So, I have a compressor and want to get a nailer to put in my quarter round trim. Should I get a brad nailer or a framing nailer? I know I’ll be using it for other things, but I know this is one thing that I need to do a lot of…
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Replies
Framing nailer fur sure!!!!!!
Mike
So, I have a compressor and want to get a nailer to put in my quarter round trim. Should I get a brad nailer or a framing nailer?
Your kidding, right?
Doug
I've seen different opinions. If I use the finish nailer, it will be with 15 or 16 gauge nails, which seem like overkill for trim work vs. 18 for the brad nailer. I'll be staining it and not painting so the size of the nail hole is a bit of an issue.
On your first post, you asked a comparison between a framing nailer and a brad nailer. That's why you got some incredulous replies. I'm sure you meant finish nailer not framing.The 16 ga. has a square headed nail and straight magazine. The nails are smaller but the hole isn't and the straight magazine doesn't get into tight spots as well as an angled 15 ga.. The 18 ga. brad gun really isn't adequate, in my opinion, for other trim such as baseboard and casings. Some of us like the combination of an angled 15 and a 23 ga. pin nailer. The pin holes are almost invisible but nail length is limited. If you only want one all around gun, I'd go with the 15. I often use color putty for filling nail holes in trim. You stain and put on one coat of finish, apply the putty, it just buffs off, and apply the final top coat(s). We often stain and put on one coat before installation.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hammer,
what type of putty do you like, is it water or oil based?
-zen
The putty is called Color Putty, Monroe, WI, comes in a small glass jar. It's an oil base and available in many colors. Different colors can be kneaded together. It doesn't dry. You can't use it on bare wood. The wood has to have a coat of finish first, and they recommend putting another top coat over the product. You would have to use oil products. I trim quite a few houses. Whether the trim is stained or painted, I like to paint the walls, prime and one coat or stain and one coat the trim before installation. This eliminates a lot of cutting in and edges can be touched up easily. Keeps dirt and finger prints off the materials. It's much easier to do the majority of the paint and staining on the bench.If I have to use a filler that will accept stain on bare wood, I use Zar wood patch. If I need a natural filler, I use Famowood. Both of these dry and can be sanded.Beat it to fit Paint it to match
Thanks,I guess since I haven't gotten either a finish nailer or a framing nailer, I didn't think about the context. I really meant finish rather than framing, sorry... I'll probably get the brad nailer and then a larger nailer when I start doing larger projects. Thanks for the advice. I used the 6 inch sander (porter cable) on my glider tonight and it takes off rust and paint like there's no tomorrow. For future projects I'll have to get something that's a bit smaller, but it was fun to experiment.Mike
Wanna buy a Bammer? View Image
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Gunner you really have a bammer? i might be interested because i realy liked that thing.
tyke tyke
Just another day in paradise
If you ever owned one then you don't want another one. LOL
I'm fooling around. If you can't afford a Paslode and do a small amount of work like a piece or two here and there, then it's a pretty good tool. But I don't think it's very good for alot of work. Mine is hardly used. If your serious I'll come up with a price. But if your just jerking my chain and teasing me about my judgement lapse in buying it then your just like these other sick bastages. LOL
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You gonna pay him to take it off your hands?
HA HA. funny man.
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ok ill take ur word for it gunner. i will get one of the cordless/airless nailers . jlc's article was helpful. i almost the little senco comp. but the guys at the store said it wasnt really worth it. i just need something for like the punchlist times when my guys forgot trim here or there or i did too..
thankstyke
Just another day in paradise
I have the little Senco compressor and love it. It's good for punch lists, and very light and portable.
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what did you pay for it. these guys were charging 125 i said i could get from amazon 109.tyke
Just another day in paradise
I can't remember. I bought mine brand new. I've seen them on Amazon for $150.00
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are we talkin about the same compressor, senco pc 1010 1/2 hp 1 gallon tank weighs 20 pounds?tyke
Just another day in paradise
Yep. I like mine.
Edited to add the angled is the way to go.
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Edited 4/24/2005 5:09 pm ET by Gunner
Just kidding about the bammer. One day that babies gonna bring five bucks on the antiques road show.
I'd want a 18 or 16 gauge for shoe mold. !6 gauge will help you out later in bigger trim projects.
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If nail holes are an issue, why don't you try using Locktite's new adhesive: "Power Grab." Instant grip, yet repositionable. I've even used it to hold a vanity marble top back splash to the back wall that had about a 3/16" concave spot in the wall, and to hold down an oak threshold on a tile floor.
Also used it tonight to secure the top of my crown molding to the ceiling where the wall was parallel to the trusses. Cross nailed also.
Sonny,Regarding Loctite Powergrab adhesive:I've made the same suggestion in a similar thread, but most posts were advising PL products (for molding to brick). As you said, PowerGrab works so much better for trim. Instant grab, repositionable, water cleanup, and white (which is great in many situations)--what's not to like about it.Of course, what is the big deal, if you use PL stuff and get it on your hands--it will wear off in a week or two. <g>
Well, Basswood, I guess it's not professional enough. I also use Polyseamseal sealant a lot, and have always had great results with it. In fact, I keep a piece of wood in my truck with a large washer, bolt head, and another small piece of wood "Polysealed" to it to show customers it's effectiveness. You just canot get the items off. Yet I have a guy who works or me who insists upon using OSI polyurethane instead, and then all day long complains about how it gets all over himself and his "stuff." Go figure.To show you how unprofessional I am, I even still receive Family Handyman, and subscribed to http://www.naturalhandyman.com/ e-newsletter, and still continue to pick up new ideas, info and tricks from both of them. BTW, I just used PowerGrab again to glue a 6" piece of base next to my vanity so I would not have to fill in two more nails. Also put it on thicker at the top, botttom (floor is tile), and both ends, and then used the squeezed out PG as caulk with a wet finger. Two more "applications" eliminated - but then again, what do I know? You and I will never make the grade.
I still use PL products for structural work (subfloor, hanging drywall, etc.)But, for finish work the PowerGrab is perfect. I have even used it as a wood filler it tools well with a putty knife. Try that with Liquid nails or caulk.I'll give the Polyseamseal a try. Thanks for the tip.
Hey, thanks for the tip about using PL as a filler. I do a lot of work repairing rotted ext. jambs for condos, and many of the areas are only about a dime to nickle size. I've been using Bondo or Durhams but I'll try PL there. I also use it for various applications, but always looking for easier things to work with.Polyseamseal is also available in the small squeeze tube, of which I ckeep a couple of white and clear in my truck. The come in handy when you only need to run a few inches if sealant.I don't know if you ever get into stucco repairs, but I found a sweet solutions to some of those repairs under about a foot square or a couple of linear feet a just a few inches wide.I used a stucco patch that has either perlite or vermiculite in it, but for deep repairs it sags. Wanted to use something I can apply in one application, so I came up with mixing latex cement with it. The latex cement dries quick so it sucks the moisture out of the stucco patch and makes the patching material much stiffer, therefore easy to apply a single thick (up to about 1-1/4" deep) application. Follow that by a flat trowel dipped in water to get the proper texture. Or keep a spray bottle of water handy and spray water on the finish coat before the final troweling. You can even use dry cement coloring dye or paint tint (small tubes available at HD) added to the mix to obtain a closer color to the finish paint color, if not white. Then one coat of paint and it's done, all in one trip.
I think I mislead you. I have used the PowerGrab adhesive as a filler (not PL) and only for interior, paint-grade applications.I have also seen lots of rotten exterior door jambs and casing. The wood use there is seldom rot resistant or treated (though it should be).
That's why I only use PVC jambs, casing and brick molding. OK, PG for filler it is.
Mike,
You were joking about the Framing nailer, right?
What size quarter round are you using? Will it be stained or painted?
For stain grade work with trim up to about 1/2" thick, I use a 23 guage pin nailer. My Senco Micropinner uses pins from 5/8" to 1" long and the "hole" is virtually invisible.
For larger trim or paint grade work, I use an 18 guage brad nailer.
I like the 18 gauge porter cable brad nailer for 1/4 round and shoe. The 15 gauge bostitch for heavier trimming. Consider predrilling and hand driving hard trim nails for small jobs, too. Remember character is just as important.
" There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-- that principle is contempt prior to investigation."
---Herbert Spencer