Do old guys need nail guns?

[retiredmgn]

I keep running into it but I keep dismissing it. I learned how to nail at 19 years of age while building FHA housing in the Portland area. Nail guns hadn't been invented yet. When nailing off a floor there was a skill that had to be learned and it 'wernt' easy. One had to learn to 'roll' nails in the left hand. Hammer hand never stopped. While right hand was hammering, left hand was manipulating a fistfull of 8 penny and once the hammer set the current nail the left hand had the next nail ready to go. It was a special thing when three guys would be nailing off a floor and a rhythm would start up. Tap, set the nail. Pound, sink it flush. Bang, set it below the surface. Three hits to a 8 penny. It was like a drummers troop. Everyone would try to stay in time. Tap, sink, set, tap, sink, set.
I was riding up a ski lift at Sugarloaf a couple of years ago. The other occupant was a 19 year old carpenter. We were talking current construction techniques and when nailguns came up he said, "Some of the old timers still do it the old fashioned way (an actual hammer)" A quick backhand to his nose left him stunned enough I was able to raise the safety bar and slide him out of the chair to the slope below. (kidding).
I suppose I have to invest in a compressor and nailgun at some point. I'm in no hurry. I know it will be faster and easier but there is that old age stubbornness - what I got works, why change it now.

 

[mmurphy]

I have nail guns but, still use hammer alot more than wasting time getting gun out. I find if you are doing work on old houses some times you do not know if nail penetrated any thing solid with a gun. Some times it is nice to hurry and getter done!

 

[MossflowerWoods]

A quick backhand to his nose left him stunned enough I was able to raise the safety bar and slide him out of the chair to the slope below. (kidding).

I totally understand the feeling. He probably needed it. This current "entitlement" generation kills me. My son is 26 and his personal life is a disaster but for some reason he insists he is "managment" material. I think we all did not smack our kids enough when they needed it and now they are all out of calibration... I know I'm guilty.:mur:

On the nail gun issue. I'm not even close to as good as you describe, but carpal tunnel in both wrists (prolly surgery in both in the next 3-6 months) and other issues are forcing me into the nail-gun zone. My only remaining decision is which one/ones to buy...

But it is not because we are old, ok. Kill that rumor now. You're not old, I'm not old, we are experienced... VERY Experienced maybe...:thumbsup:

Be well sir,
David

PS - Portland OR? I grew up there...

 

[20 20]

Now if you had said you build with wooden dowels that would have been different. I have and use nail guns, great for speed but most of all when toe nailing especially when your alone. I still grab a hammer and nail for a lot of stuff.
When we started building our house my son and I where out nailing all day{hammer nail}, wife gets home and says,"what's the matter with the hammer?" Of course son and I set there and stare at our hammers thinking we have a cracked handle or something{clueless moment}. Long story short, I forgot I owned a nail gun :laughing: :laughing:

 

[DJ54]

I still use a hammer for framing etc., although I did break down this summer, and bought a Porter-Cable finish nailer. I used it to hang the white oak on my stall fronts, shown in another thread in this section. Sure saved a lot of buggered fingers, and nail setting...

Most of my hammers are the Plumb, with fiberglass handles... All.., have a 3/8" hole drilled in the end, about an inch or so deep, of the handle, and filled with bee's wax. Sure makes the larger nails ( I still like to use ring shank mails) go in so much easier... A trick I learnd from my grandpa who was a carpenter. Just a little dab will do it...

Toilet bowl rings are a cheap source for this... They go a long way..!!

 

[forgeblast]

Love the nail gun, but use the hammer when too far from an outlet.

 

[bp fick]

Use them all. Hammer, finish gun and stud gun, etc. There's a place for all of it. Same with saws.

To me it isn't an "either/or" question, but a "both/and" kinda deal.

 

[Deere Dude]

After building a house about 20 years ago using a hammer because I was to cheap to buy a nail-gun because they were expensive then, I noticed from all the hammering, parts of my body were going numb. So I had to slow way down which I hated to do.
We built another house about 5 years ago and I found some HF framing nailers cheap enough so I bought a couple and the building process went a lot smoother and the body didn't hurt from hammering all day long.
I still hammer but very limited in duration.

 

[JimRB]

When my house was framed there was a carpenter and his crew. The crew practically was day labor even though it was his regular crew. No one seemed to be efficient besides the lead carpenter. I suppose a carpenter knows how to use a hammer, a chisel, a handsaw, file to sharpen handsaw, plumb bob and a framing square with numbers on it. A day laborer might know how to squeeze a trigger.

Last time I was patching my roof it was easier to unroll 200 feet of air hose to use the roofing nail gun. I started with hand nailing but my time was better spent getting out the nail gun. I happen to be somewhere between a day laborer and a carpenter closer to the carpenter level but still a long way from carpenter.

 

[g0rd0]

I too have a frameing nail gun, bradnailer and stapler (all 3 are compressor driven) along with a small assortment of hammers.
For small jobs lets face it the frameing nailer is BIG AND HEAVEY and it has a lot of hose to unwind and put away, so it is faster and easyer to use a hammer, but, when putting up a new garage or shed it cant be beat.
The brad nailer and stapler well lets say that I should have aquired them sooner. I use them a lot. They only need a small compressor and are quite portable and fast. Not to mention that there are no hammer marks on the project.
When it came time to put on ceader shingles I used the stapler with 1&1/4" galvenised staples. Fantastic!:thumbsup:
So, by all means get some of the new fancey smancey tools they are great additions. Just remember DONOT remove or ****** any safty device that are on them the er's are bussy enough without haveing to deal with low velosity gun shot wounds (wich is exactly what you are dealing with)

 

[Egon]

Old foks do need nail guns in the hand of young folks with lots of zest!:thumbsup:

In a serious mode they would make life easier for some of us. The arm gets tired after a lot of nailing which is not much nailing.

Screws and impact drivers are also very handy.

 

[bullbreaker]

I have lots of quality brand hammers and different types,size,weight,heads etc.Also own a Rigid frameing nail gun which has been fantastic !
At what age are we considered"old guys" because I'am 53 and need to know ? :laughing:

Boone

 

[Egon]

At what age are we considered"old guys" because I'am 53 and need to know ?
/QUOTE]

Oh I wish 53 was my age.:thumbsup:

When speeking of age of older people one main factor may be the inherited Genetics.:thumbsup:

My chronical age of 68 is not that great but in the last three years it seems that I have aged 20 years.

My 55 th. birthday was spent at a backcountry ski hut. Pack in all your own supplies.[35 pound pack] I would still have been capable of the trip at 63. For the 65 th. was going to repeat the trip.

On my 65 th. I was in a hospital all prepared for bowell surgery. A half hour before cutting time a Hospital Boiler had a firebox explosion. Surgery delayed for one week. The no fun preparation had to be repeated Things have gone downhill since.

 

[tmajor]

Nailers are big asset, when doing repeated procedures ... nailing sub floor, building frame walls, etc..

But, I think, one of the biggest advantages in their use, is when you only have one hand available. ... holding something in place with the other. When I was hanging new boards on my barn, I couldn't have held the board up in place, held a nail and driven it with a hammer. Plus, there were a LOT of nails!

Also, by the same token, building furniture is made easier. When a piece of molding is in place, one squeeze of the trigger and it's anchored right where you were holding it. And, as said before, the pin is set.

 

[Chilly807]

Nailers are big asset, when doing repeated procedures ... nailing sub floor, building frame walls, etc..

But, I think, one of the biggest advantages in their use, is when you only have one hand available. ... holding something in place with the other. When I was hanging new boards on my barn, I couldn't have held the board up in place, held a nail and driven it with a hammer. Plus, there were a LOT of nails!

Also, by the same token, building furniture is made easier. When a piece of molding is in place, one squeeze of the trigger and it's anchored right where you were holding it. And, as said before, the pin is set.

This echoes exactly what I was going to type myself.. spot on.

As for which one to get, a decent finish nailer won't be regretted, but the framer can be cheap and nasty unless you plan on using it all day every day. We just finished building a barn with a cheap Canadian Tire framer ($99 on sale), and although a Paslode was used for some of it, the CTC cheap gun held up well.

Sean

 

[ultrarunner]

One of the local high end custom builders is very cautious with nail guns and I asked him about it.

He said when one his carpenters drives a nail, they know it hit home unlike the guys that go like a bat or of *ell and miss an entire row and end up with shiners.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I am not that old, 38, but I have invested in nail guns and can not believe I had not years ago. I bought a Craftsman Magnisum Coil Roofing Nailer, a Campbell Hausfeld Stick Framing Nailer, a Bostich 2" Brad Nailer and also a 2.5" Finish Nailer, and a Porter Cable Stapler.

Man are they handy. I roofed a garage in 1/3 the time with the roofing nailer. Used the stick nailer to build multiple things from a 52x32 pole barn to a 18x42 3 tier deck. The Stapler has been priceless for putting down OSB on the roof of that garage and also on the walls of my shop. The finish nailer gets the least use. I use the 2" brad nailer most of the time to put up trim with colored nails. It makes 1/4 round a breeze.

I am not brand loyal. I started out with a Bostich Framing Nailer and then the replacement also had issues so I went with the Campbell Hausfeld. I basically bough what was on sale and got the roofing nailer and finish nailer off EBAY but they were new items.

Chris

 

[jinman]

I find that most carpenters with nailers also have huge piles of scrap. Nobody seems to want to break out the claw hammer and clean bracing lumber with a few nails in it. There's nothing that works as good as a claw hammer, crowbar, and a 2x4 block for cleaning lumber. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but it gripes me to no end to see a nice piece of lumber with a few nails laying on the scrap pile.

On the other hand, I find most folks building concrete forms and using hammers and form nails also clean and conserve their lumber when possible.:thumbsup:

 

[grsthegreat]

Im an electrician and even i own two 16d nail guns and a finish nail gun. hehe.

Cause im a lazy sack. I can pound a 26 oz hammer like the best of them, and have the waffle printed thumb to prove it (not).

But i value my wrists too much to mess with that anymore. In my business (electircal contractor) i have to prep my houses for wiring by adding blocks to hold boxes, blocking for lights and fans etc. What used to be a pain in the butt is real easy with 200 feet of air hose and my 1-1/2Hp emglow. I can blast thru the house and prep everything in no time flat.

I tried the gas driven guns...JUNK. hardly ever sank an angled 16d nail.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

At what age are we considered"old guys" because I'am 53 and need to know ? :laughing:

Boone

Boone,

I say you are not an "Old Guy" yet, but you are closer to it than I am! :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

I also heard Age is all in your mind, but I lost mine years ago...:confused2:



David