“He
wasn’t using pneumatic
nailers,” an
unhappy friend complained recently. “I
hired him to remodel my house, including new
trim work in one of the rooms. He was using a
conventional hammer. You can see where he dented
the wood trim with his hammer.” This lady
knew that properly used, pneumatic
tools and nailers will not leave ‘beauty marks’ on
finish work and trim. The most revolutionary
carpentry tools of the past 50 years have been
the pneumatic nailers.
Pneumatic
nailers use tremendous
air pressure to
shoot nails into wood. Once a tool used only
in production work, these nailers have become
commonplace both among commercial builders and
home hobbyists. These nailers have a number
of advantages. First, the nails come in strips
with each nail fastened to the next by a resin
material. As the nail is shot into the wood,
the resin is melted by friction. This melted
resin serves as a lubricant to help the nail
penetrate the wood to its full length. The resin
cools and glues the nail to the wood, making
a much stronger bond.
One
of the biggest benefits of pneumatic units
is that they improve productivity. Swinging a
hammer and driving nails is tiring work, even
for carpenters who swing a hammer all day every
day. It is much easier to hold the nailer and
pull the trigger. Pneumatic
nailers are different than hammers in that it
is not advisable to use the same nailer for each
application. There are brad
nailers that shoot
18 and 19 gauge brads for small crafts and light
carpentry. A finish
nailer shoots 15 gauge finishing
nails for cabinetry and trim work. Larger nailers
are used for general carpentry work.
More
and more carpenters and home hobbyists are
putting down their hammers in favour of nailers.
Considering the increased production, ease
of work and the mark free nailing that they
produce, they are well worth the cost. The
one disadvantage of this is that you will need
a collection of several sizes of pneumatic
nailers.
Further
reading: Find the right
portable or stationary
compressor for your nailgun.
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