Unlike some tools, nailers are not designed for general purpose use - there is not an all-purpose nailer that you can use with all your work. Nailers are intended to be used for particular tasks, so before buying a nailer it's important to understand the jobs for which it will be used.
The kinds of nailers are:
- Framing nailers: These nailers are intended to drive bigger (1-1/2" to 4") box-type nails into larger pieces of wood. These nailers tend to be fairly heavy and big and are typically stick-type nail guns, they there are some coil-types available also.
- Finish nailers: These may be also called brad or pin nailers. They are intended for nailing smaller finish-type nails into light pieces of stock. These nailers tend to be lighter and smaller than framing nailers, and they tend to be used for trim or finishing work. These are almost always stick-type nail guns.
- Roofing and Siding nailers: These are intended for the particular task of installing either siding or roofing. They store high numbers of nails that are designed specifically for the job at hand (roofing or siding). These are most-often coil-type nailers.
Once you pick the type of nailer you want, some other attributes that are very nice to have and which you should look for are:
- A directional exhaust vent. When nails are put in, air shoots out from the nailer. It's often helpful to have an adjustable exhaust so that this air is not being delivered into your face.
- A good-sized gun trigger. If you are planning on working with your nailer outdoors in frigid weather, you'll likely be wearing winter gloves. If so you'll want to have a easy to pull trigger so that you can operate it when wearing gloves.
- A pivot on the air connector to the nailer. If you will be moving around a lot with your nailer, this helps reduce the snarling of your air line.
- An easy-to-use depth adjustment. Almost all nailers have an adjustment to controlmanage how deep the nail is put in. Using this adjustment, the nail is not jutting out of the surface, or sunk too deep far in. Many nailers require tools to perform this adjustment, others have an adjustment that can be done by hand and these tend to be quicker to adjust. If you suspect you'll want to be making this setting fairly often, the easier and quicker it is to adjust, the easier it will be to use this nailer.
- If you are planning on delivering a lot of nails, you will want to think about the nail capacity of the nailer as well as the ease with which nails can be loaded into the gun. Choosing the correct nailer can save you a lot of time on a job... or lose you a lot of time if you make a bad choice.
Lastly, make sure you look at the reviews for the nailer you are considering. Researching a tool in the store or on line, it is difficult to know how well it will work once you get it home. By looking into the reviews of people that have actually used the nailer, you will get a better idea if this nailer will work for you.
Author Resource:-
Brad has been framing houses and doing finish carpentry for many years. He owns, or has used, scores of nailers during this time. You can find his nailer reviews at http://www.nailer-reviews.com. where he is a senior editor.
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