Expert: Jamie Yocono - 1/28/2008

Question
My father is an amateur handyman who enjoys woodworking as a hobby. He often creates projects such as benches and footstools to give as gifts. I would like to purchase a finishing nail gun for him for his birthday. Can you recommend a quality product? I'd prefer to spend around $150. Thanks

Answer
Hi Stacie,

What a great gift - a nail gun!  Talk about something that's going to be remembered for a long time. :)  I'll try to help out with a couple of things to think about.

First, it sounds like you know that different nail guns hold different types of nails. And  you want a finish gun. Within the spectrum of finish nail guns, you also have a couple of choices, like true finish nail guns, or brad nail guns. Finally, within the categories of those specific nail guns, different guns shoot different lengths.

But here's another thing to consider - does he have an air compressor? Because you need one to fire most nail guns. There are some guns that don't require air compressors, they use a small can of compresses air to power the gun. If I were starting out all over again, I might consider buying one of these, as going "cordless" is awfully nice, especially when installing molding while on the top of a ladder.  But cordless guns are really expensive, so it's probably not going to work for your purchase.

So choosing a gun means you need to choose the kind of nail, and then the length of nail. Since you mentioned that your father makes benches and footstools, I would think he would be fine with an 18 gauge pin gun, which shoots brads up to  2" or so. The heads are so small, he probably won't need to fill anything, and the gun is lightweight and small, so it can get into tight places. I have one, and it's the gun I reach for 80% of the time.  I can nail together anything with this gun, from drawers to lightweight furniture, to picture frames... it's a great gun.

Brand names? I pretty much only use Senco nail guns. Two of my guns are probably getting close to 20 years old and they still work great, I've probably made 2 small repairs. I don't like buying off brands and having to worry about getting parts a few years down the line. So look for a brand that has been around for a while.  My 18 gauge gun is a Craftsman.  It's been entirely reliable and I can buy nails at any Sears hardware store. The only reason I bought it was because a student of mine was selling it, and I was in need of one at the time. But I would definitely buy Craftsman again, I think it's a quality gun.

From time to time, Porter Cable runs a sale on a compressor, hose and 18 gauge gun for about $100-150. That's an unbelievable price. Anyway, look around for a good deal, they should be out there. Some of the woodworking magazines might advertise them, or go to the actual websites of the toolmaker and look around.  I just did a quick search and found this, but there are better deals out there:

http://www.brandsonsale.com/ht-001925.html

Finally, when using a gun, one tip I learned has really made my guns hold up over the years. Before using my gun (every time) I put one or two drops of oil (Senco makes an oil for this specific purpose) in the air fitting on the end of the gun. This oil is then pushed through the gun's moving parts as it's hooked up to the air compressor, thus lubricating all the parts. I swear, I never forget to oil it before use, and my guns have always performed perfectly. Lubing is everything. I still have the original bottle of Senco oil, it's probably 20 years old. It just takes a drop.

So as far as brands go- look at Senco, Porter Cable, and Craftsman. You really can't go wrong with them. Make sure you don't' buy a 18 gauge stapler, when you mean to buy an 18 gauge pin gun. It's easy to confuse the two.

Good luck, write back if you find a specific brand and want my opinion.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com
My woodworking blog: www.wooditis.blogspot.com