As you might already know, Milwaukee has come out with a new line of M18 Fuel brushless nailers.
Here is some more info, in our hands-on with Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel cordless nailers.
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I’ve put some more time in with the 18 gauge brad nailer (Milwaukee 2740), but not quite enough yet for a full review or final verdict. My opinion right now is that this is definitely a capable nailer, and one with few faults.
John S wrote in, with a few concerns he saw brought up in another review, mainly:
- Recoil
- Nail driving depth
- Overheating
Recoil
Yes, there’s some recoil. Air nailers have recoil, some more than others. This nailer has an air-like driving mechanism, thanks to its permanently sealed nitrogen piston technology. To be honest, I didn’t find the recoil to be notable. It’s something I’ll try to pay more attention to.
But no, it’s not a perfectly recoil-free tool.
Driving Depth
I’m seeing pretty consistent driving depth, nail after nail.
In his review, Rob from A Concord Carpenter tested the nailer in a scenario I hadn’t considered – driving brads at an angle. While driving depth and consistency is good at 90°, the tool does not perform as well at 45°.
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Overheating
Milwaukee designed their cordless nailers to meet the needs of professional users. There’s overheating protection, and it kicks in when the nailer is pushed very hard, very quickly.
Try to sink a strip of nails as fast as you can, and the nailer’s thermal protection WILL kick in.
On paper, this really sucks. In reality, you might not ever even become aware of this safety feature.
Milwaukee touts that their new M18 Fuel brushless cordless nailers have zero ramp-up time. What’s the point of this if the tool overheats when pushed to its limits? (That was tongue-on-cheek if you can’t tell.) Oh, but do contractors rapid-fire their nailers for long periods of time? No.
They pop off a few nails, move around, pop off a few nails, do something else, pop off a few nails. And often, the nail-to-nail timing is measured in seconds, not fractions of a second.
It’s not: pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.
Do that as fast as you can, and yes, you will trip the thermal shutoff circuit.
So what can it do?
- Sink nails consistently
- Sink nails at the pace you work naturally
What can’t it do?
- Sink nails as fast as you can operate the tool in bump-fire mode
- Sink nails as fast as you can operate the tool in sequential mode
Sorry, this isn’t the nailer for prolonged rapid fire.
- Consistently sink nails at an angle
Sorry, this isn’t the best nailer for angled nailing tasks.
Consider This
In my upcoming review, there will probably be a part of the verdict where I urge you to consider buying the tool if you’re interested enough, and that it should be from a retailer that has an easy return policy. If it the nailer doesn’t meet your needs, return it.
I don’t keep tools that serve my needs lousily, and neither should you. Well, at least not power tools. As mentioned in Buyer’s Remorse: Which Tools Do You Regret Purchasing?, I do keep some hand tools that collect dust from disuse. But there’s a difference between hand tools and a $349 cordless nailer.
You should definitely research your tool purchases, and lean on reviews to tell you what a tool can and cannot do, and how well.
There are times when a review will guide your purchasing decisions, and other times when a review should simply hone your expectations.
There’s nothing wrong with these nailers. But that also doesn’t mean they’re perfect for your needs.
That all said, what kind of questions do you have about the brad nailer? As mentioned, I wouldn’t have thought to test them at an angle, because that’s something I’ve never had to do with a brad nailer. Maybe there’s another test I failed to consider (hey, I’m not perfect!).
Oh, and here’s an embed of A Concord Carpenter’s review. I liked it enough to link to it twice!
Beaux
Robillard’s review is phenomenal. I watched it a couple weeks ago when it came out. Another review compares the Ryobi to the Milwaukee by rapid firing for as long as possible. Of course, the Milwaukee overload protection kicks in. He gives the nod to the Ryobi based on price(which IS a major factor for some) and the lack of long-standing bump firing as well as “recoil” on the Milwaukee. Robillard’s review is much more real-life, in m opinion. My new Milwaukee 16ga angled cordless nailer is on the UPS truck for delivery as we speak. I’ll know tonight how well it works. Keep up the good work, Stuart! LOVE your site!
Benjamen
I’m not as convinced, he makes a lot of excuses for the Milwaukee especially the thermal shut down. It even happened 8? times during his test. While I don’t think that most people are going to ever see it, you should still never see it happen anyway. It doesn’t happen on the airstrike at least according to Rtr
As for angled, he breezed over that without mentioning that you can’t sink at an angle from front to back. Rtr mentions this and I can back this up with my own testing. This is a huge problem.
I also haven’t sunk one brad to the proper depth using bump fire mode. Most of the brads were proud about 1/8″ to 1/4″ and this was for 1″ brads. I can’t figure out if I’m doing something wrong or if this is a defect.
I don’t hate this nailer, it’s well constructed and thought out, and I do like using it. I’ve never used the AirStrike though so I can’t directly compared the two. I guess If I had purchased this nailer for $350 and knew there was a nailer out there that was lighter and that outperformed what I had and went on sale regularly for $100, I would be pissed.
Travis
I feel like everyone is being so lenient on this nailer with the reviews that are out. Nobody wants to bash Milwaukee for putting out a poorly designed nailer since everyone so far has been sent the nailer for testing at no or minimal cost. Everyone was wanting to love these nailers so much.
To me, It seems a bit ridiculous these nailers are to be upgrades from the Ryobi AirStrikes yet weight almost the same, dimensionally are almost the same, have worse LED lighting, have trouble setting nails when the Ryobi’s do not seem to, and cost 3 times the price. Personally, the only TTI cordless nailer I own is a Ryobi AirStrike stapler. All I can say is that it has performed flawlessly, albeit a bit heavy, but no cords!
I have been using the DeWalt NiCad 18v nailers (16ga, 18ga, and 15ga) for over 10 years with very little trouble except a few flywheels wearing out. The 18ga brad nailer has always been able to sink any nail in any material I have shot them into, from nearly any angle I have placed the nailer on, within reason. I am a bit disappointed in DeWalt for taking so long to come out with a 20v version of the 16ga that overall wasn’t that much smaller or lighter than the 18v nailer. And where is the 18ga nailer DeWalt!?!? I am still currently using my DeWalt 18v nailers with lithium post batteries. Eventually, I may update the lineup when I find an improved nailer.
John
I agree with the angle driving issues. That seems like a clear miss on engineering, research, and real world testing. Though interestingly enough, I didn’t see a single review actually using the non-marring pad so perhaps that has a play into helping engaging safety lock on angles. That may also help the recoil and/or perhaps the driving depth.
The rest I’ll probably never run into or could deal with i.e. never going to use bump fire and not likely to run into driving so many at a time as to run into overheating etc. If I’ve already invested in the battery ecosystem then I can make some balance of wants/needs for cost/investment. Those runtime and abuse “tests” seem more gratuitous for entertainment on video reviews than anything I can take away as real world use and review for making a buying decision.
John
It would also be interesting to see the other nailers in the line up as well. I would imagine the angle driving issue is less of an issue on the other”angle” finish nailers as their nose depression trigger is much wider and angled itself for just those obvious angle driving needs.
david a
I watched both reviews (concord carpenter and Real Tool Reviews). Cc really put in a lot of time and effort testing, while RTR seems to have invested all his efforts finding reasons to bash Milwaukee (though I think Milwaukee engineers ought to sit down and watch it to improve it)
That said I think Milwaukee should address the concerns about the leds, angle firing and increase power in bump firing.
Regarding thermal shutdown, beside the point that you’re probably abusing the tool if that happens, I still much rather it shut down than ruining the tool.
Regarding the Ryobi, I own it and I have to say it is really useful. That said it has a lot of issues, namely very poor line of sight, doesn’t work if it’s cold and I can’t go through a strip of nails without jamming.
david a
I forgot to add that ryobi with their horrible plastic tip isn’t either easy to fire on an angle
Benjamen
The pad comes on foot of the brad nailer. It is a small plastic piece that sits over the foot. No one mentions it because it is shipped on the brad nailer already. It is removable, but I don’t know why you’d take it off other than to replace it.
John
I wouldn’t remove it either, my point was interestingly enough it just looks like from these reviews they did remove it for the reviews (or I could be mistaken because if it is there, its really small and I can’t tell). Compare this to the AirStrike’s foot pad which is much more pronounced and wraps ‘around’ the entire tip from the back to the front which gives you the angled depression on the foot lock. I wonder if a different designed non-mar foot could be subsequently released to address the angle issues and replace the current one giving you more angle in situations where you need it and can compromise on total tip size being larger on those situations.
Benjamen
It’s tiny, it just covers the foot.
https://goo.gl/photos/h3auTELygVBPjzQw9
Benjamen
Here’s it on the foot:
https://goo.gl/photos/yvrTFBJTEoNoVRDGA
Benjamen
I shot about 50 brads before lunch trying to figure out the angle nailing and bump firing.
To get the bump firing to consistently drive below the surface you have to almost slam the nailer onto the work piece. Much more so than with the pneumatic nailers I’ve tried. At that point the shoe leaves a pretty good mark (at least in a 2×4).
For angled shots, you can tip the nailer forward about 10 degrees before it stops firing. It buries the brad heads pretty consistently.
You can tilt it back as long as the back of the gun has clearance, but the head comes away from the surface and this is where you get really inconsistent brad driving.
You really should be able to tilt the gun forward at least 45 degrees and still be able to fire a brad.
Benjamen
After putting up some paneling with the brad nailer today I have some further thoughts.
In Rob’s video, the test he put together is assuming that you are going to put up molding or trim with the nailer. If you are using it to put up paneling I can see that you might hit the shutdown legitimately.
I put about 60 brads in one piece of paneling that was about a quarter sheet in about 3 minutes. Then I had to put another 50 into a piece that was a little smaller. I didn’t hit the thermal shutdown, but it did stop because I was low on nails on the second sheet. I had five nails left.
That left me thinking that if I was putting up full 4×8 sheets of paneling on a wall, you’d go through a lot of brads in a short time. Maybe not 60 per quarter sheet, (it was for a two step half wall in my garage, so there was the outline and the studs in the middle and some blocking) but enough over a few full sheets that you’d probably hit the shutdown.
I also figured out if you really put pressure on the gun when you are driving at an angle (side to side) you get more consistent depth.
John A
I’m happy with my ryobi, just regret not returning it to get the combi kit they had on sale with finish & Brad nailer.
I’ve driven over 500 Brad’s with no issues and with the black Friday (or just after) price of $109, I don’t regret it.
Remember, usually, those red and yellow brands will take more green!
Jacob Edmond
Real Tool Reviews comparison review, as well as the Ryobi garage door opener have me rethinking my stance on Ryobi cordless tools. There may be room in my lineup for them after all, especially considering the price point.
I was really interested in the garage door opener when it came out, but felt disappointed it was from Ryobi. Now that the airstrike seems to be the defacto best pick for a cordless nailer, price consider, I feel like I could make the leap to get back into the One+ lineup at least for these two and not feel too bad about it.
abnormalist
Glad I’m not the only person who wanted to come here and say “But my cheap green ryobi works great, drives brads through oak into oak all day long… and only cost me $100 +change… why would you buy this if its worse, and 3.5x the cost?” I avoided it to not be the inital fanboi, but now that the path has been cut…
My little green machine was awesome at putting together a little picnic table for the kids. Done out of all hardwood pallet wood (kiln dried oak in this case)
Sank all the brads below flush without breaking a sweat. NOT regretting that purchase
Jon
Because Ryobi is terrible with warranty claims, while Milwaukee is excellent. Ryobi will take 8-12 weeks and still deny an obvious warranty issue over some technical matter, whereas Milwaukee will have your tool back in your hands in 2 weeks, tops, with no hassle whatsoever. And the nearly worthless Ryobi warranty becomes completely useless if you use it professionally, or in any way that their warranty people will suspect may have been professionally.
I have both systems, but I would not rely on the Ryobis for production use unless I was planning to just purchase another when one breaks down.
RKA
I just received my M18 18 gauge nailer and wanted to caution your readers. Make sure you have the option to return this nailer!
I placed a little too much faith in Milwaukee. If Ryobi can do it, why wouldn’t Milwaukee be capable. The answer is I have no idea, but it’s not. I just tested 8 2″ nails into 2-2×4’s. I max’d out the depth adjustment and it consistently left the nails about 1/32-1/16th proud. This was driving them perpendicular to the surface, not at an angle. Considering the claim it will sink 2″ nails into hardwood, I’m a little pissed. Not sure whether I want to exchange it for another or try to return it. Unfortunately it wasn’t purchased locally, which complicates things a little.
RKA
I spoke to the retailer this morning. They weren’t willing to test another unit prior to shipping, but they were willing to send out another unit. If that doesn’t meet my expectations they will take them both back and provide a refund. Unfortunately, they haven’t heard any feedback from other customers since they just began shipping these, so it could be a one off issue or a pattern. No clue, but I’ll report a follow up after I get the second unit.
RKA
Just a quick follow up in case anyone finds this in their hunt for a cordless nailer. The replacement Milwaukee nailer arrived. This one was better than the last, sinking 80% of the nails, the balance were ever so slightly proud. But, it also deformed the heads of all the nails and the drive pin left indentations in the work piece.
In comparison, my air gun and a porter cable cordless and a Ryobi cordless all sunk the nails consistently and cleanly with no additional marks on the work piece. So the Milwaukee has only one advantage over the others…it’s compatible with your existing M18 batteries. Disappointing.
Chris Fyfe
I got hold of one in 18ga. , I like it , my Paslode will be going to a good home .
No downsides so far .
Chris
glenn
Here is something interesting.
The nailers have just been announced as “coming soon” on Milwaukee Australia’s website. The 15ga and 16ga nailers are there but no 18ga nailer. Hmmmm.
Matt
I haven’t read one legitimate good review of this nailer. Somehow my DeWalt Nicad cordless 16gauge always does the job and its 6 years old. I hear many good reviews on the ryobi. Milwaukee is going to to take a hit in this investment.