I’m in the market for my first nail gun. I’ll use it mostly for trim work in the house (baseboards, chair rail, etc.), and occassionally in the wood shop for concealed joints, etc.
I’ve been considering the Porter-Cable combination compressor/nail gun kits, which seem to be reasonably priced. My question is, which nail gun would be better for my purposes, the 16 ga finish nailer or the 18 ga brad nailer?
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Phil
Replies
i recently got an 18 guage Bostich brad nailer/stapler combo gun and a pancake compressor at the big Blue Box on sale to help a friend with a ton of trim and it came out very nicely, though i will say the hammer on the combination guns leaves unsightly dents in wood when you just want to drive a brad. But it was definetly woth the 260 i payed for the kit considering a stapler alone runs about 80 bucks separately.
And i must say it was a godsend when doing a bunch of apolstering stuff over the last few weekends.
JD
Edited 6/8/2003 10:28:09 PM ET by JDorn
Dear friend,
You might want to investigate into the Senco brand. The brad nailer shoots either 16 or 18 gauge.
They are reliable and long lived and simple. I bot mine used yet Senco guys answered all of my emails promptly. Manuals are not really needed but they are downloadable at their site. Repair kits make them keepers, too.
I have a Bostitch brad nailer 18g and a finish nailer 16g for shop
use.
Both work great.
Parts are expensive, but easily available.
When the brad nailer stopped working, long out of warrantee, the rep
fixed it for me free on the spot, no charge for parts.
I guess I can't complain.
Jeff
For the type of work you're describing, it seems the 18 ga. would be the appropriate choice. I have the PC kit you're describing and really like it. However, I didn't know that Senco makes a gun that'll shoot both sizes. That's intriguing, but if it's significantly more money for that choice (e.g., if Senco doesn't have a package deal) I'd think you'll be quite happy with the 18 ga.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
For the trim work in the house, I use either a 16g or even a 15 g. (some trim pieces can be rather heavy, and can take a lot of abuse -- beefier nails can help).
For woodworking projects, I'd use the smaller 18 guage.
I have the PC 18Ga nailer that you are talking about. The nailer is fine, I have had no problems with it. I have used it for both trim and in the shop for furniture. To me 18Ga is a little small for trim work. The brads seam to bend and stray of far to easily, especially in hardwoods. Say for instance on trim on an outside mitered corner with oak moldings, it was very tough to put a brad in the end to tie the corners together, because the brad would follow the grain of the wood rather than make it's own path. Also on this gun you are limited to a 2" nail, if you start nailing through door jams, then through shims you don't end up with much of a bite in to the studs.
My two cents.
Mike
Buy a real compressor unless you'll move it to job sites a lot. Go for 2 or 3 HP. You don't know half the things its good for yet. You can sandblast, blow dust all over, operate grinders, and pump up your tires. The air compressor is the unsung hero tool of the DIY workshop!!
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