Nail Guns?

[Ben]

Well, I bought the Ridgid palm nailer yesterday, and have been using it this morning on a few of the final things on the reloading room, mostly 2x4s plus 1/2" plywood for various shelving.

I like it. I think it's much easier than a drill driver and screws. I did some practicing with scrap wood first, and had a bit of a learning curve. 16D and 8D nails are no problem. Using 6D nails however, I'm still mangling them 50% of the time on their way in. I don't know if that's all me, or if the palm nailer is designed for heavier nails.

Regardless, sure wish I'd purchased one of these earlier. It's making me think I might want the nail gun too.

Side note: Harbor Freight air hose accessories suck. I bought (forget the brand) a variety pack of airhose accessories when I bought my new compressor a few months ago. They were the more expensive ones at the store. They are leaky and I find the quick connects somewhat unreliable. I'm gonna have to buy some brand name accessories.

[Larry Ashcraft]

I have the Paslode Fuel nailer that I bought in the 90s.  Good solid nailgun.  When the framers were building the new house, they used palm nailers on the hurricane clips.  Those have short, fat nails.

[K Frame]

You're welcome.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[tokugawa]

A framing nailer will shoot 16's, (3 1/4") down to 6's (2") good for general construction, 2x, sheathing, pallets , etc. 16 gauge nailers shoot 2 1/2" finish nails, but do leave a pretty big hole- OK for tract houses. 18 gauge brad nailers shoot -2" finish nails,then you go to the fine finish guns- for furniture. The 23 gauge are real treat-with stainless steel headless pins it is astounding what a guy can nail without splitting- tiny little work.
In a wood shop, one of the unsung used of a nailer or stapler is to make rapid , one time use jigs and fixtures.
A framing nailer is heavy, it has too be or the recoil would break you. The nice thing is there is little shock- framers elbow in painful and takes a long time to recover from.
And ditto the ear and eye protection- those nails can come out at strange angles- do not hold near where you are nailing- they can bend into a U and come out next to where they went in.

[K Frame]

"Using 6D nails however, I'm still mangling them 50% of the time on their way in. I don't know if that's all me, or if the palm nailer is designed for heavier nails."

Some palm nailers can be "powered down" for use with smaller nails. Not all, though.

[Brad Johnson]

Side note: Harbor Freight air hose accessories suck. I bought (forget the brand) a variety pack of airhose accessories when I bought my new compressor a few months ago. They were the more expensive ones at the store. They are leaky and I find the quick connects somewhat unreliable. I'm gonna have to buy some brand name accessories.

I made that mistake, too. Ended up getting a full spate of Milton products and threw the HF junk in the scrap metal bin.

An associated, musing... My brother has converted all his stuff to high-flow fittings. Amazing the difference it makes in air-hungry tools like impact wrenches.

Brad