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Siding nailer

davidmeiland | Posted in Tools for Home Building on June 11, 2005 03:57am

Can someone steer me towards a good pneumatic nailer for siding? I have some work coming up where I’d like to be able to shoot my favorite SS ring shank siding nails (2″ or so) from a gun rather than by hand. This is all cedar and there’s no way that any gun marks can be left in the material. I have heard talk of the Max, the Bostitch…. others?

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  1. amosboy | Jun 11, 2005 04:07am | #1

    I have both a Max CN565 and a Makita AN611. Both great guns for siding, you can get SS nails for both. Max seems to jam a bit more, but not enough that I would not get another. I think its lighter and better balanced than the Makita, but my guys claim the opposite. One plus of the Makita is the belt hook that came on the gun. Have had some trouble getting or making one for the Max. Anybody else had that problem?

    1. dIrishInMe | Jun 11, 2005 10:06pm | #7

      Isn't there generic "sky hooks" that attach to your gun right where the air fitting screws into the tool?  Anyone got a link? Matt

      1. amosboy | Jun 12, 2005 02:07am | #9

        I' ve tried the hooks I could find, ones by Prazi and such. They were okay. Just didn't work exactly right, but if anyone has a link or an idea where to get a better one, let us know.

        1. dIrishInMe | Jun 12, 2005 02:33am | #10

          Yea - the Prazi hook didn't work out for me either - I was thinking more of something like this:  http://www.senco.com/pdf/catalog/sa_all.pdf

          sorry about the bad pic - just couldn't find much else... if you zoom in, you can kinda get the idea.  Anyone know where to get 'em? 

           Matt

    2. Jay345 | Jun 12, 2005 12:09am | #8

      I'm  have also been considering a siding gun after having handnailed for many years. My concern is the set that a siding nailer will give the nail head, I like to make sure that every nail is exactly flush with the surface of the siding and am afraid that I won't be able to get that kind of consistancy with a gun. Do you find this a problem?

      I understand that Makita guns have quite a few different settings. Do you find that you are constantly adjusting them?

      1. amosboy | Jun 12, 2005 04:47am | #11

        Yeah...that kind of consistentcy is tough to get with any siding nailer. Wood densities vary even in the same board, the pressure your arm is exerting on the gun varies, even the substrate you are nailing into isn't going to be the same density from one spot to the next. If that is what you want for every nail you might consider going back to hand -nailing, or setting the pressure and depth on the guns low enough that all the nails are underdriven and you finish them by hand. No fun! Honestly, I've never run into a problem with this issue. On shingles the nails are hidden and you don't want them too deep, so we go a bit lighter and hand finish the few that are too high. On claps we have used the no-mar tips and set depth low enough that most nails are close to flush- maybe 1/32 in or out? Same thing, finish some by hand and some are a bit deeper, 1/16 th or so. Not enough to loose sleep over. Most guns, including the Max and Makita, just have a depth knob and between that and the regulator on the compressor we get what we want. Takes some fiddling, but once good we rarely need to fuss with it. hope that helps!

        1. Jay345 | Jun 12, 2005 03:45pm | #12

          Thanks for the info. That's what I figured would be the case. I can't see how to get consistent flush nails when density varies so much. I guess I will stick to hand nails for now, it's not that time consuming if done right.

  2. alias | Jun 11, 2005 05:59am | #2

    i got the hitachi nv 65 ... and for a handful of years has done me a solid .... with that said i used the max for a month and like that one more ... go for the max it got the package your looking for... good luck... b

    ..

    " He who makes a beast out of one's self, get's rid of the pain of being a man"
  3. CAGIV | Jun 11, 2005 06:05am | #3

    I've had good luck with the Hitachi, the PC sucks

    Lots of good things are said about the max as well.

    I've also used a couple of Bostichs never really had a problem, though I liked the Hitachi the best

    Team Logo

    1. davidmeiland | Jun 11, 2005 06:23am | #4

      The thing I like about the Max (at least in print) is the anti-double-fire feature. Does that really work?

      Also, what size are the nail heads for the SS siding nails? The ones I use for hand nailing are small... maybe 3/32" diameter or something like that... smaller than a typical 8d galv siding nail. Ideally the gun would shoot the same small head size, which is a standard around here.

      1. alias | Jun 11, 2005 04:30pm | #5

        the gun that i used had that feature and worked well, that the feature that won me over. when i was on a reach , theres nothing more that tweaks my momentum that ####double fire and with the hitachi i get at least one per coil , better after a through cleaning which is the daily practice. and more in the winter than in the summer , diesel pig turned me onto the bostik line of lubricant.which reduced significantly. the heads are larger than 3/32, will measure today and tell you the diameter. the max,and hitachi and the makita were all interchangable. with plastic collated less jams than wire. i stay away from wire collated, hate that wire sticky out from behind the head although only occasionally. and use them only if the nail will not be seen....ever.." He who makes a beast out of one's self, get's rid of the pain of being a man"

        1. woodbutch777 | Jun 12, 2005 03:58pm | #13

          I am glad you mentioned wire coils, my Bostich N-64 is a great gun but i can only find ss coils with the wire and it always seems to stick out on a couple of nails especially in composite materials. Do you know if there are ss coils for bostich with plastic? 

          1. alias | Jun 12, 2005 04:59pm | #14

            i'm sorry to say know . the lumber yard i use have a surprising amount of of off brand nails. that suitable for many diffrent guns . for example the nails i by for my hitachi are also suitable for max ,makita, and bostich . i'm headed over to the shop now and if i'll remember to check the box ... slainte' b" He who makes a beast out of one's self, get's rid of the pain of being a man"

            Edited 6/12/2005 2:17 pm ET by the bear

          2. alias | Jun 12, 2005 09:11pm | #15

            heres are some photos , the only boxes we have left were the H D Galv. the one coil there in the pict. is S.S. , no boxes though for info. i'll be picking up those come monday, with the same diameter head , as the galvey..." He who makes a beast out of one's self, get's rid of the pain of being a man"

          3. BenA | Jun 12, 2005 10:14pm | #16

            Bostitch makes two sizes in plastic collation for their N66 coil siding nailer. 2" nail, part #ACP6DR090BDSS and   2-1/2" # ACP8DR090BDSS. If you are using a N64 coiler siding nailer (now discontinued) you MUST use a conversion kit part #112670 if you want to use plastic collated nails. Good luck

      2. JasonPharez | Jun 11, 2005 05:26pm | #6

        I've got the Max, and we just finished a big (for me) cornice and Hardi job. It jammed twice but cleared very quickly. We were shooting 1 7/8 RS, wire collated. The heads on the 2" and smaller are about the same size as a typical hand drive siding nail; the 2 1/2" we used for fascia have a slightly larger head, but still not unattractive.

        Double fires were nonexistent, but that's mainly due to the fact we were shooting one at a time to keep depth of drive as consistent as possible; bump fire tends to leave too many under/overdriven, especially in Hardisoffit.

        My crew really likes the gun for its light weight, good balance, and reliability--but it REALLY needs a belt hook!Jason Pharez Construction

           Framing & Exterior Remodeling

        1. alias | Jun 17, 2005 06:11am | #17

          for it worth i retro fitted the hitachi, rubber o ring ,a washer,the hook than another washer , a reduction coupler. little work but the hook was given to me and made it work . ..." He who makes a beast out of one's self, get's rid of the pain of being a man"

          1. Woodbutcher | Jul 02, 2005 07:22am | #18

            For the record...    Stay away from the duo-fast siding gun.   Drop it off the scaffolding 30 feet onto concrete just once and it breaks right in half!  Sheesh!

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