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New woodworking technology seems to emerge in waves. Back in the 70's and early 80's, routers were hot; during the mid-to-late 80's biscuit joiners were the big thing; the early 90's saw the popularity of portable thickness planers skyrocket. Today's emerging hot tool category is air-driven nailers. Manufacturers are tripping over themselves to jump on this band wagon, and retail outlets are giving air nailers prominent exposure in catalogues and sales displays. All this means that you're probably wondering what, if anything, an air nailer can do for you?
Air-nailers have been popular for a while in the time-is-money environment of industry because they drive nails much faster than a hammer can, and they automatically set the nails below the surface, all ready for filling. And even though speed isn't an important consideration in the home workshop, air nailers still offer advantages in quality of results. The first time you squeeze off a few air-driven nails, you'll immediately notice you have an extra hand at your disposal. Unlike with hand driven nailing, it only takes one hand to hold a nailer and squeeze the trigger. Your free hand is then available to hold pieces of wood together, just-so, as they're joined. And because the air-driven nail shoots into the wood so quickly, it doesn't throw your precise joint alignment out of whack like hammer blows always do.
Air nailers are great at the workbench, but they really shine during household trim installation. If you're undertaking major renovations or building an addition, an air nailer will become indispensable once you've tried one. The advantage of being able to hold two pieces of moulding against the wall, get the joint to come together just right, then lock the parts in place in a nanosecond, is addictive. The usual nail-induced splitting of fine, hardwood trim rarely happens with an air nailer because the nails are thin and they enter the wood so quickly.
One Size Doesn't Fit All
If you open a tool catalogue to the air nailer section, what you'll find isn't easy to understand. The problem is an overload of variety. You'll find terms like brad nailer, finish nailer, narrow crown stapler, angle nailer, framing nailer, coil nailer, cabinet stapler -- all referring to some form of air-driven fastening tool.
The first step to making sense of this mess is to realize that many of the products you'll find aren't meant for the kind of metal fasteners you're likely to drive in a home workshop. And since no one air-nailer can shoot everything from 3 1/4-inch framing nails down to tiny 5/8 brads, you've got to make a choice. If you're a typical workshopper, there's little doubt that the ideal machine for you should be able to handle 3/4-inch to 2 1/2-inch-long fasteners, either in the 16 or 18 gauge thickness. The gauge rating refers to the diameter of the fasteners themselves -- 16 gauge being a little thicker than 18 gauge. The typical trade names for tools that shoot this kind of fastener is brad nailer or finishing nailer. You can ignore just about everything else, unless you want to focus on house framing or rapid-fire shingle installation. There's another kind of cabinet-grade tool called a narrow crown stapler, but as the name implies, it shoots staples instead of easily concealed nails or brads. These are fine for fastening plywood cabinet backs and drawer bottoms, but aren't meant for use in visible areas where most of your work will be.
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Air nailers use comparatively small amounts of compressed air, which means you don't need a large compressor to run one. In fact, so-called pancake compressors with built-in, low-profile pressure tanks, are ideal for air nailers and often weigh less than 50 lbs. The dark cloud around this silver lining is that just about anything else you'd want to drive with compressed air needs a much larger-volume source. Air-powered sanders, drills, grinders and spray guns, for example, all demand larger, more expensive compressors to operate. And unless you've got some unique, compelling reason to run air-driven power tools, I'd recommend against it. Even in the realm of spray finishing, the home hobbyist is better served by a self-driven high-velocity, low-pressure (HVLP) system, rather than a traditional compressor-driven spray gun.
From what I've seen, the legendary superiority of air-driven power tools is a throwback to the days when electric power tools weren't very good by comparison. At that time a good air-driven sander, for instance, would outperform its electric cousin any day. Not so today. Electric tools are more reliable, more powerful, and perform better than they ever have. In the tool landscape of today, air-driven power tools have no clear advantage over electric, and several disadvantages.
Safety Matters
You'd have to be particularly unlucky to hurt yourself with a package of ordinary 1-inch finishing nails, but it's a different matter with an air nailer. This fact reminds me of the x-ray of a foot I saw once. It had all the recognizable bones you'd expect, with the addition of the crisp outline of a large, air-driven framing nail, angled down just behind the toes, with a few bone splinters scattered about. Ouch! Just the thought of it is enough to remind me that the term shooting yourself in the foot is much more than a metaphor when you're in the workshop.
To reduce the chances of literally toenailing yourself, all air nailers include a safety device on the tip that deactivates the trigger until the nose of the nailer is pressed firmly against something solid. That's not to say that accidents aren't always a possibility, but at least your eight year-old isn't going to sneak into your workshop and spray the room, gangland-style, with 1 1/2 brads to impress his friends. The fact that at least one manufacturer includes a pair of approved safety glasses with each air nailer should tell you something about the need for eye protection. I've seen air-driven nails ricochet off hard knots and go flying off sideways in midair. Keep your eyes covered.
I don't own an air nailer, but my experience with them in industry has proven there value to me. Would I buy one? Yes, in time, but my workshop needs other things first. Since a name-brand air nailer and compressor costs more than $600, it's got some pretty heavy competition from other bits and pieces I have my eye on.
Here's something to watch for. At least two companies now offer hoseless power nailers fueled by internal combustion mechanisms. More manufacturers are sure to jump on the band wagon soon. Replaceable compressed gas cartridges provide the energy source in this application, instead of the more usual electric compressor. Take a look at the latest entry in this field by Porter Cable. Called the Bammer, it shoots finishing nails ranging from 3/4-inch to 2 1/2-inch-long, all without a hose. It bammed pretty well for me during a test-shoot I took a while back. |
