Looking for an air nailer for hanging Eastern (Atlantic) White Cedar Shingles.
typically I use #4 or #5 box nails, so would like a nailer that shoots same. Standard common nails are too big.
Any suggestions?
Thank you.
Capn John
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I bought, but have yet to use, a Porter-Cable Coil200 nailer. It shoots box type nails, plus the 15 degree galv ring shanks I plan to use. By the way, the best price I found is at http://www.buykimco.com ($150).
--Steve
I've been asking the same question. As of now I use an
older hitachi stapler with 1 1/2" stainless staples. I've
had to rig-up a special extension on the nose to keep
from over driving the staples. Its a great tool for this
especially with 5/8" or thicker sheathing the staples
hold about as well as 4d nails. I'd like to know if anyone has
smaller hithachi coil nailers (NV50 ?) in use, and can I get
hot dipped or stainless nails for it?
russ-i use the hitachi nv 65 ah, got some bells and whistles on it takes 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 nails its a coil takes 200 w/plastis collation 400 with wire. i like this gun ,put up 617 sq. to date with maintenance not a problem. it is pricey at 400 plus, but i paid it off in know time with the production it spit out. cheers the bear
For the past 15 - 18 years we have used the old senco roof staplers ( 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" crown) we use a ledger layout the course of shingles and fasten two shingles with one staple spanning the joint. It may sound odd but it's fast and we have had no failures since we started with this method. The large crown on the staple prevents setting them to deep, and the narrow leg on the staple rarely splits a shingle.
Bostich N64 has an adjustable depth setting.. we use it and the N63 for all our siding and subfloor... HD Galv 1.25" to 8d... SS available for salt air New England...
we do reds , whites , R.C. clapboard & fibercement.....this is the sidewall gun for you..
but hey, whadda i no ?
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
MIke, do the nails in the Bostitch have a small shank? We need about 0.086 inch diameter, the same as a no. 4 box. I still have concerns about a fat nail in those delicate white cedar shingles.
I will look into the Bostitch, though. I have a Bostitch finish nailer, and I like it. I just wish I had a clip on my tool belt to hold air nailers. I order the "big lug" from Duluth. Curius to see if it works.
Thanx for the info.
Capn John
hey cap... we get all kinds of shanks... and a lot of them are identical to a real 4d box which is our basic nail for hand nailing red cedars...
for whites we use a 3.5 d shingle nail.. and we can get 1.25" coil nails that are very sinmilar , only a little skinnier shank...
seems like everyone makes nails that will fit the bostich sidewall coil gun..
if we're concerned about staining or rust we use a SS 4d ring shank.. which is also a skinny shank...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike, seems like you live in an area where you can find things. We operate on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the Annapolis area. Here all you can find are the common things. White cedar is a special order item. Last order took four weeks, and I had to find the distributor for the yard! Most stores in the area don't even carry box nails. If you install vinyl siding or T-111, no problem, but finding anything else is like pulling teeth.
I'm going to try the staple route, which some others have had success with. I finally found stainless steel staples in Washington State. We pay shipping, but they are just not available within an hour's drive of our office.
And I want to thank everyone who showed an interest in this conversation.
Have a great day.
Capn John
hell, capn.... i love finding things....but this is the internet.. bet you can get anything you want from Maze or any of the other nail mfr's..
my point about the bostich N64 is it's the single gun that does it all... from 3.5d to 8d ...
i hate staples... i've got about 6 old staple guns that never wore out...but, to each his own...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Hey, Mike.
Think I found my tool. [sic] Got the Porter-Cable 150A stapler. Been shooting 1-1/2 inch sst staples. I am in heaven. The tool is light. The hose weighs more than it does, so I've been longing for something battery powered.
It's funny, when you think about it. Not that long ago, a carpenter would have killed to have half the tools we do, and here we are complaining about the weight of an automatic nailer/stapler.
The only down side to the stapler, if it to be considered one, is that the staples are not easily removed, making repairs a bit more of a challenge. After pulling a damaged shingle out, I took the cowards route: drove the staple in.
Thanx to you and all the guys for the benefit of your wisdom and experience.
Capn John
You are the first one that I have seen do that, and I thought I invented that trick. I used a Hilti wide crown stapler and nailed two shingles with one shot.
Oh well, I changed. Several reasons, the most important is ease of install. I changed to a narrow crown stapler, I can live with being on a plank tied to a hose, but life is so much simpler with the drastically smaller gun. The smaller staples don't split, and I think the stainless staples will hold up fine for the wire size.
Oh well, won't be the first time I was wrong, and I avoid shingles like the plague, and have a wide crown Hilti for sale...cheap.
Are these tools recommended for shingle siding really heavy? I need to do some Hardi Shingle on a wall with framing really far apart. Maybe I should have used sturdier sheathing, but I just used the same as the 16" spacing walls, and it's just way too bouncy for me to nail by hand. I need something with impact, but I have to be able to lift it one handed so I can hold the shingle at the same time. Anything heavier than a 12V DeWalt drill is going to be too much for me. I wish I could do it with some tool I've already got. It's a small section of siding. Could I use a 12V DeWalt drill and screws? My time is free, tools cost money.
The P-C is not all that heavy. Lighter than the Paslode Impluse. But at the end of a long day, they feel like a cinder block (oops, dated myself).
I like the idea of the stapler, after reading all the opions. I will look into that now.
Cheers,
Capn john
I tried screwing the Hardy siding once, dismal failure, its too hard to get the screws to start easily, takes both hands, one to hold the screw, the other to hold the drill/driver, and someone else to hold the siding. If you only have a small area to do, maybe rent a framing nailer and use 2-inch deck nails in it, the ones that have the screw shank and are galvanized like we use for nailing off plywood subfloors. In my area a nail gun rents for $15 per day, and the compressor is another $15, but if it were me I'd buy my own and look for more work to justify it....just a thought. Andy Lee
I have a framing nailer and compressor. I have a bunch of 8D galvanized nails for it, and a lot of 10s, too. Are those OK for the shingle side? I thought I had to use something like a roofing nail with a big head. I don't want to have to buy $90 worth of nails to just use 2 pounds of 'em. Does it hurt anything if there's a lot of nail just sticking out in the attic through the sheathing?
I'll read the specs on the stuff again and cross reference it with what will fit in a Porter Cable FR350. That sounds like the way to go. I'm glad to know not to bother with the screws. I was considering that.
the 8d galv will be just fine....it doesn't matter that about 1-inch will wind up projecting into the attic, just keep your head down or wear a hard hat. I have the PC 350 and like it a bunch, only problem I have is the plastic collated nails, when I install soffit or trim with it theres a plastic residue that has to be trimed with a razor knife before painting. Still, it beats the hell out of hand nailing, especially Hardy soffit which is a bear to handle. Takes two men and a small boy to hold it in place till you can get it nailed. It's the floppiest material I've ever worked with. We just finished a house using Hardy lap siding and soffits, then did one with pre-primed finger-jointed western red cedar and boy was that cedar a pleasure to work with! I think in the natural order of things that carpenters were meant to work with wood, not fiber cement. Anyway, good luck with your project. Andy Lee
For what it's worth, we installed 11,000 sq feet of western red cedar shingles with a Bostich nailer that shot treated 2" nails.(I think it was a ring nailer that we had to file the bore to get the 2" common head to fit through)
The only problem we had was the metal wire that held the nails in the roll were not treated and left stains on the shingles if not swept.
Good luck!
The Hitachi coil nailer NV50 uses hot dipped nails. 2" and 2 1/2"
Steve, I just bought the Porter-Cable Coil200 with 1-7/8" nails (the smallest available) and it does not work for cedar shingles. I adjusted the depth selector to mininum and reduced the pressure to less than 50 PSI and it still buries the head. Actually, it's performance is unpredicaable. Sometimes the nail sticks out of the wood by 1/8 to 1 inch, other times, the nail goes right through the shingle! Seems to work only on bounce. Press against the wood and pul the trigger and you shoot two nails. This tool is totally useless for shingles. It has limited use as a framing nailer because it only shoots a limited range of nails (8d). Unless someone has some suggestions about how to adjust the depth of penetration, this tool goes back and I go back to hand nailing.
Capn John
I use a little Paslode air stapler with 1-1/2" staples to install red cedar roofers on skip sheathing. I set the pressure so the staple head snugs to the shingle but doesn't dimple it, thus allowing the shingle to move slightly but not so loose it flaps around. Two staples per shingle, with three staples on shingles over 10" wide. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with western red cedar clapboards and see what happens, probably a staple every 8-inches or so, into 4-ply 1/2-inch plywood sheathing covered with 30# felt. If anyone has comments on this idea I'd like to hear them. Thanks, Andy Lee
AndyLee, back to the search. thought Steve had the answer, but the P-C is a waste of time and money. I am concerned about the holding power of staples in normal warp and cup of shingles. Also, I use Atlantic White. I don't mess with the Western Red stuff. Guess it's cause I'm a New Englander. Love the look of those cottages out on the Cape and Nantucket. What amazes me is that the air tool companies are not sensitive to the needs of the trades. I guess they are focused on the big market . . . plastic siding [yuck!]. As I am fond of saying, "plastic is good for your left-overs, but do you really want to live in Tupperware?" So, what's the answer?
I also tried the Porter Cable siding nailer, with 2-inch nails, and adjusted the nailer to leave the nail head flush with the surface. It works, but much bulkier to handle on staging than the Paslode stapler. I think the staples hold just fine but I'm using 4-ply 5/8-inch plywood for roof decking or 1x4 yellow pine skip sheathing, so there's plenty of material there to hold the staple. It also seems the ends of the staple spreads slightly as it goes in, and it really puts a hold on the shingle. I too admire the shingle sided houses along the east coast. I lived in New England for 25 years, and miss the architecture and the seafood, but couldn't think of spending another cold, wet, snowy winter there. Andy Lee
Guys, thanks for the discussion about nailers for shingles. I'm nailing split redwood shingles. I have an old Senco PW 1" wide crown stapler. I like the idea of butting the shingles (With a nail space) and stapling 2 at the same time, bridging the joint. Sounds like you used a 1-1/2" crown staple that is 1-1/2" deep but would it work with 1" wide staples? Or is that getting too close to the edge of the shingle?
I've put a lot of cedar shingles with my Hitatchi coil nailer. I use stainless ring-shank (near the coast). I've also put them up with a 7/16" medium crown stapler - galvanized 1.5" staples. The staples are bit cheaper if corrosion isn't an issue.
Best of luck to you.