Looking for a good siding nailer
FingerJoint
| Posted in Tools for Home Building on
I’m leaning toward the Makita AN611 for $365, but can get a remanufactured Bostitch N66C-1 for $220. I’ll first and formost use it for an upcoming Hardie fiber cement siding installation. I don’t do a whole lot of siding, but I hate spending money on tools that don’t last. I also HATE mis-fires/double-fires and jamming!
I have used the Hitachi NV65-AH in the past on some siding jobs. Although I was fairly pleased with it, I keep hearing that they jam quite a bit. Again, I didn’t experience that, but maybe I was just lucky.
Any other favorites out there? Comments on the Makita and Bostitch?
Replies
I like to use a roofing nailer that will load 2" nails, for blind nailing Hardie. IIRC that was a Makita.
The Woodshed Tavern Backroom
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I have the Max. going on 5 yrs and maybe 10 cases ( @ 3000 nails) of nails, never a problem.
Just put it up after 14 sq. of cedar shingles last week, keep it oiled and it works flawlessly.
Can't help ya on the others it's all I ever used.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"
Jed Clampitt
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I've got the Max as well. Haven't had a bit of trouble with it. Not to put words in his mouth but I believe Mike Smith has that Bostitch and is happy with it.
Have a Bostitch, same type of usage. only 3-4 jobs so far, no problems so far, but would pefer a dial depth adjustment, like Max or Hitachi.
we have n63, n64 & n66...they all work fine for face nailing hardies with SS
for blind nailing we use Maize hot dipped roofers in either our RN 46 or our Max roofer
I had three MAx side wall nailers. Sold one b/c I just didn't need three anymore.
Never had a days trouble with them. I love how light they are too.
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I have 3 of their coil nailes... a roofer and a siding which are older than dirt... and a newer sider (80?)
no complaints...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
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Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I have a Max as well. Great gun and has never given me any trouble.
It replaced my old Bostich which I dropped from my staging, fell about 30 feet, hit a concrete step and the handle "snapped" completely in half.
My only issue with the Max is it does double fire easily. They may have addressed this issue with a newer model.
Has anyone else noticed a double firing issue with their Max or is it just my heavy handed approach?
Pat
heavy handed....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I'll put the Max on my list to check out. One question, though; is it possible to make the MAX take 1-1/4" nails? It says 1-3/4" minimum, but I know on the older Hitachi's, all you needed to do was grind down a pin to make them work with shorter nails. Now, apparently they come that way from the factory, as they too take 1-1/4 nails.
Could probably holesaw out a filler disc to raise the coil load up to where the heads would travel in the feeder groove..maybe a stack of AOL CDs. Thats all they are good for, shims.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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When I started using the Hitachi/Hardie brand nails that are plastic collated my problems with the NV65 went away. Wire collated generics jammed all the time ( with two different guns). Both guns work like a charm with the plastic collated nails.
I use two hitachi's with flawless performance with any brand of nail. They are bulletproof!
I have the Makita.
Love it and not a single problem thus far...
Probably just cursed myself for tomorrow...
Just let me know on Monday. If you don't have any promlems 'til then, I'll buy one.
Alright, fair enough.Here's a bit of a review on the gun:It's coming up on a year old with moderate, intermittant use. I don't do a lot of siding either, but it's done cedar claps and shingles, pine and PVC trim, and a host of other random things... I've run a mix of SS and HDG wire welds through it without a single jam. It will sometimes - rarely - double fire if on bounce mode, BUT any gun will given the right circumstances. I actually found those circumstances much more frequent when I ran a pair of Bostitch guns with a crew that I used to work with. On my first job with the gun I used it to install a run of exterior trim that I had milled out of 5/4 Trex. Might not sound like much of a feat unless you've ever tried nailing Trex - very, very dense. The Makita sider sank the nails or at least flush drove them 100% of the time.I like its belt hook. I like the magazine housing - you can see how many nails are left. The balance of the gun is rather nice and has just enough weight to keep down the missfires but not nearly enough to make it a bear. It has an inline filter built in directly behind the air fitting although I do remove it frequently to get a bit more bang if nailing denser/harder materials. So yeah, I like it and would recommend it just as it was recommended to me. The guys in my local tool shop typically don't recommend much other than Hitachi guns. The siding nailer is their one exception to the rule - honestly not sure why as I've never heard much bad about it. But in any case, try the Makita, I think you'll like it.Let me know,Nick