I've got a bunch of planned outdoor springtime garden projects that will require using lot of 6 - 12 penny framing nails.

I've gotten lazy in my retirement years, and would rather not use a hammer for these projects if I didn't have to.

I can't drag my big compressor to the work, and the work needs to be built in place, so I can't bring it to the big compressor.

I've got a great little lightweight 120 VAC 1/3-HP 3-gallon "pancake" compressor that I can run from an extension cord, a small generator, or from the DC-to-AC inverter I use with my truck or tractor. I drag this little compress all over the place, and love it for light nailing, cleaning dust out of stuff, and filling my portable airtanks, which I seem to always be using on my trailers, mowers, UTV, tractor, etc. before I can use them.

The little compressor shuts off at 100 PSI. It is rated at 0.65 cfm @ 90 PSI. I regularly use it with a brad/stapler and a finish nailer without any issues.

I'm looking at getting a framing nailer, like a DeWalt 8.2 lb., or Hitach 7.5 lb. to use with it . I've downloaded and read the manuals for both nailers, and I still can't figure out if either might work.

Will such a little compressor work? Remember, I'm half-fast, so I'm not going to be putting out nails like I'm shooting a fully automatic assault weapon. If I can sink 3-4 nails quickly, and then have several minutes until I'm ready to nail the next 3-4 nails, will it work?

Any ideas? Any experience with this?

Thanks,
Ken

I've seen a lot of roofers use those little compressors, and they're moving pretty darn quickly, too. Course', those are roofing, not framing nails.

Ken, it needs to be 120 lb. to drive nearly any framing nail. Look at getting one that is rated 135 lb. or more. This will give you 120 at the hose.. i

Ken, I looked at the specs and cannot find the specs for air consumption. That model has 680 inch pounds @ 100 psi infeed pressure, model D581844 weighs .6# less and has 900 inch pounds at the same pressure. I'm unsure what the difference is between clipped heads and round heads. Both are stick feed, not coils.

I'd call them with the specs from your compressor and the length/ID of the hose you plan on running.

I've seen some nail guns running off of a CO2 tank, but don't remember if they are framing or finish nailers.

Have you looked into Paslode?

I have a impulse framing nailer, and it works great! No hoses to drag around, and not too heavy.

The roofing nailer I have, I believe is a Bosch. It's a Bostitch! I never used it yet, but every one else has. It even ended up in Florida for a month. I bought it so my brother could finish the roof on our shop after the guy who was "supposed to be working" on it, and with many excuses, ended up in jail on the other side of the state.

This guy even called us up to bail him out of jail.
Q: Can you bail me out?, I have to finish your roof yet!

A: Were putting the ridge vent in right now, Click!

I love my Porter Cable. I think it's 21 degree. Full head nails, plastic collated. Been beaten, used, and abused and still delivers. I run it at about 90 psi on the output side. Cycling between 90 and 100 psi in a 3 gallon tank will be repetitive. Ok for small jobs, but I wouldn't frame a garage with it.

My dad has a Porter Cable and a Paslode. Both have been used a lot and still work great.

I'm with JKB,try a paslode.I wish I never sold mine,great for any size job and once you use one you'll never want to deal with a hose again.

further to that point...if you must use an air hose...

If you are still using the old fashioned rubber pneumatic hose (you know...the red one that only coils and winds in one direction because it has a mind of it's own), you need to move along. Upgrade with hasty prejudice to the polyurethane air hoses. Night and day.

Been there. Done that.

We built a new home about 25 years ago. We contracted to install over-sized commercial gutters and downspouts on the new house (I hate cleaning leaves out of gutters). The gutter guy got about 80% done. He got the gutters installed. He installed about 2/3's of the downspouts.

He just disappeared, and I couldn't track him down. Before we started, I paid him 50% of the estimated job to get supplies.

So, we were without about 5-6 downspouts. None of the installed downspouts had elbows at the bottom. The 4-inch corrugated pipe heading to a settlement pond was never installed.

I finished the job myself.

About five years later, this dude appears at our door to get paid the remainder of what he was supposed to receive upon completion of the job! He threatened us with a lien against our property, along with a few other threats.

Lynda called the Sheriff's office while I was talking to him. The sheriff's office told her that this dude had been incarcerated for the past five years. They said they were sending a deputy to our property.

The dude left before they got there. We never saw him again.

We run bostitch (don't know if I spelled that right).. Work great and nails and parts are easy to get anywhere..

Yeesh! I was afraid of posting this. The US Army Corps of Engineers will not be approving my little projects. Even the county inspectors won't be looking at my projects.

I've got Porter Cable equipment that I've been very happy with. I've got a lot of other cheap-to-moderate tools, ranging from Harbor Freight, to Sears, to the big box hardware stores, but ...

These projects include several more above-ground temporary worm bins made from rough cut lumber, non-caving structure for additional 18-inch deep asparagus beds, and in-ground-mounted frames for temporary hoop houses and small high tunnels.

I'm just looking for something that will save me from slamming a 16 oz., hammer a few hundred times a day, over a few days.

Thanks all,
Ken

I have a mastercraft 3" nailgun and I have ran it with a small compressor( bradnailer) type lots and it works fine. I say try it!

I'm with Blair. Try it on some wood that isn't part of the project and if it works for ya, go for it. No need to overthink it. If you try the biggest nails that'll fit, and it drives them O.K. then you're set.

I've used the Bostich on the pavilion. It's my contractor's, but I have run it a good bit. Nice tool and he swears by it - uses it pretty much daily and has not had any issues. He also said the DeWalt is a nice nailer, too. I was looking at the DeWalt or the Bostich but haven't jumped yet on either.

We use paslode and senco and they work great on small compressors for what u describe. Also the paslode impulse cordless works great too...

Just make sure to get nails approved for outdoor use and ACQ approved if goin into treated wood...your gonna pay about more for that box of nails than the gun, but its worth it...u can even get ringshanked treated nails for outdoor use..

All I know is even the small family owned hardware store here in town sells bostitch fastners.. And not that I've paid attention but I've never seen a dewalt nailer and if there nailers are anything like there drills I wouldn't even use one to practice throwing stuff off the roof.. Just my personal experience with dewalt drills.. We also use a senco roofing nailer and a senco trim nailer..

The old Dewalt tools are fine but Black and Decker bought them out. So they are a b&d and not good enough to use a lot.

B&D bought dewalt huh did not know that but that explains everything.. Thanks for that little nug of info..

I have seen a lot of guys using 18v cordless guns for smaller projects I would not want to do an entire roof but for the ease I would look in to the Milwaukee line of cordless nailers.

This one is not pneumatic, but dang cool!

I am a Porter-Cable fan, but I do not own a framing nailer. I use an Estwing hammer.

If you are going to drive nails with a hammer, Estwing is the one to do it with!

Ken, I've used small compressors to drive nails and staples. You just have to stop after a couple of them to let the pressure rebuild. I have a Porter cable and a cheap one that came with a compressor. They both work OK.

The limitation is the size of the compressor tank.

BTW, I have 5 compressors from 220 volt down to a couple that are convenient to carry around.

Ken, I've got the porter cable pancake compressor, and like you usually just use it for finish nailing, but rather than drag out the giant compressor, i will carry the pancake around and use my porter cable framer as well.

Dave is right, you have to pause once and a while to let it air back up, but it works well enough. If you aren't careful you can half-drive a nail in, and have to polish it off with the ol' swingin' arm, but for the most part, it works well.

The same gun has a round clip for roofing nails, and it is that compressor that i use for any roofing projects as well. When contracting through college, I used the pancake on a daily basis (at least when a larger compressor wasn't on-hand), and in some cases, thought i was going to burn it out since it was just constantly running to re-fill. If you do a project like that, where the pancake runs and runs and runs (let's face it, it wasn't really designed for framing), just be sure to de-compress at the end of the day, and open the spigot on the bottom to let all of the water out of it before your next use.

-Skinny

edit: let the water out in the grass, it is full of rust and sludge, and will stain your driveway/garage/shop floor.

Why not use deck screws and a hammer drill?

To much of a PITA Dwight

I think the speed of shooting a nail in is a big plus when putting together a gazebo or other structure.

some applications, though, do require screws...like decking boards and such, but if a nail works, and you have a gun that shoots it in less than a second, why not use it?

Thanks all. I will still be using a lot of screws. When I'm working by myself, it sure makes it a lot easier to square things and tack them together with a nailer. Then I finish with screws.

There are a couple of Bostitch and Cable-Porter finish/framing nailer kits. I'll probably pick one of them up on Friday when I go to town.

I don't know what my old "portable compressor" weighs, but it doesn't fit in my tractor loader bucket. It is a vertical unit on wheels, but it is only somewhat portable, even in the shop. I'm thinking it goes about 200 lbs, so it isn't real portable. I almost never use it anymore. I just hate to get rid of it, as it is good for painting. The impact wrench is real handy once or twice year, and the air hammer was invaluable when I removed a bunch of ceramic tile. I've still got one more bathroom to go.

Again, thanks.

Ken, if you are going to use screws plus nails,it would be O.K. to tack with the finish nailer. They are pretty strong as long as there is not to much pressure or weight on the members.

agreed on the amount of weight they can handle, but my PC finish nailer, I dont know about yours, only holds nails between .75" and 1.5". If you need to go through anything bigger than a 2x4, the nails aren't reliably set enough to hold something square, at least in my level of relative inexperience.

-skinny

You are using a brad nailer which is great for window and door casing as it is so thin that it will not split on the edges. A finish nailer uses nails 2 1/2" long. Brad nails are 18 ga. and finish nails are 16 ga.

aha...like i said...limited experience.

Skinny and Kenny sounds like a "modern" couple.

For screws, I like the SPAX Brand. T-Star drive and high quality extended bits. These things really hold!

I've never stripped one out, or broken one yet.

My Mom's wheelchair ramp is about as solid as they get!
(a wee bit over engineered )

A bit on the pricey side, but good stuff!

i just use the 25 lb. buckets of deck screws from big box stores. They have worked fine with maybe a hand full of bad ones. Of course I thought 16d gal. would last forever, they rust out after 25 or so years. Been there,replaced them,got the T-shirt.

I'll take square drive over phillilps any day, and I'd take Torx drive over square drive just as quickly.

Torx is the best but they don't have them in the 25 lb. buckets here. Actually with my stunted fingers, the phillips are faster to load.

Thanks all.

I need to get a bunch of things done over the next few weeks.

I was ready to do an online order, but I had to go into town today for a doctor's appointment.

Where we live, we are fortunate that our TSC, Lowes, Sears, Home Depot, and a major Walmart store are real close to each other -- and just across the highway from my doctor's office.

I made a round through all the stores. Then I went back to Sears, where I bought a Craftsman $200 finish nailer for $70, and a $300 framing nailer for $100. These were returned units, with no cases, no manuals, no accessories -- no nothing, except for one year warranties.

I took a chance on the prices.

I went next door and bought a bunch of nails for both nailers from the local Lowes store.

I downloaded the manuals for both via the Intenet.

As far as I can tell, both nailers work exactly like they should.

If I don't post for a few days, it means I've nailed one of my fingers or hands to something far away, and I cannot get to my keyboard until I chew my way free.