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Paslode cordless nailers

ccampbell | Posted in Tools for Home Building on April 18, 2003 11:42am

Besides the obvious cost issue, is there any reason at all to not buy these things?  I use a framing nailer and an 18 g trim nailer for DIY projects and a little bit of rehab work, so they don’t get everyday use.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

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Replies

  1. Danusan11 | Apr 19, 2003 01:29am | #1

    Your going to miss carrying your compressor out of the truck, up the stairs, down the stairs.  Tripping over the air lines, marring the walls with air lines and fittings, climbing ladders with air line hooking and getting tangled up with the other various cords and obstructions.  Working on roofs with air lines to step on and roll you on your butt. Rolling up air lines at end of job. So other than price I can't see any reason to own one.

    Buy it, if you were doing production framing you would still want to go with air, if your planning on using it for trim you will use it all the time.

  2. jeffvermont | Apr 19, 2003 02:01am | #2

    CAMPBELLDUST:

    I agonized over the investment and then finally bit the bullet.  If you value your time at more than 11 cents an hour, you will pay for the tool in no time.  forget the setup with pneumatic tools!  I used to grab a hammer and a couple of finish nails for punch list type stuff, only to make a nice raspberry when I would miss.  The cost to run the Paslode is cheap too.  Buy it and make sure that you get another battery so you can always have one ready to go.  Also, learn how to clean it with their own products (no name stuff can wreck the seals) and you will never look back

    Later,

    Jeff

    The reason so few people are successful is that so far no one has figured a way to sit down and slide uphill.
  3. Piffin | Apr 19, 2003 02:26am | #3

    I've had a pair of the old black ones for seven or eight years and just bought a pair of the new orange ones.

    For the downside on them;

    cleaning takes time and has to be done religiously if you want a dependable gun.

    fuel cells don't always give you full load unless fresh. You do have to pay for the fuel cells and a spare battery is handy to have.

    They won't shoot in cold weather and don't shoot as well in temps between 28° and 40°F

    You don't want to try working out in the rain with them - they are electronic.

    .

    Excellence is its own reward!

    1. User avater
      jonblakemore | Apr 19, 2003 06:06pm | #4

      Piffin,

      As someone who has been using the Paslode's successfully for a while, what would you say is the cost per nail as compared to a pneumatic gun.  I have been on the fence for a while, I will probably go cordless soon.

      The nails should be the same cost, so the only difference is the fuel cell, battery replacement cost, and cleaning charges.  Am I right?

      Anybody else have something to point out? 

      Jon Blakemore

      1. ccampbell | Apr 19, 2003 07:12pm | #5

        Thanks for the input.  I do mostly small projects with the occasional fence or wall framing, but I'm not a pro.  I'm finding that I resent dragging the tank and hose around for a couple hours of work in an evening.  Now if I can just convince my wife!  :)

        Do they have the same sinking power of the air nailers?  I've recently been using my framer to toe nail rails onto posts for a fence, which requires quite a bit of sink.  Then, when I'm nailing the 1x2's onto the rails to hold in the pickets (framed fence) I have to back the tank pressure off to avoid over-sinking and splitting the piece.  Do you have this kind of flexibility with the Paslode?

        1. ahneedhelp | Apr 19, 2003 07:35pm | #6

          Here is what I observed and the feedback I got from a crew of barn builders who erected a pergola for us with untreated locust posts and white oak/red oak beams, joists and slats.

          They had a monster Ingersol Rand gas powered compressor powering a Senco framing gun and palm nailer and an impact wrench.

          They also had a Paslode lobster.

          (They used the same nails, by the way.)

          I was told the Paslode will work just fine with most construction grade lumber. Not so with rough hewn harwood, especially locust and white oak.

          When they had to reach for the lobster for tight spots, the nails had to be driven home with a hammer or palm nailer.

          I specified purchased on my own the stainless ring shank nails for the joists and slats, which were all fired by the Senco framer except for tight spots.

          I certainly would not hesitate to own one unless I need a compressor for other non-nailing tasks.

          A friend down the street bought the trimpulse and he loves it.

        2. Piffin | Apr 20, 2003 03:07am | #9

          There are famers that don't have the sinking ability of framers, if you know what I mean.

          ;)

          The Impulse will not sink well in PT or near knots or into LVLs. I don't know what kinf of wood you are using for your fence. Cedar is easy but hickory posts could challenge it. Toe nails usually go better though.

          I like the tip for toenailing and you can get a sioft tip for trim type work too. You adjust for depth by loosening the two set screws on the tip and moving it in or out. Takes a minute and if you were doinfg it all the time, I'm sure you'd get tired of it..

          Excellence is its own reward!

      2. Piffin | Apr 20, 2003 03:01am | #8

        hi Jon, I can't compare specifically to air anilers. When I have a big job the big crew brings their big nail guns and I gat a big bill for a few boxes of nails.

        When I do the remodeling with my Impulse, I do think that the paslode nails are more expensive than framing nails from another gun. You are supposed to get 1200 shots from a fuel cylinder on the freamer and 4000 from the trimpulse gun. If you got a realistic 1000 hits from the framer, at eight bucks for a cartridge, you would be paying .8cents - nearly a penny a nail. Not cheap and if you are framing all day every day, it won't keep up on sheathing either. It is wired fro sequential fire so no bouncing the tip along the plywood.

        Like anything electronic, it can be tempermental, but overall, for the work I do, it's adequate.

        With my bad back, I hate the very idea of a compressor. And to think that twetny years ago, I wrestled an Emglo wheelbarrow type into a snowbank until I got upset with the snow and just picked it up and carried it in!! .

        Excellence is its own reward!

  4. andybuildz | Apr 20, 2003 01:16am | #7

    cleaning the gun is quite a process. Its something you most definatly HAVE to do otherwise you'll be bringing it to the tool repair shop which will out weigh the worthiness of it cost wise.

    I love mine but,,,,,I only use it for small jobs. Aint a thing wrong with compressors and hoses.

    Hey.....anyone remember hammers?

    Be banged : )

               NAmaste

                            andy

     

     

    In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

    http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

    1. Piffin | Apr 20, 2003 03:10am | #10

      You can get to where you can clean the gun in a coffee break. coffee in one hand and cleaning swab in the other.

      Excellence is its own reward!

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