18 ga pneumatic brad nailer advice?

[roger wiegand]

Looking for a new 18 ga pneumatic brad nailer. My old Senco SLP20 is falling apart and doesn't work about every third time I pick it up for reasons that are not entirely clear. Too much frustration and replacement parts are too expensive.

I was ready to order one from Grex, having heard good things about them, but there are many reviews on Amazon of the 1850GB that say it won't fully set 2" brads. I haven't been using 2" brads, too long for my Senco, but it seems that it would be a nice option to have in a new nailer. People on Amazon love the $29 Wen brad nailer, but somehow I have my doubts, having bought a couple of their products in the past.

So, which one do you like? Past threads here, as is typical, contain warnings against most every brand, the old days when you just bought Senco and didn't think about it seem to be past-- Not very happy with the one I have! Reports on recent experience would be appreciated. I'm not a heavy user, but I want one that works consistently and well. No need for a cordless (hoseless?) model.

[Jim Becker]

Well...if I were having to replace my old Accuset (Senco)...it honestly would be the Grex. I'm also wondering if the folks being dismayed by 2" brads (a rare use anyway due to the thinness of the wire relative to holding power) have things setup correctly for that, both at the gun and compressor wise. For fasteners that long, I'd be picking up my 15 gage nailer (or a 16 gage brad nailer which I don't own currently). I've been very happy with my Grex pinner, so that's why my interest would be in their brad nailer.

[Ben Rivel]

From my research I decided to go with Omer. Havent been disappointed since.

[Matt Schrum]

I just bought a used Porter cable 18 ga brad nailer (the BN200C) off of an internet auction site for $32. It should be delivered today-- so while I haven't gotten any trigger time on it, I do not have any complaints about the 16 ga Porter Cable nailer I've been using for the last few years. I'd expect the same from this model.

For me, I would rather buy a used higher end brand than a new, lower tier brand. In my opinion, Porter Cable isn't super fancy, but I feel it is better than some of the other brands I saw selling new for the same price as a used Porter Cable. YMMV

[roger wiegand]

Good points-- at this point 2" brads are only a theoretical possibility, and I've been getting along fine with 15 ga finish nails in that size range.

[Greg R Bradley]

If your Senco is a SLP20XP that was made in US and painted Grey, fix it!

If it is a newer red Chinese POS or a non XP series, toss it.

[Ric Flanders]

Personally I had a (black) Senco that didn't last but a couple of years of hobby use. I bought a Bostich to replace it and it has now survived over 4 years. The Hitachi nail guns are rated highly so we got one at the school i help out at now and these kids eventually kill everything. So far the Hitachi is holding up better than we all expected! It might be my next gun brand as the kids usually kill the Bostich guns in less than a year which held up better than any of the other common brands we used.

[Greg Parrish]

Surprisingly the ridgid 18 ga brad nailer is really great and gets good reviews. Very quiet and love mine. Requires no oil. It replaced a really old craftsman. Considered the porter cable, bostich, hitachi and dewalt versions as well as the grex. Would love a grex but the price on the ridgid was hard to beat.

[Ole Anderson]

I have an older Bostitch with a max capacity of 1 5/8", I bought my son the newer Bostitch that takes 2" and with the pointed nose can work with Oak T&G flooring when the floor nailer won't work. Happy with both. But then we don't shoot millions of brads. I also have the 15 ga nailer and their pin nailer. Like them both.

[Greg R Bradley]

The good Senco are grey, normally with a red cap on the air unit. They black ones were an early Chinese POS, the newer ones are red wrinkle paint. The good units are quite old but the ones made 10-20 years ago mostly all clearly say "XP" on the end of the model number.
The Rigid ones that were excellent were one, or possibly two, versions previous to the current ones at Home Depot.

You can't get very far determining the quality with a brand name. One good Rigid that has now gone downhill. Great Senco that were still sold when they tried to compete with the cheap stuff. Grex made great 23ga pinners but most of the other Grex units are marginal, some downright junk. Cadex has had some turkeys. Max was the ultra premium seller of the same factory that supplies Grex and had premium manufacturing and assembly in Japan with stellar QC. Now they sell marginal stuff. Omer probably has all good stuff.

[Cary Falk]

I have older porter cable, bostitch and a refurb Hitachi. I wouldn't hesitate getting another refurbished hitachi or bostitch. I'm not sold on new porter cable .

[Jim Dwight]

I have a 15 gauge (HF), 16 gauge (Bostitch), 18 gauge (Porter Cable) and 24 gauge (or is it 23, Bostitch). I also have staplers and a flooring nailer (HF). My Harbor Freight (HF) nailers work as well as my others so my future purchases will probably be HF. My favorite 18 gauge is not pneumatic, however. I am about done retrimming my house and the vast majority of the nails have been driven by my Ryobi brad nailer and have been 2 inch 18 gauge. It works great and not having to mess with the compressor is very handy. I have the little Senco which is very portable but it and the hose are still one more thing to mess with. Easier to just pick up the Ryobi and fasten the trim. It's not as cheap as my HF pneumatics but reasonable versus the "better" brands being discussed at a little over $100 - more if you need batteries and a charger but still not bad. I've driven around 12-13,000 brads with mine and it still works the same as when new.

[Earl Rumans]

I have been very happy with my Cadex http://www.cadextools.com/en/?p=2604 and it hasn't given me any problems with 2 inch brads but I haven't tried 2 inch in any very hard woods.

[Mike Henderson]

I have the Senco and it's been very reliable. I also have a Grex 23 gauge and it's very good.

Mike

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I do not have a personal history with pneumatic nailers but I got a few months ago my first one: Makita AF505N, a 2", 18Ga. brad nailer. I have used it since then for a couple of thousand of 30 mm, 40 mm and 50 mm brads... No single failure. I am very glad. The thing is very reliable. I can recommend it although it is not exactly the cheapest one in the market. I paid the equivalent to USD 100 in Brazil, including our monumental tax burden but it is worth each penny.

Let us know your choice and your experience when it arrive.