The Framers Forum

Hi All,

I'd like to get an electric nailer for general DIY (and occasional framing use) - anyone got any recommendations, please?

When I say nailer, I think I mean pinner.....panel pins and the like. I know nail guns are a more serious bit of kit.

I don't have a compressor, so air is not an option. What are the capabilities/limitations of electric, does anyone know?

Ideally, would like to keep cost down , but I know it's daft to buy cheap then buy twice.

All the best

Paul

I use air, but have a rummage through the screw fix offering. The are several electric ones on offer. Cheapest is around £29 so not much to loose.

There are a few but the electric selection seems to be a bit restricted.

There are a few that are really staplers but can fire nails, but mostly the T-headed variety.

Einhell is a good make for 'budget' end tools. Not used a nailer of theirs but got other stuff and it's well designed and built.

You might be better off getting a small compressor (man enough to drive it) and then your choice of guns is much wider.

I use my grandfather's hammer and a punch.



** £18.99. I wouldn't expect too much but maybe worth a punt..https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hi-Spec-Electr ... HR1SR3358M

I bought one from HomeBase when I set up the shop, that was about the last time I used it, I found it very restricted , like the length of the cable, you have to use an extension lead, kept getting tangled up,
If you want to use it for attaching the backing board, I would go for a manual Fletcher Terry gun, I don't think you can go wrong with them

Thanks, all. Yes Screwfix do one or 2 around £30....like you say, nowt to lose.

Steve, I've got one for backboards, ta. This is mostly for quickly pinning stuff to glue/screw (more chippying than framing)

The only electric nailer I have used was made by Arrow and it fired both 18 gauge nails and 18 gauge stamples. I did not like it very much, sure it worked, but I did not like the finished result very much. I'm not an expert on electric nailers, so I can't tell you if any of them are much good, but I think you need to be sure whether you are spending your money on something that is going to produce a professional looking result.

For my self, I think a pneumatic nail gun is the smart thing to buy. A cheap compressor does not cost a lot these days and neither does a basic, but reasonable quality nail gun. I'm not convinced that combination nail and staple guns are a particularly smart idea. None of the manufacturers at the top end of the market seem to produce combination nail and staple guns and I figure that there might be a very good reason for this.

I know it's only my opinion, but I've so far bought five different nail, or staple guns for a variety of different gauges of nails and staples, all of them are from budget range manufacturers and they've all worked consistently and perfectly.

As Mark said, if you look at what the top of the range can offer and work your way down to the budget range, there'll be something just above the middle of the range. Spend a bit more than your budget and you'll most likely have something that will last you years.
No offence intended Mark, but saying you have bought budget and have had five of something speaks volumes, like I said I'm not looking for an argument.
In comparison, many posters on the US forums say buy cheap, replace it when it breaks, it's cheap. There's two schools of thought.

My 30 years framing neighbour, if he was on the forum, would say get yourself a workbench with a vice, hammer, punch and drill. Drill the pilot hole with a nail and use the hammer. Old school craft, simples! (he also has a Hoffmann)

The only thing to add to Justin's above advice is to try and get hold of a mitre vise (American spelling) A second hand Stanley 400 is the one if possible.

As the Stanley 400 is no longer made you could consider the mitre vice Lion sell or Axminster Tools equivalent.

Like many framers I initially joined my frames with a model makers drill to make the pilot hole, glue and pin, countersink and fill. By charging enough I was in a financial position to buy a pneumatic Cassese and compressor soon after they came out. If my memory is correct, they were more expensive then than now. After making this purchase and almost overnight, I could put around 50 frames an hour together. We never looked back

Peter.

Thanks guys.

As I say, this is more for general DIY use (holding wood that's glued etc) than picture framing.

But ta as ever for the advice.

I hope everyone's out in the sunshine (and not just for hand re-finishing that 80s moulding you've had concealed in the loft )

Pete, thanks for the tip on the Stanley 400. I didn't know about it and it looks brilliant to have tucked away.

Funnily enough (ok, not that funny) I nearly bought a Stanley 702 off fleabay last week. The 400 looks much better suited for what we need.

Justintime wrote:many posters on the US forums say buy cheap, replace it when it breaks, it's cheap. There's two schools of thought.

Actually that's what I have done, the nail and staple guns are all budget price either re-branded as Axminster power tools, or Clarke (which is the brade name of Machine Mart and the compressor is a Machine Mart one too.

They are all nice and cheap and work just fine.

Yes, I know what they mean. The laptop I'm typing on cost about £200, our microwave was £55 (both new) etc.

I really dislike our throwaway society, but when things are made to be unfixable - or cost as much to fix as buying a new one to fix - what choice do they give us?

We've got this road emissions charge coming to London (already here for the centre of town), and I had a casual look at a Nissan Leaf (electric, so exempt). Seems the battery is as expensive to replace as the whole car (near enough)

Yes, I know what they mean. The laptop I'm typing on cost about £200, our microwave was £55 (both new) etc.

I really dislike our throwaway society, but when things are made to be unfixable - or cost as much to fix as buying a new one - what choice do they give us?

We've got this road emissions charge coming to London (already here for the centre of town), and I had a casual look at a Nissan Leaf (electric, so exempt). Seems the battery is as expensive to replace as the whole car (near enough)

That's very much the case with printers. There used to be models where it was cheaper to buy a new one than replace the ink
cartridges. I think they sell them now with a minimal amount of ink.

Yes, printers is a classic example.

That HP ink subscription thingy is pretty fair....so much a month, to print so many pages (I think we're on £2 a month for 50 pages). They send you big old refills, too.

Anyway, how are you, Mr P? I hope you've caught up on your sleep.

Justintime wrote:No offence intended Mark, but saying you have bought budget and have had five of something speaks volumes, like I said I'm not looking for an argument.

Sorry Justintime, but not quite as you were thinking. These are my air driven nail, or staple guns.

1. 20 gauge narrow crown stapler. (Furniture grade woodworking stapler)

2. 20 gauge wide crown stapler. (Good for stretching canvases)

3. 23 gauge headless pinner. (fires virtually invisible rustproof stainless steel pins - about 0.4mm cross section)

4. 18 gauge nail gun. (fires upto 50mm long nails into wood - nice neat result - nails fire into anything, really hard oak no problem)

None of these guns have at any time failed and not I am only still using them and might add one, or two more to my collection at some future point in time. Like I said these all are good quality guns, but reasonable budget priced ones, I know there are some poor quality guns on the market, but these are not of the cheap and cheerful variety. I did my homework first, before deciding which makes to buy.

I probably could have explain myself better, sorry about that.

That was just me bowing to acknowledge your experience and wisdom.
I always have something to say, it's not always right, but I'm happy to be corrected, in fact it's best for everyone if we keep sharing.
That previous info is invaluable Mark.