Pneumatic Air Nailers

How Do Different Pneumatic Nail Guns Work?

While an air nailer and stapler are both hand tools powered by compressed air, they are also vastly different. Pneumatic air nailers are designed to fire nails into a wide variety of materials and can be categorised into two main groups, first fix and second fix. The type of application a pneumatic nailer is used for will largely depend on which of these two groups it falls under.

First Fix Nailers:

A group of air nail guns designed for use in structural and heavy-duty applications, these tools are widely available in both strip nailer and coil nailer variations. As well as their design, different types of first fix nailers have different applications, these are as follows:

• Flooring Nailer – Designed to assist in fitting hardwood flooring to subfloors, a flooring air nailer not only speeds up the task but helps in achieving better results too.
• Framing Nailer – Considered to be the sturdiest type of air nailer on the market, pneumatic framing nailers are designed for use in heavy duty applications, such as large-scale construction and building projects.
• Positive Placement Joist Hanger Nailer – Manufactured with a protruding tip, a joist hanger nailer is designed to get to areas that most nailers are unable to reach. It can be placed directly against hard to reach targets, making it ideal for applications such as those that involve joists and rafters.
• Roofing Nailer – A must have tool when working on roofs, a pneumatic roofing nailer helps fix materials such as shingles and insulation boards to roofs, with only a fraction of the effort that is required when using traditional hand tools such as a hammer.

Second Fix Nailers:

Designed for applications where the aesthetic finish of a job is a priority, second fix air nailers provide a better finish than first fix nail guns, however, they provide a weaker hold.

• Pinner – Designed for use with 23 gauge and 21 gauge pins, a pinner nailer is intended for use in applications where an aesthetic finished is required, although due to the size of the fastenings fired, glue is often required to provide extra hold.
• Brad Nailer – Generally used with 18 gauge nails, an air brad nailer is the perfect compromise between the aesthetic finish provided by an air pinner and the hold provided by an air finish nailer. It provides a middle ground between the two.
• Finish Nailer – Firing 16 gauge, 15 gauge and 14 gauge nails, the finish nail gun provides the strongest hold of any second fix nail gun, with the downside of a slightly less aesthetic finish, due to the larger fastenings it fires. Therefore, an air finish nail gun is meant for second fix applications where a stronger hold is required.