The other day I talked about some of the things I learned about the new Milwaukee M18 cordless nailers, but I forgot something. Rather than silently update the post, I saw the potential to spin it into a new discussion.
As we talked about before in the preview post of the new brushless nailers, there will be a brad nailer and 3 styles of finish nailers:
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- M18 Fuel 16 Ga Straight Finish Nailer (2741)
- M18 Fuel 16 Ga Angled Finish Nailer (2742)
- M18 Fuel 15 Ga Angled Finish Nailer (2743)
Why is Milwaukee coming out with 3 different finish nailers?
Related: Here’s the difference between DA and FN 15 gauge finish nailers
The answer is simple: Milwaukee didn’t want to leave anyone out.
Some users, especially those coming from Paslode equipment, prefer 16 gauge angled finish nailers. Others prefer 15 gauge angled finish nailers, which I believe to be a more popular size. And then there’s the straight finish nailer, which is useful for certain applications.
I rarely use a finish nailer, and when I do, it’s my Ridgid 15 gauge angled finish nailer, or whatever model I happen to be testing or reviewing.
I was told that user preferences can vary depending on several things, including the part of the country you’re in. That’s not something I would have guessed – that certain finish nailer styles would be more popular in some parts of the country, and less popular in others.
So that brings me to the question of the post:
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What kind of finish nailer do you use or prefer? If you don’t mind, what region are you in? For example, northeast, southwest, midwest, etc.
Mike McCarthy
I bought a bostitch 15 gauge angle finish nailer because I wanted the heaviest nail I could find for a project, while it is a good nailer it is not an all purpose nailer, I found it too big for crown and trim applications so I still had to buy an 18 gauge Brad nailer. If I Had of bought a 16 gauge I likely would have only needed one. I live in Newfoundland Canada and all sizes and styles are available to me.
Dewalt sickness
Ive been a carpenter for almost 25 years and ive never used a 15 gauge nailer. I hang doors with a 16 gauge 2 1/2 inch nail then for the trim i use 18 gauge 1inch or 1 1/4 and for outside nail i use 18 gauge 2″. I have all dewalt nailers but since ryobi came out with theirs, i also use them instead of switching nail lengths. Ryobi is a very good tool as long as you have the big batteries. This is what i use in wisconsin
mike aka Fazzman
I havent really used one honestly,but i could use one,actually a pinnerwould be better for my needs. Repairing our crappy drawers and such in kitchen is where i would use it.
If i were to get one it would definately be angled just for more clearance etc etc. No idea which one id go for since there’s many to choose from and havent done much research.
cb
I have a 15ga finish nailer. This nail is beefy enough for installing door jambs and heavy crown. I also have two 18ga nailers for trimwork. One will shoot a full 2″ nail. I consider 16ga an in between size… too light for some things and too heavy for most trim.
Ralf
In the same boat here. Did a bunch of research before purchasing and ended up with a 15ga and an 18ga. One big point was that a 16ga is still a flat brad type and the 15ga is a round nail. Hitachi recons on both and very pleased with them. Next purchase is a pinner.
Travis
I have been using the DeWalt 18v nailers (16ga & 18ga) for almost 10 years now. Each gun has needed to be rebuilt/repaired once in that time. I am a trim carpenter by trade and these see a workout as I only had brought out my compressor for the 23ga pin nailer. I cannot recommend these finish nailer enough. Albeit heavy, they are workhorses.
I will likely upgrade the 16ga to the 20v version, although I don’t see much improvement in size or weight, once the 20v 18ga nailer is released. Come on already DeWalt! It is a bit ridiculous now.
I also purchased the Makita 23ga LXT 18v nailer. I can say it works but power is quite low. It is convenient but I am a bit underwhelmed overall with its performance.
Travis
I forgot to mention: I also have the Ryobi 18v One+ 18ga cordless stapler. It is heavy but works great. I have only just started using it but boy have I been happy to have it. Great price point too.
John A
Ryobi, works fine, nice price.
Noah
I use three guns the most:
23 ha headless pinner
18ga brad nailer
18ga finish stapler
Chance
I’m in the Midwest. I use all styles of finish guns EXCEPT, I have never purchased a 16 gauge angled, and I never expect that I will. When I trim out a house my main guns are a 15 gauge angled and a 18 gauge brad. I used to use 16 gauge straight on the job but I like the heavier 15 gauge nails better for installing doors, and with the larger trim, and doing more architectural style trim lately I like the larger nails for that as well. I use a 16 gauge straight in the cabinet shop for assembling cabinet carcasses and applying face-frames to carcasses where I can’t use Kreg screws.
Drew M
I don’t have a finish nailer… yet. But I’ve been thinking I should get one. I was thinking if I got one, either a cordless or maybe a Hitachi pneumatic would be good.
Tool Fan
I’m sure you’ll have a Hitachi cordless option before the end of the year.
Norcal
The 18ga. Ryobi cordless has been my go to gun. I had to pull the trigger because at the time the Ryobi was the only true battery available.
I don’t like to use 15 ga on doors. I have had better results installing GRK trim head screws. They create a small round hole that fills nice with filler.
I’m on the west coast so most trim products are primed wood or MDF.
Scott
Previously, I used a Paslode impulse straight 16 ga finish nailer. I believe this to be the perfect nail gauge for all interior molding applications. Long enough nails (and large enough heads) to hold baseboard tight to a wonky wall, but small enough head/gauge to easily hide the holes. Does not split small trim. Seems to be the best balance of holding power and small holes. However, in retrospect, I wish I purchased the 16ga angled nailer instead of the straight. The straight nailer has slightly cheaper fasteners, but is awkward in tight spaces.
I finally grew tired of the Paslode’s finicky behavior and expiring fuel cells, so I switched over to pneumatic. In pneumatic tools, I have a 15 ga angled nailer and a 18 ga brad nailer (straight). For interior work, I find myself using the 18 ga nailer much more. The 15 ga is too much nail for most molding applications, and leaves nasty holes in trim. That being said, I just used the heck out of the 15 ga nailer (with stainless fasteners) putting up cedar trim pieces on a fence and gate I constructed over the weekend – perfect application for that nailer. The soft, rough cedar hides the 15 ga nail heads fine.
If I was starting over from scratch, and I didn’t have a compressor and air hoses, I’d probably get one, battery-powered, 16 ga, angled nailer. That would service 90% of my needs.
Adam
I’m on the west coast. I have 16 & 18 gauge brad guns run with an air compressor. I use both but the majority work I do is with my 18 gauge. Usually when I’m joining wood I do so a dado or whatever with wood glue, so I using the brad more as clamping the wood while the glue sets up.
Lawson
Midwest, 2 Senco air finish nailers, both angled, 1 Porter pin nailer also air.
fred
I have a collection:
HITACHI NT65MA2 15GA ANGLED FINISH NAILER
PASLODE IM250A 16GA – ANGLED NAILER
PORTER CABLE BN200A 18GA BRAD NAILER
PASLODE IM200-F18 18GA BRAD NAILER
CADEX CPB21.50 21GA PIN NAILER
GREX P635 23GA PIN NAILER
What I use most in my shop/around home are the Hitachi and the Cadex. I bring the 2 Paslodes with me when I’m off to one of the kid’s places – eliminating the need for hauling a compressor.
When I worked we had several of the same Hitachi trimmers, Bostitch brad nailers, the same Paslodes and a few different Grex pinners.
Cr8ondt
Bostitch straight 16 finish and 18 brad, sometimes I use a Hitachi 18 Brad. All air power and live in Michigan.
Jon
Mountainwest area, 16 gauge straight MAX gun. It was purchased “for” me (deducted from my paycheck) by an employer when I started doing fiber cement siding installation. I have also used it extensively for trim molding and furniture assembly (just made a rotating shelf for my daughters this weekend).
What I like: Short, rigid refill sticks. They fit easily in a tool belt. I don’t have any feeding or jamming issues, I like that 16 ga is much stiffer than 18 ga so when I’m doing furniture or cabinet assembly I don’t have to worry about it deflecting so easily in the material. I saw my brother’s thumb after that happened to him, right before he switched to 16 ga straight Ridgid.
What I don’t like: Poor access in tight spots. My other brother has a Ridgid 15 ga angled that is great for that. And 16 ga is rather weak for door molding, where people often (foolishly) use the door molding to support things like baby bouncers or even chinup bars. My wife and I love watching fail video compilations on youtube (Fail Army is the best channel for that, btw), and I laugh every time I see someone hang a chinup bar in a doorway like that. It’s one thing back when all molding was solid wood and it was installed with 8D nails, set by hand. But in today’s world of MDF and pneumatic finish nails everywhere it’s silly to even try it and manufacturers really shouldn’t even offer it.
The downside to the angled guns, which I’ve used when someone I was working with had one, is the huge, floppy refills. And I haven’t purchased them, but I assume the 15 ga angled refills are a bit more expensive per-nail? More material, more complicated manufacturing process, takes up more space so higher distribution costs, etc. Just an assumption but I bet it holds up.
Jon
Yep. I just looked it up at mysupplycart.com (Air-O Fasteners, my favorite local distributor for all things fasteners) and 16 ga straight are 6.74 cents each when purchased in 2500 packs, while 15 ga angled are 9.6 cents each when purchased in 4000 packs. Mild steel, 2.5″ length in both cases. 50% higher per-fastener cost can add up if you’re doing work that would be just fine either way, but if you need the angled access then the cost makes sense. For putting up fiber cement siding trim I never had to get into tight access spots because I never had to nail within the last inch of the material, so straight absolutely makes sense there.
Also it holds up when you look at 16 ga angled (1.1 cents each) and 15 ga straight (7.7 cents each). The angled cost more than straight, so it’s not just the larger gauge wire.
Blythe M
Most trimmers in new construction I work with use 18g for most base/casing/trim and 15g for door jambs. 15g is fast for doors, but I also prefer to use grk trim screws when I can.
Midwest
Peter
I have an old Senco finish nailer that uses angled 15g nails.
Tom
18 gauge straight brad nailer from Hitatchi. Gets the job done and the holes are easy to fill. I do more cabinet construction and trim. I don’t think that a 15 would help that much and would give me a lot of work filling holes.
I live in the Northeast.
SawdustTX
Texas
23 ga. straight – love this thing for small work, mostly to clamp while glue dries
18 ga straight – heavily used for cabinet trim work
16 ga. straight – used for light construction and all house trim work. Never tried angled, but kinda wish I’d gone with angled for tight spaces
18 ga stapler – least used, but perfect for specific applications
mnoswad
Midwest, formerly Northeast.
ALL types for different tasks.
15ga for door jambs, base, case
16ga for misc. trim
18 ga for more than you’d think
18gs staples for misc stuff
I would need/want the full range to be in my tool box.
glenn
From Australia. Have had a Ryobi cordless18g nailer/stapler for many years. its not perfect but it works just well enough.
For my uses, I prefer the T50 staples over a narrow crown type due to the shorter length staples available.
I will be purchasing an 18g Milwaukee nailer down the track but I will have to keep the Ryobi due to the T50 capability, that is unless brand red bring out an M12 nailer/stapler?
Rhinozman
I use almost exclusively 21ga
I’ve probably sunk more than 2million in the last 3 years doing finish carpentry the holding power is on par with 18 and I find no real reason to uses 18s anymore
Also I find the 21 is quite a bit quieter than all 18s I’ve used that’s a big deal at the end of the day especially for the amount we use
The cadex is the best I’ve found for 21 as well I’ve tried the senco which is “nearly” rebranded and there is also a prime and one other made by cadex under a different title
The senco misfires which I attribute to being the B dies sold off by cadex or the company that supplies them the differences are not visual as far as I can tell so it has to be something different
Michael Eibling
I curious to hear your thoughts on the 21ga vs 23ga pins. What are you using them for?
RC Ward
Dewalt 18 gauge pneumatic , I use it for light wood working mostly, Southern California area
Dewalt sickness
Ive had my dewalt 16 gauge cordless nailer for about 15 years and its still going strong. My 18 guage i had to replace the hammer once but that is cheap and easy with ereplacementparts.com
John
Maybe someone can explain, other than perhaps the nail length why one would get a 16 gauge straight vs a 16 gauge angled nailer? I would think an angled nailer you could do both close tight quarters and exposed flat surfaces. Maybe I’m missing the advantage to having both when the angled gives more options (albeit longer nail length).
Dewalt sickness
The nails are alot cheaper for the straight nailers but the lengths are the same.
John
Well not quite, at least in the two models above nail length capacity is:
M18 FUEL™ 16ga Angled Finish Nailer – 1-1/4″ – 2-1/2″
M18 FUEL™ 16ga Straight Finish Nailer – 3/4″ – 2-1/2″
but again other than nail length i don’t see the advantage of the straight but I guess a slight increase in price of nail might be one thing, but a detail I could give up for flexibility.
Jon
You’re absolutely right about the tight access advantage with the angled gun, but the angled nails are more expensive (I have another comment here with a breakdown) and they take up more space, making them far less convenient to keep refills in a tool belt than the sticks of the 16 ga straight guns. This difference is even more pronounced when going to 15 ga angled.
fred
While I’m still much more enthused about the prospect or pneumatic-like performance from a cordless M18 Fuel gun, I just saw this piece in Woodworker’s Journal about the Grex GC1850 Brad Nailer – which looks a bit like the Paslode Impulse Guns – but uses AAA batteries
http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/grex-gc1850-cordless-brad-nailer/
John
That one was also discussed here as well:
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/grex-cordless-brad-nailer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The problem though I see is that now you have 2 more consumables, the batteries and the (likely impossible to find in stores) fuel cartridge. Plus at $499 it doesn’t look like you’ll be saving over the M18 in size and price.
Stuart
As John mentioned, something to consider about that Grex is that, yes, it takes common AAA batteries, but also fuel cells.
Each fuel cell can drive only slightly more nails than Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel brad nailer can driver per compact 2.0Ah battery charge.
That Grex nailer has a $440 street price, so cost-wise, you’re already spending more even before you drive that first nail.
Marty
Trim carpenter in Chicago
Pneumatic:
Paslode Power master framing nailer
Dewalt metal connector nailer
Ridgid 15ga only for door jambs
Paslode straight 16ga
Porter cable and ridgid 18ga
Ridgid 18ga stapler
Grex 23ga pinner
I also have the 18ga Ryobi 18v nailer, but I’m not super impressed with it.
I was waiting for Dewalt to come out with all of the different sizes so I can go full cordless, but I might have to hop on the milwaukee band wagon with all of their offerings. Not carrying a compressor around and having a quieter environment would make my life easier.
Troy
Northeast avid-DIYer and “family” carpenter here. I use the Dewalt 18v 16ga angled nailer. I agree with a prior comment that it is a heavy but that it is a workhorse; I like it a lot. I use it extensively for base, case, and general trim.
I actually own Husky pneumatic 18ga straight and 23ga pinner nailers, which I received as a gift. I use those for smaller applications and I have no complaints with the Husky’s thus far. I will likely buy an 18ga cordless in the near future to avoid pulling out the compressor. I might give the Ryobi a shot given the price point.
I usually do door jambs with trim head screws, so I’ve never felt the need for a 15ga nailer. I have no idea where I would use a 16ga straight nailer that I can’t use the angled. Seems to me the angle is more versatile.
Jon
The angle is definitely more versatile. But the nails are more expensive (more complicated to make the sticks that shape), so for heavy users the straight makes financial sense. The high volume pays for having a second gun.
Jon
Here’s what I don’t understand: Why doesn’t anyone make a cordless gun for medium crown, narrow gauge staples? I realize framing staplers are kind of a stretch for a cordless gun, but why not narrow crown? These are the standard, at least in this area, for installing soffit. In fact, the gun I’ve seen used most (I didn’t do soffit and fascia long enough to buy my own) was an Omer that is actually marketed to upholsterers, but it is absolutely perfect for soffit because of the width of the crown, the light gauge, and the ideally shaped nose, the small size, and light weight of the gun. Honestly I’ve never seen a traditional pneumatic gun that was designed for and marketed for soffit use, and I was specifically looking a couple years ago, and I’ve kept a curious eye out ever since.
M12 would be the perfect platform for a gun like that. It is used overhead 99% of the time, so the size and weight are important. And the staples are easier to drive than 18 ga narrow crown. So why not?? I’m confident they could market it to upholsterers as well. 🙂
Dewalt sickness
Ryobi 18 volt air strike 1/4 inch criwn stapler. $140 bare tool. Works awesome
@home.detail
All I use is an 18g dewalt 18v gun, perfect for crown base, casing, and will shoot tiny cabinet scribes that are only 3/16 thick and won’t split them.
Josh C
Just purchased a 18v 16ga angled from Milwaukee. I believe the larger size of the angled nail puts it in perfect alignment between the 16ga straight and the 15ga angled. Time will tell, but Home Depot had the set on sale for $80 off so I pulled the trigger. Previously I’ve been pre-drilling and using a hammer and finishing punch on each nail. Really doesn’t take that long after you get the hang of it, plus for floor trim I don’t use too many nails anyways. But figured this would speed things up a bit.
Jim Premo
16ga straight are a lot more economical than 15ga. If you are doing production trim, you can save over $2000.00 per year.
15ga will draw material into what you are nailing it to. Sometimes you want that and other times you don’t.
A 16ga is like an 18ga in that they will not draw in your material.