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nail driver

18 years ago

i'm building some fences...one for privacy and one for compost. so far, i drill then drive a nail...hard for me to do. i thought of air tools, but they get xpensive and need careful maintenance. not sure i have those skills. so, any suggestions on what would make my work a tad easier?

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Comments (10)

john_c
18 years ago
Have you ever thought about buying one, finish your project,then sell it. Cuts cost, and no maintenance to worry with, or cheaper still go rent one, whatever you rent make sure you can find the nails for it locally. You may want to consider alum. nails, they don't leave rust streaks as the fence ages.
woodsrunner55
18 years ago
Maybe I'm missing something here, but if you already have the drill out, why not just get some decking screws and use those?
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nevada_walrus
18 years ago
Not sure why you are drilling unless its to make hammering in the nail easier.

What about one of those nail guns that use 22 shells to drive the nail. No compressor, hoses or electrical cords to drag around. Then as John said sell the gun when the projects are finished.
machiem
18 years ago
Why are you drilling?
hippy
18 years ago
My bet would be that you are using the thinner fence boards. If so I would reccomend drilling them if you plan to use nails due to the splitting issue.

Screws would work just fine if you do not try to bury the head in the lattce or post.

Thought of renting a nailer?
giventake
18 years ago
The people who make fenceing use a staple gun, not much spliting and they hold fine..
tkendr01
18 years ago
For privacy fence, I use a coil siding nailer (which are rentable). The nails are small, galvanized ring-shank about 1-3/4" long. They countersink.
If you want to go cheaper, use a medium-crown air stapler, also rentable. For the compost bin, I would definitely use the air stapler.
tkendr01
18 years ago
The nail guns which use 22 shells to drive the nail, for the number of nails you have to drive, will be fairly expensive on a per-fastener basis. These powder guns are better suited to fastening to concrete and the special hardened nails required are the same diameter as a 10D common nail. There is no depth control - it's determined by which powder charge (color-coded shell) is used.
There are also butane-powered nailers which are cordless. The ones that I have seen only use framing nails (too big) or finish nails (too small).
nevada_walrus
18 years ago
I wasn't sure about costs on the 22 shell nail guns. Just thinking of not having to lug around a bunch of stuff. Sure would be nice to just have the nail gun out on a fence line.
hippy
18 years ago
I think that he is nailing a fence together. Not concrete and steele. Using a nail gun that uses 22 cal. blanks to power it would drive the nails into the next county.

You can get a

DeWalt 18 Volt, 16 Gauge, Cordless 20Âº Angled Finish Nailer for around $225. It uses 1 1/4 to 2 1/2" finshing nails.

Paslode Cordless Framing Nailer or Finish nailer for around $380. It uses both a battery and CO2 cartidges to power it. Or you can get the complete kit for $600.00. You can shoot nearly 1000 nails from a single CO2 cartridge.

They are tons of different types of Pneumatic and cordless nailers on the market. The thing is. Do you want to spend the money for just one project or would renting a nailer and compressor be a better choice?

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