Which Nail Gun Do I Need for My Carpentry Business?
Carpentry is a quintessential skill and a vocation with a wide array of applications – from joinery and home renovation projects to furniture building and bespoke items from wood. Any carpenter worth their salt has a toolbox full to the brim with specialised implements, from augers and awls to files and rasps – but an unsung hero of the carpenter’s tool kit is the humble nail gun. If you’re thinking of starting your own carpentry business, why should you invest in a nail gun, and which one do you need?
Why Do I Need a Nail Gun?
Nail guns are an indispensable tool in both construction and fabrication, driving nails into materials at high speeds and with high precision. For the carpenter specifically, nail guns are a useful way to bring a structure together with speed and accuracy. Carpenters that do not specialise in traditional joining processes will use nails to form furniture structures or build external projects such as decking. Nail guns expedite the process.
How Do Nail Guns Work?
Powered nail guns drive nails from a pre-loaded magazine into your material of choice. They do this via a piston system, which pushes on a separate mechanism to force the nail from the barrel into the material with force. A spring beneath the nail magazine loads the next nail in place for swift use.
Different nail guns are powered in different ways. Pneumatic pressure is a common way in which nails are fired, being fed by an air compressor or compressed air canister. Battery-powered models are becoming increasingly common, though.
How to Choose the Right Nail Gun
In terms of choosing the right nail gun for your carpentry business, your first concern should not necessarily be the result, but rather, safety. It would be unwise for a budding carpenter to buy an unknown quantity, whether a second-hand nail gun or an obscure brand with little in the way of customer testimony.
Milwaukee nail guns are a great choice when it comes to versatility. Their range of models are all lightweight and well-sized for the majority of tasks and share a battery type in common – enabling quick charges and simple use.
The Types of Nail Gun
Nail guns come in various types, each of which has its own benefits when it comes to specific woodworking projects. One nail gun may not be adequate for the totality of tasks you have before you. There are, in principle, four kinds of nail gun: the pin nailer, the brad nailer, the finish nailer and the framing nail gun.
The pin nailer is the smallest of the lot, loaded with small staples and used for upholstery work. Brad nailers are the most common form of nail gun, and generally the best option for smaller carpentry tasks. Finish nailers are also used in carpentry for larger joins, while the framing nailer uses 3.5” nails for the biggest projects from outdoor constructions to siding and wood cladding.
*This is a collaborative post.
