I have 3/4″ thick red oak baseboard that I am installing in my house. After a while, I get sick of pre-drilling the nail holes, and pounding nails into oak isn’t much fun either. So, I’m looking into pneumatic finish nail guns. However, I have no idea which nail guns will suffice for oak (I have the sense that most are designed with pine and fir in mind). Any suggestions?
Thanks.
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Replies
Any good 16ga or 15ga finish nailer will work. I use both at the job for different applications. The 16 ga is probably a better gun to have if you will get only one. I use paslode and Hitachi 16 ga nailers. If you go 15 ga Senco and Hitachi are good
any air nailer will work what you want to use for your base board is either 15 or 16 guage finish nails you can rent them with a compressor for about a hundred a day or if you already have a compressor that will run 80 to 100 psi then you should invest in a nail gun check out toolcribofthenorth.com porter cable makes some pretty nice guns in the 200 dollar range I recommend 16g straight nails gun that will take 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch nails dont forget you are going throught 3/4 moulding and 1/2 drywall before you get to the framing
I absolutely adore my Paslode Impulse finish nailer. However I would have bought the angled version had it been available then. Most of my work is smaller in nature so it's nice not to have to drag out the compressor, hose, and oil for a 4 or 5 hour job.
my next tool is going to be the paslode impulse finish nailer 16 g i have porter cable bammer but was very disappointed with it .i prefer 16 g mostly because the nails are cheaper but still plenty strong also most of my air nailers are 16g
This may not be the place to ask this but..,
if you have to get just one, do you get a finsh nailer OR a brad nailer. It just seems to me that some of the brad guns have "about" the same size nail (or brads) The gage is a not the same, however much of the trim in my house seems to be put on with 2" brads. Cost is a factor as well, as some of the Bostich brad nailers are in the $99 range. But the good finsh nailers seem to be in the $300+ range. All I have is a Senco palm nailer, and have not used any other type of nailer. Thanks for any help in slecting my next nailer (brad or finsh)
John
Im a finish carpenter in Canada, we use mostly pine,fir & MDF trim.
I mostly use 18 gauge brad nails for trim. Baseboards, window casing, door casing etc. I do use my 16 gauge nailers when strength of the fastner is important IE the door jams & the 1X2 pine cleats we use to hold up the closet shelves.
I use the 18 gauge nailers for most everything else. I make oak mantles quite often & the brads go through the oak no problem.. No pre-drilling required. The other advantage of the 18 gauge brads is the holes are smaller.
On another note. I bought the 2 dewalt 18 gauge brad nailers.. work like a charm. Like the fact that there's room in the case for 3 different nail sizes & I bought the Dewalt 15 guage angle nailer all from the Home Depot. Unfortunatly Home Depot in Kingston does NOT carry the nails for the 15 guage angle nailer. Have to special order them @ $77.00 a box.. WOW. The stanley nailer was only $100 more (The Dewalt was on clearence because they were slow movers.. WAY too expensive) & the nails are in stock & half the price. BEWARE THE DEALS.. BEWARE THE DEALS!!!
Hi, Tedacus-
My understanding was that the new Dewalt 15ga. trim nailer was made to use DA type angle fin. nails, the same as originated by Senco, also used in the Porter Cable angled fin. nailer and a few others. I'm surprised the HD didn't have DA nails........My experience with the Stanley/Bostitch angle fin. nailer has been that the nails have a proprietary angle of collation, and thus are always harder to find. Bostitch DOES make some very nice guns, though......
Ken Hill
David - I have the Bostich/Stanley 15ga Angled and their Brad nailer and both work flawlessly (so far). Either will have more than ebough power to get through oak given a proper compressor is used. I have no trouble finding nails for either at the big box stores.
SJ
Thank you...how big an air compressor would you recommend?
pneumatic nailers will be happy on almost any 2hp compressor, they just don't take much air to drive them. If you want to do other things (and you likely will!), a 3hp 4gallon porter cable is a nice unit, as is the Makair (which has a higher scfm rating than anything I have seen in the portable class, other than 'wheelbarrow' compressors).
The advice given about a 2hp sounds solid. Assuming you're not trying to run a framing or roofing crew off the compressor a nice electric 2hp model should treat you well. The guns don't require a ton of air (for finish or brads). Framing and roofing take a higher capacity compressor due to firing nails in rapid succession.
SJ
Know a little about alot and alot about little.
I bought the Senco SFN40 (15 ga.) to trim my house and like it, BUT man it leaves a big hole. I love the balance of this gun, but wish I'd gone with a 16 ga. gun. Yes, you want an angled nailer. My cabinet guy uses a Bostitch pinner and he does a lot of oak.