Nail guns, also known as a nailer, are extremely beneficial since they make your job as a woodworker easier and more productive. With a nail gun at hand, you don’t have to spend all day swinging a hammer at nails in the sun. A nail gun also helps to speed up the project and increase nailing consistency, whether you’re adding shiplap, installing trim, or tackling one of the hundreds of other carpentry projects.
Using a nail gun is relatively easy. However, you must remember that before a nail can be shot, it must first make contact with the wood, then the tip or muzzle must be depressed, and the trigger pulled. When utilizing the tool, this process assures optimum safety. One must also keep in mind that nail guns are powered by electricity, flammable gas, or compressed air. So, like many other power tools, it can be dangerous if misused.
If you’re new to using a nail gun, keep reading to learn about the top five nail guns and how they will benefit you from your day-to-day job.
Reasons Why You Should Use Nail Guns
Nail guns are an excellent addition to any tool collection because they are quick and accurate. Sure, a basic hammer and a few nails would suffice, but it will take much longer, depending on your woodworking skills.
Below are the five advantages of utilizing a nail gun if you’re still on the fence about purchasing one:
Puts Your Fingers to Safety
Nail guns and finger safety don’t normally go together, but when used properly, they can be safer than using a hammer and nails. In using the usual hammer and nail, the nail must be grasped by the fingers and thumb when driving a nail by hand. With that, a single erroneous swing might badly harm the fingers that grasp the nail
While injuries are still possible to occur when using a nail gun, they are much safer because the nail does not need to be held.
Accuracy
Nail guns are extremely accurate. In fact, the nail will be driven precisely where the tip of the nail is put when using a nail gun. To drive the nails in, you just have to ensure that the tip of the nail is held at the proper angle. Accuracy and precision will go a long way toward increasing handicraft quality.
Speed
One of the most obvious advantages of utilizing a nail gun is that it saves time. Even though experienced employees can hammer nails swiftly, they can’t match the pace of a nail gun. In fact, the time it takes to drive one nail by hand takes three nails when using a nail gun.
When it comes to speed, a nail gun is difficult to beat.
Convenience
In the work field, workers must carry buckets of nails around when using a hammer. However, having to drag around big nail buckets can become tiresome and inconvenient over time.
Fortunately, nail guns come with magazines that can hold a lot of nails. This eliminates the need for personnel to transport large buckets of nails. When using a nail gun, one just needs to grab a copy of the magazine and get to work. Additionally, workers can free up space on their tool belts, making it easier to move around.
Improved Workmanship
Above all, improved workmanship is the result of increased accuracy, efficiency, and power. When working professionally, higher work quality and efficiency ensure that jobs are completed faster, and consumers are happier with the results. Better craftsmanship can also save homeowners money in the long run by requiring fewer repairs or touch-ups.
Top Five Types of Nail Guns
Nail guns come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They’re normally distinguished by the size and length of nails they shoot, as well as the application for which they’re utilized.
Some are used for framing, roofing, decking, siding, inside and exterior construction, and some are utilized for both. Some nailers use long 3-inch nails to link massive lumber pieces, while others use shorter and thinner nails to join thinner and more delicate materials such as trim, sheathing, and moldings.
1. Brad Nailers
Brad nailers are interior nailers that are used for installing trim and building cabinets. They utilize fine 18-gauge nails that are so little that they are almost undetectable once driven into the board.
Manually driving 18-gauge nails with a hammer is quite difficult. You can either bend the nail while hammering it, miss the nail, and heat the workpiece, causing damage, or you can hit your hand and injure it.
That’s why brad nailers are essential, especially for home improvement tasks involving the installation of moldings and trim throughout the home while driving hundreds or even thousands of these tiny nails.
2. Siding Nailers
Siding installation requires the use of a siding nail gun. Some may argue that a framing nailer can still be used for siding installation, which is technically valid.
Both nail guns, however, are different since siding needs the use of shorter nails, ranging from 1-1/2 inch to about 2-1/2 inch long. Framing nails, on the other hand, can be as long as 3-1/2 inches or even longer.
Siding nailers are lighter than framing nailers, which have a larger magazine and carry longer nails due to the smaller nail diameters and smaller magazine.
3. Framing Nailers
A framing nail gun is equipment that is used to drive framing nails up to 3.5 inches long into wood or other comparable materials. These are the most powerful and largest nail guns you’ll likely come across.
Moreover, they are used to connect massive dimensional lumber pieces used in constructing frames, as its name implies. You can also use it for other woodworking tasks that require large lumber pieces like 2x4s and 2x6s to be nailed together, such as making a deck or even furniture.
4. Finish Nailers
The finish nailer, which is built for nails of specified sizes, is another sort of nail gun you can use to finish carpentry or woodworking tasks. It’s commonly utilized for trim work, baseboards, and crown molding.
Finish nailers, as opposed to brad nailers, may cope with larger woods. Overall, they offer more holding strength than brad nailers, but they’re still good for small projects.
5. Roofing Nailers
When it comes to nailing new roofs, roofing nailers can save you a lot of time and effort.
These are specialized nail guns that are typically exclusively used by experienced roofers and contractors. They have the ability to drive nails into roofs at a near-lightning speed.
You can use it to nail down asphalt shingles, but you’ll need to keep them under control so the gun’s force doesn’t overwhelm them. This is why adjusting the depth drive is so critical. Roofing nailers come in three varieties: spring-loaded, pneumatic, and solenoid.