Tools | Pneumatic Nailers | Air Nailers
For anyone who’s installed baseboard, chair rail, or crown molding the old fashioned way – with a hammer and nail set – you’ll appreciate this week’s tool.
Pneumatic nailers for household use are a fairly new concept. Back in my father’s time, only builders and contractors had access to such high-tech equipment. Now, many vendors sell individual nail guns and nail gun kits for the average Joe. I bought my Portal Cable finishing nailer from Home Depot as part of a 3-nailer starter kit that included a brad nailer, a stapler, a finishing nailer, and a 1.5 gallon pancake compressor. Each nailer will prove useful depending on the level of hold, finish, and nail length you require for a project.
Application: A great first project for your first nailer is one that I’m again going to be undertaking in my living room: installing chair rail. I found a great video tutorial at Easy2DIY. Just substitute a finishing nailer in their “hammer and nail set” step, and their instructions go from good to great.
Around the Blogosphere: Jon McDougal uses a nailer to install crown molding, and questions whether or not he should use pre-fabricated corners. I prefer the mitre join better; but I understand his motivation to use the pre-fabricated corners.
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5 Responses to Tools | Pneumatic Nailers | Air Nailers
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January 15th, 2008 6:25 am
sometimes it’s tough to make pre fab corners seamless with the rest of the molding. but at the same time mitre cuts can also be difficult to negotiate.
January 15th, 2008 4:42 pm
Yeah, and while easy2diy’s instructions for chair rail look simple enough, I haven’t checked on their instructions for crown. The compound cut seems like it would be pretty difficult.
January 15th, 2008 6:07 pm
What’s funny/interesting is, when I was in my condo, I installed baseboards and mitred them, and maybe it was pure ignorance or pure luck, but I had little trouble at all…and this was a 25-year-old condo or so in which I’m sure things were not square/level/plumb.
Now, after reading all the trouble people have, I’m wondering if I’m “jinxed”… 
January 15th, 2008 6:43 pm
Mitreing baseboards is a little less complicated than the same task for crown molding. Baseboard lays squarely against the wall, where as crown leans out, requiring a compound saw to make outside cuts, and a more complicated coping cut for insides (you can also use the compound cut for inside walls, but the experts recommend the coping saw).
January 17th, 2008 10:15 pm
Fred,
Before starting a renovation on my current 1960s home, I finished a 1000′ basement using a hammer a nailset. This is my first adventure with a pneumatic nailer and I can honestly say I’ll NEVER go back to the manual method. I even invested in an 18v cordless nailer(DC618K from Dewalt) to work on future projects.
The work goes muuuuuuch quicker and I honestly think it is much cleaner because there’s no chance of stray hammer marks.
I tried coping angles manually on my old basement. I wasn’t very good at it. I’m sure practice would make perfect, but using the corner pieces is not only easier but also quicker. And saving time is critical when I can only really renovate on the weekends.
Yrs Trly,
Jon