Newbie Question: Do all framing nailers spark?

[John Kiska]

I have been researching framing nailers for the past few weeks, and now I'm more confused than when I started. I’m looking for a reasonably priced full round head nailer that can handle 16d (.162”) common nails. I have narrowed my list down to (2) nailers. The first is the Bostitch F21PL - 21° Industrial Framing Nailer System, and the second is the Porter Cable FR350MAG Magnesium 16d Common Round-Head Framing Nailer. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages. The one thing that caught my eye about the Bostitch F21PL is that the User’s Manual has a warning that states that the nailer produces SPARKS during operation. None of the other nailers I have looked at has a warning about sparks. Do all framing nailers produce sparks?

Also, does anyone have any experience with either of the (2) nailers named above? I would appreciate any and all comments that might help me make up my mind on which to buy.

Thanks,

John

[dan moran]

every type of framing nailer ive used has produced sparks at one point or another..

[Steven Triggs]

My Porter Cable and my brother's Bostich both produce sparks from time to time.

By the way, a word of caution... Wear safety glasses when using these. The platic collate material gets shot out of them and sometimes hits you in the face hard enough to REALLY sting for a minute. I can't imagine what it would feel like in the eye.

[Tom Veatch]

Same here.

When trigger is pulled and the driver, ram, hammer, whatever it's called, strikes the head of the nail, there is a potential for spark generation. Just the nature of the beast.

[Michael Schwartz]

My Senco does, occasionaly.

Every now and then I get one from my finish guns/

Its just the nature of the tool, won't cause a fire or anything unless you are working inside of a filled propane tank or something.

I can make sparks if i hit a nail with my hammer hard enough.

[Mark Rios]

Same here. 30 years in construction and there are sparks from any framer from time to time.

I really like my PC350Mag. Very reliable and dependable.

[John Kiska]

Thanks to everyone for their input.

I guess that Bostitch just wanted to cover all of the bases in their User’s Manual so they included a warning about sparks. I kinda figured that this was not just isolated to the Bostitch nailer, but rather the nature of nailers in general.

One other question. The Bostitch F21PL does not have “dry fire” protection. In fact, the User’s Manual encourages dry fires as part of the “Tool Operation Check” procedure. It does not say how often to perform this procedure, but its in the manual none the less. I would think this might be an issue if you were to use this tool for rapid fire applications, but I’m only going to use it to frame out my basement, build a shed and a deck, so I should be able to keep an eye on how many nails are left in the magazine. Any additional thoughts on this issue.

Thanks again,

John

[Jason Roehl]

Not much here to add, other than I prefer wire-collated nails the best. Yes, the bits of wire flying about are a tad more dangerous, but the sticks/coils of nails hold up better to jobsite abuse, weather, storage, etc...

Ditto on the safety glasses...I had a nail shoot through one time...it ricocheted and hit my helper square in the center of one of his eyeglass lenses. He was standing well back and out of the line of fire, but it couldn't have been a more perfect bullseye. At least he was wearing glasses.

[Tim Sproul]

I even get sparks from my pinners on occasion...so I've seen sparks from driving 16D framing nails all the way down to 23 gauge pins and at each point in between.

[Jim Grill]

How about July 4 nail gun fireworks show?

[Steve Clardy]

I've seen sparks coming from my finish guns also, as well as framing guns

[Steven Triggs]

One other question. The Bostitch F21PL does not have “dry fire” protection. In fact, the User’s Manual encourages dry fires as part of the “Tool Operation Check” procedure. It does not say how often to perform this procedure, but its in the manual none the less. I would think this might be an issue if you were to use this tool for rapid fire applications, but I’m only going to use it to frame out my basement, build a shed and a deck, so I should be able to keep an eye on how many nails are left in the magazine. Any additional thoughts on this issue.
John

I find that it is easy to get to the end of the nails without realizing it, because once you get into the "groove" of using it, you go through the nails pretty quickly.

When using my Porter Cable, you figure it out right away because it won't act like it is firing a nail, and you go, "oh, i'm out of nails". This is because it has a lockout mechanism that prevents it from firing once there are only 2 or 3 nails left in the magazine. You then add 2 more sticks and continue.

On my brother's Bostich, you figure it out only after you've fired several "phantom" nails. Suddenly you notice there isn't a nail in the last few holes that were made in the wood. My point is, the nailer makes an impression in the wood whether there is a nail or not, so it is easy to think it put a nail when it didn't. You then have to look carefully to see how many didn't get nails, and reshoot those. Personally, I find this very annoying!

[Greg Cole]

I too see an occasional spark from all of the nailers, including the manual kind!

Cheers.

Greg

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
I have a Bostich F28WW.
I bought and used it last weekend for the same purpose - framing in a basement.
Lowes had/has them for $249.00 right now including a free palm nailer.
It's a 28 degree wire collated. Unlesss you specifically need the metal connector feature of the 21, you might want to consider the 28 instead for the free palm nailer & the wire collated features.
The 28 gets into a little tighter spaces, holds more fasteners (60 vs 100), "spits" a little less debris (than plastic) - plus the palm nailer is going to come in very handy on the deck you plan.
If you're leaning toward the 21 with the idea of using it for metal hangers, you might want to have a read through the reviews of the PN100K palm nailer at Amazon. A lot of them (reviews) praise the palm nailer over a framing nailer/metal fastener nailer for jobs like decks.

I can't speak for all Bostich mailers,,,but my 28 has a tremendous amount of driving power. I was using a cheap Harbor Freight gun initially. In order to drive the nails anywhere near flush, I had to crank the air pressure up to 110 psi (HF says 90 psi tops - but that left the mais about 1/2 inch proud). After running about a half dozen nails with the pressure @ 90, the HF jammed. I cleared the jam and ran another 1/2 dozen and it jammed again. When I tried to clear the jam the proper way, I found the screw and nusts that hold the magazine were impossible to remove. All things considered, I decided to go to plan "B", which was to pick up the Bostich.
Long story short - when I got back with the Bostich and loaded it up. I forgot to turn the air back down (oops!). It nearly drove the 3" nail all the way through a 2x4 . I ended up dialing the pressure all the way down to just over 60 psi - Bostich says 90 to 120.

so I should be able to keep an eye on how many nails are left in the magazine. Any additional thoughts on this issue.

Yes - it's all too easy to forget to look. All three times I reloaded mine last weekend I ran it dry before I realized it.

FWIW - a PC 350FRA was my first choice.
All of the research I did last winter on framing nailers pointed to the PC first, and the Bostich 2nd. That plus I'm kind of partial to PC in general.
I have a PC finishing nailer that I'm real pleased with.

I only went with the Bostich because I was in a bind, I'd already bought a mess of 28 degree faasteners for the HF gun and Lowes was close by & had the 28 with the free palm nailer.
An added plus for the Bostich is the 7 year warranty vs 1 year for the PC - not that it's all that important for a "weekend warrior".

Oh yeah - it (the F28WW) sparks - a lot. So far I have no regrets over buying it instead of the PC. I am very pleased with it in all regards - except for the circumstances under which I had to buy it.
Even that though has it's upside. I would have gotten the PC w/out the magnesium frame due to cost. As it is, I ended up with a Bostich that has a magnesium frame for roughly the same price as the PC non-mag.

PS - please forgive the spelling. My spell checker is MIA for some reason.

[Michael Schwartz]

My Senco has dry fire protect, nice feature, although I always curse at the fact I know I have 2 more nails in the mag. My finish guns don't have this, and I unless I am keeping track by looking in the side window, I dry fire a few before I realize.

I usualy run my Framing gun at arround 105-110 PSI depending on what I am nailing, Sometimes as low as 90. Just remember to keep the gun oiled, a few drops every use, or every 1000 nails.

I often run my PC brad gun at arround 40-60 PSI with real short nails in softwoods. My staple gun like to run at about 80 PSI unless the matieral is real hard, and I usualy run my finish gun around 90 to make sure it sets every nail.