Last Modified on December 31, 2020
Driving the nails one by one with the help of a hammer is a time consuming and much effort taking process, and in this process, the risk of injuries is also high. So if you are tired of using this method for woodworking and looking for a nail gun, then you have come to the right place because we have made a list of 8 best brad nailer for woodworking which you can buy.
As you know, the size of 18 gauge nails is very small, due to which sometimes it is not able to get into the wood properly and
gets broken by hitting too hard with the hammer, then to avoid this problem you must use a braid nailer. You can do your wood
joining work very quickly and efficiently with the help of this brad nailer.
One basic thing that you should keep in your mind about brad nailers, the higher the gauge number of the nail, the smaller the
size of the nail will be, and in most cases, the smaller the size of the nail, the smaller the size of the nail gun will be.
The first one of the best brad nailer for woodworking in our list comes from a famous brand called Makita. This pneumatic brad nailer
is an excellent tool for professional carpenters who already owns an air compressor. This tool comes with almost every feature that
a brad nailer should have and in this price segment.
Its powerful motor can drive 18 gauge nails from 5/8 inches to 2 inches into
the wood, no matter whether it is soft or the hardest. It comes with a long-lasting aluminum body, which gives this tool good
strength and high durability. One of the best things about this nailer is its weight.
It weighs only 2.9 pounds, which makes this
tool extremely lightweight and easy to handle. You can easily adjust the nail depth without the help of any other tool with its
depth adjustment dial.
Not only tool-less depth adjustment, but this beast also comes with a "tool-less" easy to clear nose for
fast and easy nail extraction, which will help you in saving your time. The recommended air pressure for operating this tool is
70 to 120 PSI.
Weight - 2.9 pounds
Options of color - Teal
Pros
Cons
Bostitch is an American brand famous for manufacturing fastening tools like nail guns, glue guns, riveters, staple guns, etc.
And this Bostitch 18 gauge brad nailer is the first priority of most professional woodworkers, but due to some of its features
and plastic built body, it is on the second number of this best brad nailer list.
If you are looking for a pneumatic brad
nailer only for furniture building, then this tool might be a smart choice. It can drive 18 gauge nails from 5/8 inches to
2 1/8 inches of length into any wood.
This pneumatic nailer comes with dial-a-depth control for precise countersinking of
nails. It comes with a tool-free jam release feature and has a small nose, which can help you in easy nail replacement.
One
cool feature of this tool is that It comes with a pencil sharpener for those who like to use pencils on the job site because
sometimes, if you don't have a knife or anything, you can use this sharpener to keep your pencil sharpened. It comes with
seven years of huge warranty, which is quite awesome as not most brands offer that.
Weight - 5.16 pounds
Options of color - Brown and black combination
Pros
Cons
Another best nail gun for woodworking comes from brand PORTER. If you don't want to use an air-powered brad nailer, then you
might like this battery-powered brad nailer. The one useful feature of this nailer is that it comes with a trigger lock, so when
it is pushed up, you will not be able to pull the trigger.
It offers you to shoot nails from 5/8 inches to 2 inches, and if I talk
about its maximum capacity, then it is 100 nails, which is quite decent for professional use and home use. It weighs about 5.9
pounds with the battery, which is fairly light compared to other powerful cordless brad nailers.
It includes an extra Non-marring
tip in case you ruin or break the first one. Loading the magazine is easy. It is just like any other regular pneumatic nailer.
All you have to do is pull down the lever placed back of the magazine, slide-out, insert a row of a hundred nails in the case,
close it up and tear the battery, and you're ready to go.
It includes a 1.5 Ah 20 volt max lithium-ion battery that can shoot
around 400 nails in a single charge, and it also comes with an integrated belt hook. At last, it is backed up with three years
of PORTER warranty.
Weight - 5.9 pounds
Options of color - Combined black, white & red
Pros
Cons
It is essential for a cordless brad nailer that their battery should last for a longer time, and this Kimo 20v cordless brad
nailer will never disappoint you with its battery's performance. This nail gun has the capacity to countersink 18 gauge nails
from 3/4 inches to nearly 2 inches, and you can also use this tool for stapling purposes.
With its stapling capability from
3/4 to 1-5/8 inches, you'll not face any issue. It offers you to drive about 700 pieces of 18 gauge nails and 300 pieces of
crown staples with its one time charged battery.
Sometimes you have to nail in dark spaces where you need to use either a
flashlight or just nail by guessing but with the pair of its front position LED light, you'll never face this problem. With
its ergonomic and compact design, you can use it very comfortably for as long as you want without feeling any fatigue in your
hands.
It has 6.2 pounds of weight that the company claims is lightweight, which I think is not valid, especially when you
are installing crown molding overhead. A few extra pounds could make the difference between aching your shoulder and a
pain-free job. It comes with two years of KIMO warranty.
Weight - 6.1 pounds
Options of color - Green
Pros
Cons
You all must have heard the name Dewalt; this is a trendy brand among professional electricians and woodworkers, and with
this DeWalt pneumatic brad nailer kit, you can do anything you want. Its integrated rubber grip doesn't allow this tool to
slip from hand and make this tool highly comfortable for holding it for a longer time in hands.
This lightweight nailer weighs
around 5.1 pounds only, which makes this tool extremely portable and allows you to handle it very quickly and work all day
without any problem.
It comes with the capacity of 100 nails to be load in the magazine at a time and can countersink 18
gauge nails from 5/8 inches to 2 inches of length with its sequential style trigger. It includes both tool-free depths
to drive adjustment and tool-less jam release mechanism, which don't force to find an Allen wrench to solve these issues.
It also comes with an adjustable belt hook, which helps the user keep this tool with them whenever they want. Its
magnesium body design makes this tool highly durable and lasts for a longer time. This brad nailer comes in an excellent
quality carrying case, which you can use whenever you are not using the tool to keep it safe.
Weight - 5.1 pounds
Options of color - Yellow combined with black
Pros
Cons
If you don't have an air compressor and want to buy it with a brad nailer, then this Bostitch Brad nailer and air compressor
combo might solve your problem. This is one of the best combo kits for professionals you might have ever seen. This combo includes
a 6-gallon Pancake air compressor, brad nailer, finish nailer, one Heavy-duty crown stapler, and an air hose.
Let's talk about
nailers first. The brad nailer can drive an 18 gauge nail range 5/8 to 2 inches for almost any type of wood or other material.
Due to its extremely lightweight build design, you can carry it anywhere and use it wherever you want.
If it is your first time
with a brad nailer, just go through the user manual first to better understand this tool and use it carefully with proper protection.
This combo's finish nailer can countersink 16 gauge nails from 1-1/4 to 2-1/2 inches, which is quite a decent range.
Its heavy-duty
crown stapler has a capacity to drive from 1/4" to 9/16". And lastly, Its 150 psi 6 gallons air compressor has enough power to use
any pneumatic tool which you use with the help of its 15-foot air hose.
Total kit Weight - 41.8 pounds
Options of color - Yellow
Pros
Cons
WEN 61721 another pneumatic brad nailer in our best nail gun for woodworking list. The main reasons for including this nailer
in our list is its price and performance. This cheap brad nailer can give tough competition to any expensive and powerful brad
nailer.
Like other high rated nailers, it also allows you to shoot 18 gauge nails from 3/8 inches to 2-inches in length. The
recommended setting to use this tool is 60 PSI to 115 PSI, which can be easily handled by any cheap quality air compressor
too.
In this price segment, you cannot expect too much from this nailer, but the company has tried to give everything to make
this tool the best brad nailer. It comes with a tool-free jam release feature that will help you to clean the stuck nails
quickly without wasting your time and effort.
It includes a depth adjustment firing wheel, which can set the depth with a
single turn. This extremely lightweight tool weighs just 2.7 pounds, which will never let you feel that you are holding
something in your hands and allows you to take it anywhere with you, and It is the lightest brad nailer on this whole list.
Weight - 2.7 pounds
Options of color - Black combined with orange
Pros
Cons
Finally, we have a cordless brad nail from the brand Ryobi, a famous Japanese Power tools brand. The reason to put this tool at
last on this list is its high price. This nailer doesn't include a battery and charger; you'll need to buy them separately, which
makes this tool even more expensive that most people can't afford it.
But if I talk about its performance, I can say that this
tool can handle any nailing work, especially hardwood. Most brad nailers are not able to perform well when it comes to nail in
hardwood, but with this tool, you can do it all very efficiently.
It can drive 18 gauge nails ranging from 5/8 inches to 2 inches
in length. It also comes with the tool-free jam release feature, which is most important for this tool as sometimes it might
irritate you by its continuous jamming, but any nailer can create this problem if you use it continuously to drive nails.
It
has got a separate button under the trigger, which you can use to turn on its Twin LED lights to use it in dark areas like under
any table, inside a wooden block, etc. It includes a depth set, which can be used to adjust the nail depth according to the
requirement, and if you don't know how to adjust it, you don't have to worry. It also includes the instructions over it.
Weight - 6.5 pounds
Options of color - Yellow
Pros
Cons
A brad nailer is a power tool used to drive 18 gauge nails in the woods with the help of an air compressor or battery,
depending on its power source requirement. There are many types of nail guns available in the market, like a staple gun,
brad, palm, flooring, finish nailer, etc.
These nailers are used for the same purpose but for different sizes of nails,
and these nail guns cannot use any other size of nails except for which it is designed. The brad nailer is designed to
shoot 18 gauge nails.
Pneumatic and electric are the two main types of brad nailers used worldwide. Both of these nailers have their own advantages and disadvantages, and a brief description of both of them can help you buy a good brad nailer according to your need.
Pneumatic brad nailers are the most common type of brad nailer used by both professionals and homeowners. These nailers
use an air compressor to run, and this air compressor might be an advantage for some users, and for some users, it can
be a disadvantage too.
If you have an air compressor, you saved your money and can buy a pneumatic brad nailer, but if
you don't have one, you need to pay extra money for an air compressor with a pneumatic brad nailer. These brad nailers
are very inexpensive, but they require regular oiling and maintenance to work properly without any problem.
The only
disadvantage of these nail guns is that you cannot take it to a far distance to use it while connected to a hose. If
you want to do so, then you'll need to buy a long hose first.
If you want a brad nailer only, you should go for an electric brad nailer, but if you have more pneumatic tools to use,
you can go for a pneumatic brad nailer. One main thing to keep in mind that most air-powered brad nailers are recommended to use between
90 to 120 pounds of air pressure.
The other type of 18 gauge nailers is the electric brad nailers. These nailers are more expensive than pneumatic ones, but they
perform far better than a pneumatic brad nailer in many aspects and don't need any maintenance like them. Now, the electric
nailers also have two types, which are corded and cordless.
Like any other tool, these corded and cordless nailers also have
their pros and cons.
Like the pneumatic nailers, corded nailers also have limited range as you need to connect them with an extension cord.
It depends
on the length of cable that how far you can use it from the supply, but despite the disadvantage, these tools also have the advantage
that you can use them for as long as you want. Neither you have to worry about the air of the air compressor nor about battery
discharge.
Cordless nailers are battery-powered nailers and best for those DIYer homeowners who don't have to use them daily.
Its compact size and portability allow users to carry it without any extra attachment except a protection kit and, of course, nails.
It is must to use proper protection equipment before using both these nailers.
It is very crucial to do in-depth research before buying any tool as this research not only helps you in purchasing a perfect tool but also gives you an update of all the similar items that are in the trend on the market.
Weight is an essential factor to consider in any nail gun. The majority of the Pneumatic brad nailers weigh less than 5 pounds, which is a plus point, but most corded and cordless brad nailers are very heavy because of which the user might suffer the problem while handling the tool. The less the weight of the nailer, the more comfortably you can handle it.
Most old brad nailers need a special wrench (Allen wrench) to open the nailer head just in case if a nail gets bend up and jams
inside it, then you'll need that Allen wrench to loose the screws, open it and check the problem.
But in new models, which comes
with more comfortable and quicker adjustment so their little front piece holds on with a clamp and it opens up so that you can
get out from any jam a lot faster and easier than trying to find out the wrench that you have tucked away somewhere and forgotten
where you put it. That's why if you buy a brad nailer having a tool-free jam release feature, then you can get out of a jam more
easily.
As we have discussed the types of nailers earlier, it's up to select any brad nail you want according to your budget. So, In short, If you want a brad nailer for occasional use, then a battery-powered nailer might be the best option for you, but if you need it for your shop or daily woodworking, then you should go with a corded or pneumatic nail gun depending on the budget.
All the brad nailers come with magazines for the nails where you can't see through it, so you can't see how many nails are left, but most of them will have a little indicator that will help you know that if you need to load more nails or not.
All the new brad nailer comes with another safety feature, and that is its contact nose, which needs to be pressed when you put your nailer over a hard surface, but if it isn't pushed in against the wood you're working on, they won't fire.
It is an important feature that most brands neglect while manufacturing a brad nailer. Most brad nailers come with a small safety lever which you can turn to the trigger so that your gun cannot fire the nail until you are not ready.