Nail guns!

[daniely87]

hey, considering purchasing a nail gun, can someone please advise me! the main use will be for nailing wood cladding / ship lap 25mm thick to 25mm batton, undecided whether to secret nail it or just nail the face on show, (so nail lengths would be slightly longer) but..the confusing thing is the gauges....16 or 18 gauge? or anything different? can an 18 gauge take 16 gauge nails or vice versa? from wikipedia i was under the impression 18 gauge is smallee / for more delicate things yet 18 gauge =1.8mm where 16 = 1.6mm? seriously confused! been looking at dewalt ones with a compressor too, as could do with a compressor.....any help would be much appreciated.....thanks

 

[gregers]

yep you could kill 2 birds with 1 stone as you need a compressor.
i too have a nail gun with compressor set up,
also have a dewalt nail gun,but really the ones ive got are really only 2nd fix pinners where as the paslode nail guns seem more substantial .

 

[big-all]

18 gauge small size pins
great for cabinet back pannels' blind nailing 9mm txg cladding and small trim[9mm quad for example]
also great at supporting dado till the no nails/clue goes off

16 gauge is about twice the strength and ideal for second fix

 

[crank39]

16 and 18 gauge whether interchangable is irrelervent as they are used in 2nd fixing like beads and architraves so neither will be man enough to hold your shiplap with any great strength. Paslode IM65A and DeWalt 618 are both 2nd fix nailers, paslode is 16 gauge, dewalt is 18 gauge, i had both but sold the dewalt because the paslode just held things a lot firmer.

For heavy work like that you'll need a 1st fix gun, see paslode IM350, i have one and swear by it, but if its air powered ones your after then i can't comment on brands as i've havent used them.

If its gas/battery then paslode or hitachi will do the job