nail be okay?
Many Thanks, More info than came with my nailer
Another great video. That staple gun adapter is genius - always hated the way the staples look uneven. Would I be right in thinking that the continuous setting on the nail gun means the compressor is on all the time (and thus noisy) ?
You look just like my Aunt Veera. Goatee and everything. I just love her. Good video
I have a question regarding the nailer tips. Your (and all other) 18g nailers seem to have a pointer tip, while the 16g nailers have that big hoop for a tip. Why is that? Do the two nailers have significantly different intended purposes? Thank you.
I will be building floor to ceiling kitchen shelves for heavier things like a microwave and heavy mixer. As far as guns all I have currently is a brad nailer. So what do I use that would provide the most support, brad nailer and glue, dowels and glue or a finish nailer?
It depends on the type of joints you'll be using but I prefer dowels with a dowel jig!
Hi there and GREAT video!!! I have a 18Ga nailer/stapler and 2-3 out of 5 nails will get bent or just doesn't want to go all the way into the wood and I'm wondering what am I doing wrong???? I made a little drawer and now it just look not professional at all and I used an old recycled computer desk for the wood and this will do the same thing on other type of wood. Am I using a too long nail for the job? I used a 2" for my drawer. My compressor is a 3 gal and set at max 100psi and the dept set at max. It would be SO NICE if you do a video on what nails to use like for ex: use 1 1/2" nails for 3/4 plywood etc… I tend not to use my nailer as much because of the poor results that I get with it and can't enjoy it 100%. If you can't make a video is there a web site that can give me a chart or something to guide me with what 18Ga size nails to use so that I can re-enjoy my nailer again! THANKS!!!
Little addition on the bit at 8:25
It keeps sticking out a bit because of recoil. Press down on top of the nailer and it will nail flush with the wood
Thank you !!
which type of Air Nailer is good for project like making bed or wardrobe/kitchen cupboard.
16g. But for furniture I would rather recommend glue and dowels.
Great video thank you. It helped me make my decision.
toyotrustPR Glad to hear ... thanks for the note
Also important but not mentioned: Wear Safety Glasses anytime you are using a tool with pressurized air. Nailers run best at at certain pressures. Most will not fire if pressure is too low. Proper operating pressure(s) will be printed on unit and/or manual. Longer nails and harder woods often require increased pressure. Some units also have a knob for adjusting depth of nail.
May I use this kind of nailer for fitting a skirting board or dado rail straight on a brick wall with bit of a glue or I'll need something ''stronger''? Sorry, never get one of these, that's why I'm asking.
+oliver S Do you mean you want to nail it straight to the brick? If so, then these guns, even the 16g, will be to light. A framing nailer might do it, but it's not really designed for nailing into brick. There are powder actuated tools that use a blank .22 gun cartridge that shoot a specially hardened nail into concrete. BUT... brick is different to concrete. It is more brittle and might shatter with the impact of any gun strong enough to penetrate it. I would rather drill through the wood, mark the holes on the brick, then drill them with a masonry bit and insert an anchor to screw into.
The only way that will work is if you shoot the nails into the mortar joint and that is only if the mortar is fresh within 2-3 days of installation. Once the mortar hardens the only thing you will do is break the drive pin in your gun.
It's not advised to try to shoot into brick with any type of nail gun.
Colin I have all ways been interested in a nail gun but not the gas one is there an elictric one out there Colin please help as it would be good for my small workshop thanks.
Peter Haughton Hi Peter, yes there is and I am hoping to get one soon to do a video with ... stay tuned :)
Will do , thanks my friend
+Peter Haughton None of the ones in this video are gas operated. They all operate with an air compressor. Great tools, and very fast. Electric ones seem somewhat slow as many have an extremely small air compressor in them to fire the fasteners. Or they have an electric motor that drives an anvil or hammer to drive the fasteners they don't work as well as the air powered ones. The gas nail guns are kind of the same way, they use a small compressor to fire the fastener and are kind of slow at doing so...definitely not something you would really want to try and build a house with, but for small shop projects they work fine...and so do the electric ones that is if you aren't in a very big hurry as they can't cycle as fast as the air powered ones.
Good info again Colin
Backyard Woodworking Thanks Roland ... and thanks for answering questions of others, appreciate your help on thisColin
Any time Colin I didn't want to but in on you channel but thought I could help out. Thanks Colin
Colin if I will buy one nailer which Gage should I go for first
Abdullh Ali To be honest, it really depends what you are doing, but I started off with an 18 gauge and for what I do it has been a mainstay ... so that is one suggestion for you :)
+Abdullh Ali The first air tool I ever bought was an 18 gauge brad nailer. It has been a great tool, very versatile. I didn't buy a brand name one and its been used quite a bit over the years, and still works great. Its limited to its capabilities due to the size limitations of nail length but for small projects it works great.
I do have a finish nailer now, as well as a couple staplers and a pin nailer. But if I had to go buy 1 nail gun right now I'd certainly start with the 18 gauge brad nailer.
I shared this, it's very informative, thanks
Gina ~ DIY around the home & garden Thank you Gina, I appreciate that
Great viceo. Do I need to buy the air compressor sarately to use a nail gun? Thanks
Sam Cole you would have a couple options. You can buy them all separately. You can find them in a set with the compressor and a few guns. Or, you can get airless and cordless nailer (battery powered)
Great video
Amazing !! I need to buy a tool like this, it will help me very much, thanks for the explanation.
Francisco Corona Yes, they are pretty handy to have ... I guess like most tools :)
Thank you sir! I wanted to understand the function, now I know. One more doubt, is the gauge decides to what thicknesses of wood. Like what if we want to nail two one inch thick MDF or any type of wood.
How does an air nailer know how much force to use to shoot the nail? I would imagine that it takes more energy to drive a nail through maple than pine, so do you have to adjust it so it doesn't blow right through a softer wood?
Adjust your air pressure
ah thanks! I don't have one (yet), and I've never seen any of the youtubers mentioning that detail. Are there recommended settings for certain nail sizes and woods? Or do people do trial/error testing each time they change woods and/or nails?
Brian Chu I use about 70 psi with my brad nailer for most things, Of course it depends on the wood and length of the nails.
Brian Chu Great question Brian, they actually do no know how much force to use, the air pressure to drive these guns is about 90 pounds per square inch (PSI) what often dictates how far the nail penetrates the wood is how long the nail is. A long nail might penetrate pine all the way but only go 2 thirds of the way into oak for example. Air nailers are not very exact, you do need experiment a bit with them.
Very informative.
Great video, thanks. Is there more info on joinery using air nailers? Also are electric mailers more versatile since they don't use a compressor?
Sean Connolly Thanks Sean, we have no specific videos on air nailer joinery, but we are expecting to do something on electric nailers in the next few months
Is there a specific brand or type of oil that I need to use to lubricate the nail gun?
Just buy oil for pneumatic tools. If you often use tools (or you're too lazy like me:)) you can buy lubricator.
Hey Colin, I have a question: I'll be going to nail lots of 9 mm poplar plywood drawers, what nail gun do I need for the job? Will a 23 gauge be sufficient or might a 18 ga be better? Thanks!
what capacity compressor to be used for fixing nails?
sultan Merchant I'm thinking you mean finishing nails?? If so, what it most important is the number of pounds and most nailers require between 80 & 100 pounds in order for the nailer to work properly. This amount of pressure is easily generated by most compressors. The difference comes in how many nails you can drive before the compressor needs to pump more air and a safe size is a compressor with at least a 2 gallon reserve tank when driving finishing nails because they are often driven in smaller quantities, unlike some roofing a house with an air nailer that would be driving in hundreds of nails an hour ... who would need a 7 or 10 gallon reserve tank.
Hope this is what you were looking for.
+sultan Merchant Many small compressors will run a nail gun. One thing to keep in mind is different air tools require different amounts of air both in PSI, and in CFM. Most nail guns will run in the lower CFM category requiring 1-4CFM. If you move up to say an orbital sander you are needing 6CFM or more to run the sander. Many nail guns will require in the neighborhood of 90PSI. Pretty much all regular air compressors will give you the right PSI, its the CFM you need to really be concerned about. You can have a compressor giving you 100+ PSI all day long, but if it can't sustain the required CFM you will be having that compressor running all the time.
I've ran several different nail guns over the years, using several different compressors. The smaller compressors that you can pickup and carry around, like the pancake compressors or the stacked tank type compressors will easily run a nail gun....they don't do so well trying to run higher CFM drawing air tools like sanders, ratchets, etc. But if all you want to do is run a nail gun the smaller portable compressors will work just fine.
Thank you good video very good at explaining now I know what I will buy. thanks stan
Stanley Mashek thanks for taking a moment to comment
do you have to have a different gun for different gauges ie can an 18 gauge nail be used in a 23 gauge pin nailer ??
Most guns have a range of nail they can use. Thank you for watching!
thank you sir!
Sorry Colin I have just found a nail gun that's electric by tacwise just AWSOME time to get one cuts down on time consuming .
Peter Haughton Perfect, that's the same one I am after, still waiting for mine.
Good Colin am hoping to get it on amazon all be looking out for your videos cheers my friend peter
Thanks Colin for another good video. I have got a elect one Witch works quite well. Do you think air ones are better than elect ones, what do you think. Take care Michael.
Michael Davis I am waiting for the electric version one to be available here, I expect it is a very handy tool
ótima demostração parabéns!!!!
lucas regis cardoso Thank you for taking the time
Any comments on battery operated nail guns like the Ryobi ones? Im thinking of getting Me one of those....
+POLOAZTECA To be honest I have not tried one of these tools but hoping to do that soon
+POLOAZTECA I've seen people use 18volt DeWalt 16g finishing nailers. They seemed to word quite good. Surely other brands would too. DeWalt now has a 20volt gun that shoot full sized framing nails, it also works surprisingly well.
POLOAZTECA I have a battery powered Porter Cable finish nailer that died on me after using the heck out of it. Luckily, it also has connection for air hose so I can still use it. I have use the battery powered Paslode units-they are top of the line.
That was a very informative video. Thank you for sharing :)
Abdu ElRhoul Thank you for commenting
which is better, electric or air nailer?
What size were those Brad nails that you put in stapler? I know they were 18 gauge but how long? Thanks.
Très satisfait
Great video sir.
I want to ask u something
Is there's any chance to replace the nail box (magazine) with a longer length?
Thanx b4 sir.
I have seen somewhere that those nails sometime take a sharp curve left or right when entering the wood (path of least resistance).
On thinner pieces of wood, that could cause the nail to punch out of said thin piece of wood if tool is parallel to wood.
Nailing a piece of trim/molding should therefore be performed with the gun perpendicular to wood, as this way, there's a lot more space left and right to account for curving nails.
I'm looking for a small nail gun for picture framing and can't be air since I don't have the room at home for a compressor so, it must be electric, any out there?
yes ryobi and dewalt make them. there a little pricy though
Thanks, I didn't think they did since all the one shown around here use air hose but I be getting soon, thanks again.
+Carl Zorro I have a ryobi 18v nail gun. it by itself cost more than a 3 gallon compressor + hose+ nail gun from harbor freight. I ended up with both setups. I also don't have room for a large compressor but the 3 gallon one ($39 on sale) works great for the nail gun
great! thanks much!
+Em Brito Thanks for commenting
Thankx
One thing i do want to mention, the working pressure is different for almost every nailgun. My nailer with 16gage nails and the compressor set to full (8bar) will go right trough a 22mm MDF. I know MDF is alot softer then normal or hardwood. But look in the manual of the nailer, there should be a recommended airpressure your compressor has to be set too.
Those were some long five minutes , hehe. Very nice vid!
Personally I prefer arrows stapler that shoots brad nails because the handle is reversed so that when you are shooting either one the pressure is directly over the entry point which helps avoid your staples or nails being proud of the work piece
cool thnks alot ..
+Tito Wambuch Thanks for commenting
good tip!
honorio sergio Thanks .. as always :)
thank you
In your video, are those brads or nails? I am new at this but need some clarification. I have a Brad Nailer air gun and made a box rather quickly.
So I would need a nail gun for every type of nail?
Adam R Yes, that is true, and that's exactly why I did the video to help people choose which one might be the best choice for them. Thanks for commenting Adam.
+Adam R Yes. For the most part an 18 gauge nail won't work if you try to fire it out of a 16 gauge or 15 gauge nail gun. There are some nail guns that will fire multiple gauge sizes though. I know Harbor Freight sells one that will fire 16 or 18 gauge nails. I'm sure other brand nail gun manufacturers may do the same with some of their nail guns as well. Its a nice benefit as you can carry around 1 nail gun for multiple jobs and be able to install base trim, crown molding, etc. Then switch to the 18 Gauge nails and install the smaller pieces of trim work that are too narrow and/or thin to be able to be fastened with the 16 gauge nails without splitting the materials.
Just buy one that suits your needs, and if you can buy a good quality one. I have the HF model and it works great but I don't use it every day or in any sort of commercial use either.
The 23 gauge pin nailer is more useful when you are trying to assemble a picture frame and need something to hold the corners together until the glue sets...its a great tool for that. They do not have any real holding ability if you were to nail something together with pins you could easily pull it apart as there aren't any heads on them to hold the pieces together.
The 18 gauge brad nailer is for smaller work as well, they do have small heads on them though to help hold your pieces together. These work great on smaller and thinner materials where a larger gauge nail would split the materials. Most brad nailers will work with brads up to 2" in length. Giving you a pretty descent working range for many different jobs.
The 16 and 15 gauge finish nailers work great for trim work, and many of them will fire finish nails up to about 2-1/2" in length.
What size of compressor is siutable for these nail guns?
+B0M0A0K would also like to know the answer to this!
Yeah, do an air compressor review plez*
most air nail guns use any where from 60 psi to 110 psi, it depends on the size of the gun. The compressors actual size is not supper important due to the fact that the size just limits the volume of air it can hold. If your compressor can go up to 110 psi (most do) you can use any type of nail gun, it will just be recharging the tank more often.
Hope this helps:D
Actually, what you need to know is how many CFM's does the air tool use and at what PSI,most brad nailers need 2-3 CFM @ 40- 90 PSI. Air impact Wrenches use between 4.5 and 10 CFM @ 90 PSI. (the aforementioned is an estimation only)
I have a 4 gallon air compressor run at 65 psi I can use a 18ga trim nailer all day at work with no troubles
But when should i be using 23 vs 16 vs 18 brads/pins?
fred1tim Very good question and it depends on if you care if the head of the nail shows or not and how much holding power you need. 23 gauge, as you can imagine will not hold a lot because it is too fine. 16 gauge will hold more than 18 gauge so you really need to try and gauge what it is you think will do the best job.
Thanks.
Thanks Colin.
JimE
blackemmons NP .. thanks Jim
*nailed it*
😀