An 18-ga. brad nailer is the essential size for most woodworkers. It’s helpful for attaching moldings without splitting them, and it’s small enough to use inside a case piece, say for attaching drawer runners and guides. It also makes quick work of building any number of shop jigs.

Grex’s new 18-ga. brad nailer is a welcome addition to the family, putting all the features you’d want in a nailer into one lightweight tool. The firing-mode switch is precise and easy to reach. Setting the nail depth also is a breeze, with an easily accessible thumbwheel located just below the trigger. The spent air is exhausted through the handle so it’s never blowing debris in your face. Plus, a swivel air coupling on the end of the handle makes positioning the nailer more accurate, easing the battle with a typically recalcitrant air hose. A convenient belt hook keeps the nailer close by and an extra no-mar rubber nose tip is stored on the nailer—handy.

The nailer not only has great features that make it a pleasure to use, but it also packs a punch, driving nails from 1⁄2 in. to 2 in. with precision and power. To test its mettle, I drove a couple hundred 2-in. nails into white oak using 100-psi line pressure. There were no misfires, and the only jam occurred when I accidentally fired a nail over another one. Fortunately, jams are easily cleared by removing the nose cover using an included hex wrench. To kick up the test a notch, I switched the trigger from single-shot to rapid-fire mode to fire the same-size nails into the white oak. There were no jams or misfires. I tried a number of different brand 18-ga. nails in the gun and they all worked fine.

For more information, visit grexusa.com.

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