In 2001, I bought my first property. I didn’t know much about fixing up homes so I had to learn fast. I volunteered at my local Habitat for Humanity build. After I checked in, they handed me a nail gun and told me to go to the roof. I must have looked like a dear in headlights. I nervously headed up the ladder to the roof, and a man there showed me how to refill my nail gun, lead me to a pile of asphalt shingles, and told me to get to work. It was right there on that roof that began my love affair with the nail gun.
Why use a nail gun?
Especially for women, tools level the playing field. I would be out in the field and see these framers that could hit a nail completely through wood and concrete with one or two hits. For me, one nail would take about 15 taps to get it through the materials. Then I found the FRAMING nail gun. Guess what, boys? Now I can frame as fast as you can!
Types of Power for nail guns
There are 3 main types of nail guns:
- Pneumatic Nail Guns
- Cordless (works with a battery attachment like a drill)
- Power (has a cord that plugs into an electric outlet)
Most Common Nail Guns
The most common power nail guns are pneumatic nailers. A pneumatic nailer is operated by air pressure.
Definition of pneumatic according to the ol’ online dictionary:
- Operated by air or by the pressure or exhaustion of air:
- Filled with or containing compressed air
- Theology. of or relating to the spirit; spiritual.
The detailed answer from Lowes: These are powered by air pressure from a small compressor. When a nail is fired, a valve opens in the tool and air fills a cylinder. A piston in the cylinder moves rapidly downward, driving the nail in front of it into the material at the tip of the nailer. When the piston fully extends, the air from the compressor is released from the tool through an exhaust vent. The piston recoils while another nail is loaded.
Since this description is a little more involved than most of us need to know, I will condense it. Basically, this little baby is powered by air pressure from an air compressor. So using a nail gun is awesome and easy, but you do need to invest in an air compressor…or stick to the little one that’s electric. It just plugs in so it’s a great starter nailer, but I like a little more power than that!
Types of Air Compressors
These come in a range of sizes. If you are just starting out, you can get a small air compressor like a pancake compressor for $25 – $75. If you are building a skyscraper and really want to invest the big bucks, you can invest in an 80-gallon gas or electric air compressor for $2000. But I have my little one-gallon air compressor at home that I use and it works just fine for fun projects! The ones we showed on the show were a 17-gallon compressor, and a couple of 6-gallon ones.
Types of Nail guns
- Framing nailers are designed for fast, high-powered work in fastening large pieces of material.
- Finish nailers are lighter weight, used for furniture, cabinets, trim and molding.
- Staplers, tackers and brad nailers are also lightweight, used for precision work.
- Roofing nailers are specifically designed to apply roof shingles.
Types of Nails used for guns
We have a variety of different sizes there to show. The big one is the Framing Nailer (so awesome and powerful!) This is what makes me look like a real bad arse on the job site with all of the big construction workers like those when you can go here. Power! Woo hoo!
Uses
There are so many uses for the wonderful and amazing nail gun. We put together a montage here in this video so check it out. We showed how to put up chair rail moulding in our scene…but the list goes on and on!
XOXO,
Paige
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