I think I need a nail gun. Not sure & need advice please

[ali]

We're in the middle of a refurb and since I'm the chief DIYer in our house, I get do pretty much everything. We're struggling to get decent tradesmen round our way as they are so busy so I'm biting the bullet and getting on with as much as I can in the meantime.

I could really do with a nail gun that would tackle both the finish side of things like skirtings/architrave as well as dealing with stud partitions and flooring etc.

I'm assuming that's a no-no and 2 different guns would be needed? I dont think I can justify the expense of buying 2 and I think I'd get more use out of the finish nailer.

Any recommendations please? I dont need a top of the range job, just something that does what it's meant to at a reasonable price. Also I'd prefer something that isn't too heavy, I'm female and dont have hugely muscular arms, lol.

Be greatful for ANY advice.

[Borderglazer]

Depends how much you want to spend really,a paslode finish nailer usually comes i around £350 (new) and dewalts finish nailer is £430ish with batteries (new),the cheapest option would probably be an air compressor and nail gun that start approx £150 new.

Good luck with your search

Joe

[Gadget]

Even half decent finish nailers are a bit expensive for DIYer's.......but here's a top of the range one to give you an idea of what you will need to spend, bearing in mind you'll probably have to pay at least £100 pounds for a cheapo model!

http://www.toolbank.co.uk/product.cfm?C ... 29bvd92994

[ali]

Wow! I wasn't expecting those kind of prices. I dont think I can justify hundreds of pounds for short term use. Mmmmm, might have to rethink, it would be a waste to spend big bucks on something that will sit in the shed after the first 3 -6 months probably.

Thanks.

[Hoovie]

What about the DIYers Fav ... Ryobi?

Ryobi 18v Nailer/Stapler



Nail capacity: 19-32mm (18 guage)
Staple capacity: 6-14mm (T50)
Magazine capacity:
Brad Nails - 100
Staples - 84
Speed: 40 nails/staples per min
Weight: 2.0kg

70 Pounds - add on maybe 45 quid if you need to buy batteries and charger, but if you have other One+ kit or need other cordless tools and go Ryobi, you can share the batteries.

[Gadget]

What about the DIYers Fav ... Ryobi?

Ryobi 18v Nailer/Stapler



Nail capacity: 19-32mm (18 guage)
Staple capacity: 6-14mm (T50)
Magazine capacity:
Brad Nails - 100
Staples - 84
Speed: 40 nails/staples per min
Weight: 2.0kg

70 Pounds - add on maybe 45 quid if you need to buy batteries and charger, but if you have other One+ kit or need other cordless tools and go Ryobi, you can share the batteries.

Sorry Hoovie, but thats only 18 gauge, and only suitable for fine mouldings and the likes!!..

[Hoovie]

Even half decent finish nailers are a bit expensive for DIYer's.......but here's a top of the range one to give you an idea of what you will need to spend, bearing in mind you'll probably have to pay at least £100 pounds for a cheapo model!

http://www.toolbank.co.uk/product.cfm?C ... 29bvd92994

Gadget, this same one can be also bought here for 365 pound inc VAT AND INCLUDING 3 x batteries and a charger (in case anyone wanted to buy )

[Hoovie]

Sorry Hoovie, but thats only 18 gauge, and only suitable for fine mouldings and the likes!!..

Opps - too good to be true

[davek0974]

One word of caution...

I bought a nail gun / compressor combi from 'been and screwed' about a year ago to do a fence and shed. It used rolls of nails and really worked well.

Only problem is i am now having great difficulty getting the nail coils for it

Great things to have though

Dave k

[ali]

Cheers all.

Hoovie...that's the kind of thing I was thinking about tbh, somewhere between that and the hundred pound mark. Shame it's only for mouldings and the like.

Gadget...what kind of gauge should I be looking for? Is the gauge the thickness of nails it uses? I take it the lower the number means the thicker the nails?

Or have I got it all wrong, lol.

The nails the joiner was using for the architrave round our windows were really thin............. nope....I'm not going there, I really dont want to know if the wood is about to fall off.

[Hoovie]

Hi Ali,

It does sound from from Gadget was saying that the Ryobi is underspec for your job (and deffo 100% take his word over mine ).

Yes, the smaller the gauge number, the thicker the nail.

Maybe what you could do is get every thing that you want to nail cut up ready to fit and then hire one for the weekend and blitz the lot in one go?

Alternatively, buy a suitable used one on ebay, use it and then resell it on ebay when done?

[ali]

Hoovie.......you have actually spotted the run of luck I'm having? . Used one from ebay? You just KNOW I'd get a duffer, lol.

(I did actually used to be a trusting sort before this refurb started, lol.)

There's no way I could get everything done in a shortish space of time unfortunately. We have a crammed 4 bed house and we're having to move stuff from room to room and make people sleep in interesting situations as it is. So I think hiring is maybe not an option.

I'll try searching the net again and if I find anything that looks like it might do and at a reasonable price, I'll post it here and get opinions.

[marksson]

I'm a bit surprised that know one is saying don't bother.
I'm in the trade and have a paslode battery & gas powered gun (about £400) and 2 air powered guns, one for finishing, one for carcassing (about £500).
Very rare for anyone to bother dragging one out of the yard.
If you are doing flooring or similar then yes the paslode or air gun saves time for say 20m2 and above.
Roofing battens probably need to be full days work to justify it.
Timber stud work a full days worth.
architraves etc a very full days worth.
Otherwise a hammer is quicker and more cost effective.
Don't get me wrong it's a nice bit of kit and has it's uses but I'd prefer an Estwing as a diyer, in fact I've never used a nail gun on my own home.
Spend it elsewhere ali

[Gadget]

I'm a bit surprised that know one is saying don't bother.
I'm in the trade and have a paslode battery & gas powered gun (about £400) and 2 air powered guns, one for finishing, one for carcassing (about £500).
Very rare for anyone to bother dragging one out of the yard.
If you are doing flooring or similar then yes the paslode or air gun saves time for say 20m2 and above.
Roofing battens probably need to be full days work to justify it.
Timber stud work a full days worth.
architraves etc a very full days worth.
Otherwise a hammer is quicker and more cost effective.
Don't get me wrong it's a nice bit of kit and has it's uses but I'd prefer an Estwing as a diyer, in fact I've never used a nail gun on my own home.
Spend it elsewhere ali

My thoughts exactly, I have a similar range of air, gas and electric powered nailers as yourself, but for the DIYer they are a bit pricey!!

[ali]

Yes, I did at one point think it was overkill getting a nailer, but then I thought it would be easier for me to get the work done.

I dont just batter through jobs like a pro would unfortunately, I have to admit to being fairly slow and as I'm not the strongest soul on the planet I sometimes find it difficult to hold the wood in place, hold the nail upright and whack it all at the same time, especially after doing a few, lol. Sometimes I'll whack a nail in only to find that the wood has shifted slightly and my mitre has opened for instance.

I saw the joiner with a nail gun and thought that would make life so much easier for me and because it's so fast, there's less chance of the wood moving before it's fixed.

As we're living in the middle of all this, I can only do so much in the day as I still have to deal with the day to day living stuff and the kids as well so anything that makes my job easier is worth considering I think.

If I do get one, I can always sell it on afterwards. Or maybe it could head for the shed and join the Ryobi table saw / Makita compound mitre saw / Fein Multimaster / and various other power tools I've managed to collect over the years.