Bought a Framing Nail Gun

[Haywire]

You might want to consider wearing safety glasses when you use it as well as hearing protection. I wear the glasses when I use my nail guns because I've seen debris go flying from the exhaust air as well as from the nail quickly going into the wood and sometimes spewing fibers. I'm not afraid of the gun, but am afraid to get my head and face too close to it when it's being used. Call me a wimp, I guess.

You're not a wimp, you're smart. You'll die with your eyes and ears fully functional except for what time does to them. :thumbsup:

Ian

 

[gsganzer]

I bought a Milwaukee round head nailer and have been very happy with it. It has some nice features including hand adjustable exhaust direction and selectable trigger. It's also fairly light weight. I've used it to frame a 30' x 40' shop and never had a jam or fail to fire.

 

[Haywire]

I've had 3 or 4 fails to feed in the short time I've used this one. The stack of nails just doesn't slide down once in a while. I've got some dry graphite spray lube I think I'm going to try on it to see if I can get things going a little smoother.

Ian

 

[Airedale]

I bought a Home Depot "Rigid" round head framing nailer last year to use on a barn addition project, I must say it was one of the best tools I have ever purchased.


Al

 

[ustmd]

I bought a Porter-Cable framing nailer (310 A I think) last year and it was one of the best tool purchases I have made (two major projects with it so far).

For the exhaust, the Porter has an exhaust port that rotates 360 degrees. So if I remember to adjust it :laughing:.....

I would recommed the eye protection and ear plugs. For the eyes, my major concern is the plastic or metal material they use to hold the stick of nails togther. It plies everywhere with each nail. For the ears, most of the time it is not an issue, but then you need to drive a nail in strange position and the gun is near your head/ear.

I get my nails at Home Depot (good selection--they have one brand that comes in a great plastic container that protects the nails when not in use and can be recycled in the shop for other storage) or from Amazon.com (if you have a Prime membership, 2nd shippment is free, which is greta for heavy items like a box of nails).

 

[300UGUY]

After I bought my first air nailer, I wondered what the heck took me so long!! Same thing when I bought my 1st impact wrench. Odd thing, I'd used air tools at work for years, don't know why it took me so long to buy them for my home shop. Well, my wife knows why, I cheap!!! Btw, bought them at HD, Porter Cable brand.

 

[skipmarcy]

I bought my Porter Cable 350 nailer 5 years ago when I built my house and have run 80,000 nails thru it since. It's a 21 degree full head gun that uses plastic collated nails. Those plastic pieces fly everywhere - I always use eye protection, but the noise isn't bad and my exhaust also rotates 360 degrees. I use a little air tool oil every time I use it and it has held-up fine. I blow the magazine out with a blowgun and spray some silicone spray for lube. My trigger is adjustable for single fire or bump fire but even after all the experience with my gun I don't trust using the bump fire mode - too dangerous, I keep it on single fire and work right along just fine ... My gun will easily sink toenails below flush, just have to adjust the depth properly for the type of wood you're using.

 

[PapaPerk]

The hitachi full head nail gun is a sweet tool. I love mine.

Try Home Depot for the nails. Always had real good luck there. Sometimes they are on sale at a good price.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Framing guns have come a long ways especially in the weight department. I bought my DuoFast around 92'. First couple of times I used it I thought my arm would fall off by the end of the day. Good thing I only had to use it on some rental units I had at the time, a couple of barns, etc. I always wore hearing protection and safety glasses with it because of the flying plastic debris and it is loud.

Over the years, I added a couple of finish nailers, a roofing nailer and a crowned staple nailer, all Porter Cable.

I never cared for the clipped head nails. Seems like a risky way to save money.

 

[dmccarty]

Clipped head nails should be allowed by code. The big question is does the building inspector know the code. :laughing:The holding power of a nail is mostly due to the length and diameter of the nail, not the shape of its head.

Having said that, I have a round head nail gun.

I bought one that uses paper collated nails. The idea of bits of metal or plastic flying around did not seem like a good idea. I get the nails from Lowes.

You really have to wear hearing and eye protection especially the eyes. Various things can go flying through the air when using a nail gun.

My nail gun is a Bostitch F33PT. WHY did I wait so long before buying it? I have used a different brand of nails as well as Bostitch with no problems. The F33PT can also nail metal connectors which is a big deal for me. As well as the paper collated nails.

The nail gun can do sequential or bump but there is no way I would enable the bump trigger. That is asking for a nail in a body part.

Later,
Dan