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air nailer

5K views 12 replies 9 participants last post by  Michael Bush 
#1 ·
Does anyone use a pneumatic nailer or stapler to put frames together? I'm thinking about getting one. I need to know what kind to get, what nails or staples to use and an air setting that wont blow frames apart. I've got all the frames for hive bodies put together and they were a pain. I'd like to speed it up when I start making frames for supers, etc. Also if this is a bad idea I will just nail em with a hammer.
Thanks
James
 
#4 ·
The first hive I bought was nailed. After two years the nails were working their way out and the box was getting loose. I have never assembled a box with nails. I'm a glue and screw guy
Yeah, it takes a little longer, but it lasts a lot longer... and that's the way I like it. My boxes are primed once and top brushed twice, inside and out, with long smooth slow strokes.
Bill
 
#6 ·
For frames I nail. I find that brads just don't hold up for my needs. Also the metal that some of the brads and staples are made of is just junk and don't hold up to my methods of processing wax from the frames. As for boxes I like them screwed, although I have done many boxes with just screws in the corners and the rest nailed. But screwed and glued seem to be the best.

Clay
 
#8 ·
We have a carpentry shop here, and I've learned that you should get a good nailer if you'll use it a lot. Don't get a Grizzly, whatever you do. They just aren't very good. After you use a nailer, you'll never want to hand nail again. Also, some woods, like maple, about have to be air nailed, or you'll split the wood.
 
#9 ·
I was a carpenter and always tried to get someone to race me nailing off a roof. Me by hand then them with a gun. The rules were that we both started getting our tools out at the same time, we were done when the tools were put away and I always wanted to do it when it was about 20 degrees F and calm. That way I could count on the lines freezing up on the nailer. After seeing me nail I could never get anyone to take the bet.

Trivia from before nailers came about: A carpenter drives more nails in one day than an average person does in a lifetime.

I've never owned a nail gun.
 
#10 ·
For frames we use 1/4 inch crown staples and glue, with a frame jig, and for boxes we use a Bostitch full head nail gun. Just have to play a little to get the drive depth correct. Have to use staples again on the little tabs on the boxes, but other than that, I don't think I could ever go back to a hammer.
 
#11 ·
I use a Senco Brad Nailer w/ 3/4" brads. Before assembly, I apply a heavy spread of Titebond II glue, and use a small brush to achive 100% coverage. Then I assemble the frame and pin each joint.

HOW you pin the joint is VERY IMPORTANT. Small brads "pull" out and through, soft wood very easly! The proper (and best) method of nailing (hand or pneumatic) is to apply the brad to the joint so that to disassemble the joint, the brad would have to be "cut" rather than "pulled" out.

Here's an example:
Top-Bar-to-Sides should NOT be nailed from the top of the bar into the side. This method will allow the fastener to be "pulled"
out when disassembling the joint. A brad should be inserted through each 'ear' of the side-bar. Plus through the side-bar into the top-bar next to the wedge. This nailing method will not allow the joint to be disassembled without distroying the wood. I nail the side-bar to the bottom bar(s) through each side of the side-bar, not from the bottom through the bottom-bar into the side-bar.

NOTE: Before pinning any joint, lay the frame on a flat surface and check that all four corners touch. If not, the frame is "twisted", adjust as required, then nail.

Good Luck!!
Dave W


PS - Nailing small, thin delicate pieces of wood, especially hardwoods, is very difficult without spliting or cracking the wood. Pneumatic nailers can apply fasteners that would otherwise require drilling a "pilot" hole. That's why we use them in our woodworking business.
 
#12 ·
Michael, did you ever try to put up crown moulding by hand? That stuff is hard to put up without an air nailer.
Also, while we're at it, does anyone have any suggestions for putting eyelets in the end bars? I spend as much time punching eyelets as I do nailing the frames together. Do you even need eyelets?
Thanks.
 
#13 ·
>Michael, did you ever try to put up crown moulding by hand? That stuff is hard to put up without an air nailer.

Yes I have, many times. Actually I've used a lot of air nailers also when doing carpentry that belonged to someone else. I really like them when I have to nail overhead.

>Also, while we're at it, does anyone have any suggestions for putting eyelets in the end bars? I spend as much time punching eyelets as I do nailing the frames together. Do you even need eyelets?

They can help keep the wires from splitting the bars, but when I wire frames, I don't use them.
 
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