I am about to start putting my kitchen together after almost 2 years. Cabinets, window trim, baseboard etc. And a bathroom also.
I own/have posession of a 15 ga Bostich angled finish nailer.
Of course reading that FHB article on pin nailers a few months back had me wanting to buy one to cure all my ills. But I saw the Bostich 18ga combo stapler and brad nailer on Amazon for $117. What way should I go since the 15 ga can handle the baseboard etc, and after reading old threads here I dont think I will have a lot of use for the 23 ga. Simple shaker style cabinets with little or no adornment. Just need to fasten a light rail below and a flat 3/4″ piece at the top to keep the doors from scraping the ceilings………..
All interested parties please chime in. As you can tell this is for home use, not production finish carpentry.
Thanks
Jim
Replies
You are right, a 23 won't do ya much good..at least not as much as the 18.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
18 g will hold your basic trim together and the holes are small enough that they are easy to hide.
Thanks
An 18 gauge gun has a much wider range of uses then a 23 ga. and compliments the 15 better. Get one that shoots to 2", much more useful.
That said the next gun should be a 23 if you want to round out your arsenal.
If you have the need, a good 23 ga. is indispensable...buic
18 ga will be a good match with the 15.
Of course if you need backup to get an 18 and a 23 let us know. we can go back and edit our posts so you can show SWMBO that we said so.
Don't buy that stapler/bradder combo unit. It has a problem with feeding and making marks on the finish. I would buy a brad gun instead. (Or a stapler and a brad gun).
I'd get this,
http://www.cpobostitch.com/nailers/finishing_nailers/bt200k-2-r_spec.html#tabbox
and possibly this:
http://www.cpobostitch.com/staplers/finishing_staplers/sb-150sx-r.html
And definitely this:
http://www.cpobostitch.com/accessories/hoses/pro-1450.html
Mark, Buic, TFB
Thanks for the advice gents. I think I will get the reconditioned one Mark linked to, even cheaper than Amazon.
Now if I could just get someone to measure and cut while I lay the hardwoods in this kitchen I will be ready to actually put the darn cabinets together!!! Laying floors is hard enough on a middle aged body, but with no helper the 300 sq' that looks like 2 days work somehow turns in to 4 and that is if you dont have to stop to make someone else lunch or take someone to karate!!!
Thanks guys
You can buy the same hose as that stanly except its 100ft. at tractor supply for the same price or 5 dollars less I forget.
I just bought one at my local store two months ago it.
I think it sure is nice
http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_35430_______14151%7C14152%7C14167%7C35430?listingPage=true
Hey, that seems a pretty good deal. I really like the Bostitch hose, but I'll look at that one at the Ttactor Supply store.
the tsc stuff looks like the same stuff I purchased at Menards. do they sell the fittings you could shorten it up and make 2 hoses from one?
The 15 ga Bostich you already have is a bit heavy for interior trim work, but you could get away with using it if you're careful and don't have any small stuff like 5/16" to deal with.
I use a 16ga Porter Cable gun which shoots nails from ¾" to 2½"; this makes it good for just about everything except framing. It's very versatile, lighter and handier than the bigger Bostich, and not expensive.
PC also makes an 18ga gun, but it is not heavy enough to deal with full-thickness base, and I don't think it handles 2½" nails, which are real nice when you're trying to reach through ¾" of shoe on top of ¾" of base on top of ½" of gyprock to find the stud or sole plate.
Forget the 23ga pin nailer unless all you're going to do is assemble fiddly-work like appliqué moulding. This is more of a furniture-maker's tool than a trim carpenter's essential.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Same as you, I use the 16 gauge for general interior stuff, heavier stuff that gets painted. However, I'm finding that the 18 holds many things just fine, especially prefinished kitchen stuff and leaves a smaller, neater hole.
The 23 gets a fair amount of use these days as well, but I combine that with the use of PL and molding glue, probably my favorite application process because of how little is left to fill.A related aside...I have the same PC gun as you, just bought a brand new one 3 days ago because the old one gave out after 12 years of constant use. The old PC is a discontinued model and one of the parts was broken on it and after searching online for a rebuild kit, I found they're unavailable. Anyhow, what do you get out of your guns? Twelve years of fairly constant use seems not bad to me...but I don't know how long a gun should last.
Mine would be about 13 years old by now, but it doesn't get used every day because I do general remods, roofing, and yadda-yadda. Sometimes I'll spend a month banging away with the framing nailer before I ever get the little guy out of the truck.
It's still in good shape. I'm more than disappointed to hear that effin' Porter-Cable has discontinued that model and no parts are available. That kind of crâp isn't right. When I pay a hundred bucks or so for a tool, I don't expect to find out later its makers consider it 'disposable' after only a measly decade.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I'm more than disappointed to hear that effin' Porter-Cable has discontinued that model and no parts are available
That just made my day (not).
Will the non-mar protector on the nose of a 15 ga. work on the 16 ga. ? Mine disentegrate the other day and I was going to order a couple of spares. Now I guess am screwed.
Try hockey tape. Or dip the safety tip into that dip-N-grip stuff they sell for pliers handles.
I rarely use the rubber-baby-buggy-bumper that came with the gun, but then again I rarely work on anything that'll be getting a 'coffin' finish.
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
I 've only used mine about three time in the last eight years. I guess the thing just dry rotted.
I'll try the dip-grip. It will likely crack and fall off before I use the thing again(g)
For me, 16 guage straight nailer for most interior trim except for small moldings
and the thin side of the casing nailed to the jamb, where I use an 18 guage. Also
use the 16 for quite a bit of light exterior trim. (with galvanized nails) . Dont own a
15, not sure what I would use it for
Just my humble opinion
Dont own a 15, not sure what I would use it for
I do a lot of finish trim in fir, and I like the 15ga for that. When placing nails through a casing and into the narrow edge of a door jamb, I've had lots of trouble with a 16ga nail following some wild grain in the fir and then shining through the finish face of the jamb. The 15ga nails are much stouter and resist following the grain save for rare exceptions.
I agree with you in general that 16ga and 18ga guns are excellent for finish trim, though.
I have had the same experience. I just did a bunch of wainscoting and casing. I had to use the 15, 16, 18 and 23. and they were all needed in each case. I had used the 15 exclusively, but read a review of the Paslode 16 cordless, so I got one on E-bay last fall. I find myself using it more and more. The 18 was for casing on the jamb so as to not split the casing, (or the jamb), the 16 was for the heavier part of the casing, and the 15 was for the major elements of the staingrade wainscoting, (oak). I used the 23 for the apron/skirt molding under the ledge on the wainscoting.... wouldn't be without it."The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a governmental program" -Ronald Reagan
I got the Porter Cable pancake compressor / 18 guage brad nailer kit a couple of years ago and have never needed brads any longer than the 1-1/2" it handles. Of course, if there was a 2" capacity nailer sitting next to it, that also came with a compressor, at about the same price, I would have gotten that one. I don't even own a pin nailer (i.e. 23 ga. headless) and unless I get into furniture making, I can't see ever needing one.
I have the 16 guage angle trim nailer for fastening through to the studs. 18 ga. just seems to thin for holding trim securely, especially soft pine trim. That's my 2 cents worth.
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I don't even own a pin nailer (i.e. 23 ga. headless) and unless I get into furniture making, I can't see ever needing one.
One of these days, I want to get one of these micro pinners. I expect to use it for any small trim that gets glued anyway such as returns.
Headless pinners are also pretty good for stop bead on double hung windows.
Looks like I'll have to get me a pinner after all. A customer has some exotic hardwoods she bought at a hardwood store, that she wants me to turn into a large (7 drawer) jewelry box of her own design, involving 5/16" half-round beading. There's a lot of it, so I don't want to predrill and use wire brads, especially since I can charge here for the tool, as I'll probably never use it again. Anyway, this is why I came by to read this thread again, get an idea of my best options.
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Cheap Tools at MyToolbox.netSee some of my work at AWorkOfWood.com
Edited 3/21/2008 12:11 pm by Ted W.