Electric Brad Nailer Recommendations

[Keith Strong]

George, thanks for the pictures, that helps a lot. How long ago did you get that deal at Home Depot? Do you know if they still carry it? I did not see it on their website. That is nice that it shoots both staples and brads, what is the longest length brads it can handle?

Any other brands or recommendations for these pneumatic nailers/staplers. Any brands I should avoid. Craftsman usually has some good sales between now and christmas. Not a huge fan of their power tools though.

[George Bregar]

That's why I took a pic, couldn't find it either. They seem to always have them, but IIRC never by the compressors. Just ask. It handles 3/8" to 1-1/4" 18 g. The two combo I got for my son was by the compressors.

[skip coyne]

George, thanks for the pictures, that helps a lot. How long ago did you get that deal at Home Depot? Do you know if they still carry it? I did not see it on their website. That is nice that it shoots both staples and brads, what is the longest length brads it can handle?

Any other brands or recommendations for these pneumatic nailers/staplers. Any brands I should avoid. Craftsman usually has some good sales between now and christmas. Not a huge fan of their power tools though.

home depot has a lot off stuff in store that doesn't show up on the website for some reason.

might want to check your local store

[Ed Bamba]

Just came back from Home Depot and I saw what may possibly be the compressor combo refered to here. The store here has it on sale for $59 and is displayed across from the Tool Center. I think I'll go back tomorrow and pick one up if it is still available. Has anyone used it for driving nails into crown molding?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

Has anyone used it for driving nails into crown molding?

Kind of - I used the Lowes counterpart (Coleman 1 gal pancake style w/18 ga. nailer/stapler) - a great deal @ $49.00, but way overpriced @ it's normal $79.00.
18 ga, even 1 1/4" were ok to fair. I switched to a 16 ga finishing nailer w/2 1/2" fasteners for it's better holding ability.
FWIW - the tiny comprseeor had no problems keeping up w/either gun.
It's noisy though.

[Andrew Catron]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned these. I started off with a cordless 16 ga. angled finish nailer 7 years ago and the thing is great. yeah you have to buy gas cartridges and recharge the batteries but you can shoot plenty of nails before replacing either one. I added to the cordless paslode collection with the 18 ga. brad nailer and the framer. I love them all. They are what I reach for more often than the small compressor and pneumatics. (I have a 4gal Makita and 33 gal craftsman in the shop along with 2 18 ga brad nailers, 1 framer, crown stapler, 15 ga. Angled finish nailer and a few other specialty nailers.)

I will say I use the compressor setup when I have had more than 1 room to trim out at a time. anything smaller and I can grab the paslodes and not worry about setting up the compressor.

I am not a finish carpentry pro so I don't work as fast as one which is the primary complaint about the paslodes. But if you're not a pro either than they should be fast enough for you.

[Jamie Siegel]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has had troubles with an electric nailer. I honestly thought it was just mine. I figured I had a piece of junk. Mine was a Duo-Fast that was supposedly able to use 3-4 sized brads.
If anyone wants it, it may still be out in the middle of my street. I'm pretty sure that's where it landed.
I think I'm going to join up with the small compressor crew.

[Keith Strong]

I swung by Home Depot last night and took a look at their compressors and nailers. Those Paslodes seem to be nice but significantly out of my price range. HD is offering a free pin nailer with the Porter-Cable 6gal pancake compressor, stapler, 16ga finish nailer, 18ga brad nailer for $299. I think the special goes until Christmas but I really do not want to spend that much.

They also have a similar combo that George mentioned. It is a 100psi max 1 gal cylinder compressor with an 18ga brad nailer for $59. HD is no longer ordering these, there are 3 stores in my area with one or two left. The lady that helped me believed they may have been a promotional item. There was no product specs anywhere on the box refering to the length of brad nails that the gun can handle or the air delivery of the compressor at 40 and 90psi. I am going to swing by Lowes at lunch and kick some tires (or compressors).

[George Bregar]

I swung by Home Depot last night and took a look at their compressors and nailers. Those Paslodes seem to be nice but significantly out of my price range. HD is offering a free pin nailer with the Porter-Cable 6gal pancake compressor, stapler, 16ga finish nailer, 18ga brad nailer for $299. I think the special goes until Christmas but I really do not want to spend that much.

They also have a similar combo that George mentioned. It is a 100psi max 1 gal cylinder compressor with an 18ga brad nailer for $59. HD is no longer ordering these, there are 3 stores in my area with one or two left. The lady that helped me believed they may have been a promotional item. There was no product specs anywhere on the box refering to the length of brad nails that the gun can handle or the air delivery of the compressor at 40 and 90psi. I am going to swing by Lowes at lunch and kick some tires (or compressors).

I posted the specs 3/8"- 1-1/4" 18g. As far as the AC, all I can tell you is that it handled both the brad nailer and my DeWalt 15g finsih nailer no problem. Kicks in every 8-10 shots. Like all oiless AC it's kinda loud. I bought it based on my buddy using his to retrim his entire 3500 ft house...I did the same inside and out at my lake home. Very small and lightweight is also a big plus, especially going up and down scaffold like I had to do. For $59 it can't be beat.

[Peter Quadarella]

I bought the Powermatic 1 Gallon compressor that came with a brad nailer/stapler at Lowe's. It was on sale for $49 and I'm pretty happy with it. Some day I'll get a big compressor, but this is fitting the bill for now.

[BOB OLINGER]

Keith,

All the replies are RIGHT ON. Regardless of what they say they'll do, forget the electric and go with the pneumatic. You won't regret it.