I've had mine for about a year and I love this gun. It's so much easier to grab this out of the backseat of my truck and start nailing than it is to grab a pneumatic gun, the compressor, the hose, finding an outlet and tripping over the hose as I'm trying to nail with it. For a small job you can be in and out with this gun before you even get the compressor set up. As long as you keep the gun lubed and clean you will rarely have a problem with it. I use mine for trim, woodworking and finish work with great results. In fact, I haven't used a pneumatic brad nailer since I got this, and I have 3 brad nailers that are collecting dust because of this gun. I've used different brands of nails and they all seem to work well. At the price this gun may not be for everyone, But everyone that uses it will want one Paslode 901000 18 Gauge Finish Nailer
i have used one of these for a few years and it has been a real time saver. beats seting up a compressor even on midsize jobs.
pros.
-power to sink nails in to hardwood. (i work with alot of oak)
-lots of shots to battery and gas
-belt clip is handy (clips on most step ladder stays)
Cons.
-loud
-not angled
-very tempermental
-must be cleaned atleast once daily maybe more if you are shoting alot.
-gas is not cheap AND HAS A SHELF LIFE. if you cant use a box in less then a year or it had been sitting on the shelf at the store for awhile it will go bad cusing misfires. CHECK THE DATE ON THE PACKAGE(or canister)
-aside from gas and nails you need to buy paslode brand cleaner spray and oil
I'll get right to the pros and cons.
Pros-
Obviously, convenience- sometimes you don't need to lug in a whole compressor setup for just handyman type work.
Good Case.
Cons & Problems-
This thing misfires just like the other Paslode Cordless guns, but not as bad as the framing gun.
Gas intake valves have been faulty twice (My company owns three of these suckers) - a 50 Dollar repair.
The driving pin gets constantly stuck, even with constant care and lubrication.
The tip mecanism broke off completely on one gun.
During heavy construction usage, battery charger A/C unit is easily compromised. (The power conection is weak)
In general, it's good to have around in a pinch, but don't count on it to do any serious work, you'll end up costing yourself more time, money, and frustration.
Note: The newest model of 18 gauge has seemed more solid and reliable, I've only used it a handful of times, but time will tell.
Have used Paslode's cordless framing gun @ work(carp. local #174 Joliet, IL.) and they have worked great so I went and got one of these trim guns @ H.D. and it is a great, lightweight, easy-to-use, time saving tool. I don't know why I waited so long to buy one-it is a small price for such a great piece of equipment-kudos to Illinois Tool Works. Treat them with care and they'll last forever. The storage case is durable and logical to use.
Be advised that Paslode's MSRP for this product is lowered to $ 259.00 so don't pay above that. You can get it with free shipping for $ 249.00 if you look around- Nail barn and elsewhere.
Awesome product, free of cords, hoses and heavy ancillary equipment. If you are not a pro, the only drawback is the shelf life of the fuel cell. This is offset in part by the fact that the same fuel cell works in the 16 gauge finish nailers. If you are not a pro though, is it worth paying so much more than pneumatic? Decisions decisions.
If your looking for a cordless finish nailer pass this one up and go to the newer [nailer] by Paslode. The price is about the same to [a little] more... I own two of these and there are times when the cylinder head gets in the way of nailing corners and under toe kicks It's a good nailer but it has been obsoleted by its brother ...
No one wants to drag around a hose and compressor. And, after working with a carpenter who uses 3 of these guns I was very impressed. Although the price was quite high the benefit seemed to outweigh the cost.
Upon receiving the gun it did not work and it was a lot of hazzle to return the defective product for another. So, Paslode repaired it free of charge. It then worked as advertised for perhaps 200 or so brads. Then it quit working again. I took the gun back to the repair shop where they told me the piston was bad! After about 2 weeks I got the gun back. It fired ONE brad perfectly and then stopped working again. Back to the repair shop where they told me it was a wiring issue. After this repair, I got the gun home, fired a few brads and the gun jammed (I was using the correct brads).
The repair shop told me these guns either work or they have lot's of problems. So, it seems I got one of the many duds.
I can't afford to experiment (gamble) with price heavy tools. Therefore, while the Paslode concept is excellent I highly recommed you save your money until someone develops a product that is high quality & dependable(which Paslode is NOT).
UPDATE - December 27, 2009:
I once again started using the gun installing baseboards for a friend. After about 2 racks of nails the gun quit working again. I took it apart for cleaning but this did not help. So, it's back to the repair shop.
There is simply no way I would ever recommend this nailer to anyone given it's high cost and exceptional maintenance needs.
I have this 18 ga and the 16 ga angled nailers. They both have worked flawlessly for over 6 months and a couple thousand nails. I use the 18 exclusively for crown and fine mouldings, and the 16 when there's a few pieces of base or casing. I still keep a compressor and air gun when I have a lot of nailing to do.
I've used this finish nailer for the past few weeks and it has worked flawlessly. I did find that you must depress the end of the nailer completely against the material being nailed in order for the depth of the nail to be consistent, but that was just learning to use the tool. I have found problems in purchasing the finishing nails for this gun. Even on line, the 5/8 inch nails are not available. I ended up buying 1 inch, 1-1/4 inch and 2 inch finishing nails to handle most of the tasks I expect. I would recommend this finishing nailer for anyone needing a finishing nail gun without the cumbersome hoses and compressor of most nail guns. - Nail Gun - Tools'
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