Popular Woodworking 2001-10 № 124, страница 21

bradnailers

A brad nailer may be considered a luxury by some woodworkers, but they probably haven't tried one yet. It's a handy tool that will speed up your work.

Most woodworkers can avoid owning a brad nailer for an awfully long time. Sure, there are times when it would cut your assembly time in half, keep from having to wait 30 minutes for the glue to dry and make any moulding job (either on furniture or in your house) a lot faster and simpler. But you can get by without. But with air guns costing about $120, why should you?

Of course it's not just the brad nailer you need to buy. The compressor and hose will impact your bottom line. Already have a compressor? Great. Nailers will operate on almost any size compressor. Don't

have one yet? You can get a smaller compressor for around $200 and you'll find lots of uses for it (ever blow up an air mattress?). You can also buy a combination kit and get a brad nailer with a compressor for about $250.

Why Brad Nailers

Air fasteners can be roofing nailers, small staplers and dozens of sizes and applications in between. For the average woodworker, the 18-gauge (about ^1/32" square) nail offers plenty of holding power and leaves a less obvious hole in your wood. Brad nailers come in lengths from ³/4" to 2¹/8",

for brad nailers

• Buy a nailer with the largest capacity range that best suits your needs.

• In general buying too "affordable" a nailer can mean less quality.

• Look for a mechanical depth-of-drive adjustment on the tool.

• If possible (and necessary) look for a combination kit to get started in air tools.

• Don't disregard a nailer requiring oil. It's not a big problem, and you'll save money.

The Porter-Cable BN200V12 brad nailer is a switch hitter. Without a compressor, it is powered by an on-board compressor fueled by a 12-volt battery. When a compressor is handy, you can hook it up to the fitting at the rear.

This tool is too new for us to test. Stay tuned.

which should provide for every job short of framing a house. Brad nailers tend to be grouped into two capacity categories: those that start with shorter lengths (³/8") and top out at or so; and those that start at ⁵/8" and will fire up to 2" lengths. There are certainly variations available, but in general, those are the standards. While you may have specific needs for shorter brads, in general woodworkers use the longer lengths.

Depth of Drive

One feature to consider on a brad nailer is the method for adjusting how deep the nail is set. When a brad sinks into wood, it can be set flush, above or below the wood's surface. This depth can be controlled by modulating the amount of air being fed to the gun at the compressor, or on some nailers, by adjusting a mechanical setting at the nose of the gun to adjust how close the nose is to the wood. Both work (with some adjustment) but the mechanical option will keep you from running back and forth to your compressor.

Oilless Operation

Most brad nailers require a drop of oil before each day's use to keep the cylinder moving easily. Some tools on the market offer oilless operation, which can be handy and one less thing to remember, but it will cost a little extra. Oilless operation also removes the risk of oil spraying out the tool's exhaust port and onto your work. Most brad nailers now offer an adjustable, or rear-mounted exhaust to combat that problem.

10 Popular Woodworking October 2001