Power Tools Feature
lighten up
with power
Technological advances mean that
new-model cordless tools are lighter
and easier to handle, yet offer more
power than their predecessors.
P
ower tools are powered by either
electricity, petrol, battery or air.
For smaller tools such as drills
and angle nailers, air- and
battery-powered are the preferred
options because they are portable.
In the past, the usefulness of batterypowered tools has been limited by
heavy nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery
packs with a relatively short life. Heavy
tools place strain on the hands, arms
and back, and the constant need to recharge batteries can become
inconvenient if you’re trying to get a
job finished quickly.
Another disadvantage of NiCd
batteries is that they develop a ‘memory
effect’ which disables their capacity to
re-charge and limits their life span.
All this has changed with the recent
introduction of lithium-ion (LI)
batteries, which are lighter, more
compact and offer more power than
traditional NiCd batteries.
LI batteries charge faster and have
no memory effect. They also provide
the user with full battery power during
the entire discharge cycle, which
means the last hole is drilled with as
much power as the first.
Lithium-ion batteries are lighter,
more compact and offer more power
Some power tools, such as the 18x2
drill/drivers and impact drills from
Bosch, include additional features that
will even further lengthen the life of
the LI battery.
Bosch says its 18x2 tools incorporate
an intelligent charger with cooling
system and electronic cell protection
(ECP), which protects the cells against
overload, total discharge and
overheating, increasing the battery’s
service life by up to four times.
The new 18x2 battery pack weighs
only 750 grams and has a 30-minute
charge time.
The Cordless Drill/Driver GSR18x2
V-LI Compact has a maximum torque
of 80 (GSR 18x2 V-LI) and 78
Newton metres (GSB 18x2 V-LI) in
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than traditional NiCd batteries
Left: Paslode’s Impulse nail gun is
lighter and has excellent balance.
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007
33
Power Tools Feature
Stanley goes to Xtremes
Stanley has made available a range
of tools under the FatMax label for
about five years. They have
extended the range even further by
launching the Stanley FatMax
XTreme. While the two here are not
power tools, they have a number of
features that are intended to do a
job even faster and more efficiently.
Part of this range is the FatMax
XTreme tape measure. The beauty
of this tape lies in the ability of its
blade to extend some distance
without collapsing. The FatMax
blade will extend or ‘standout’ for
up to four metres. Most trades will
appreciate the usefulness of this
ability. The blade is nearly 32mm
wide and eight metres long and has
a special coating (BladeArmor)
designed to increase durability and
reduce blade breakage. It is also a
highly visible blade for easy reading
and marking on the job. The blade
comes in a chrome case coated in
soft-grip rubber.
Also part of the FatMax XTreme
range is the Functional Utility Bar or
FuBar – a demolition tool that packs
a punch. This forged carbon steel
tool appears to be strong and
durable and has a number of useful
(four-in-one) features. Apart from
being a rugged demolition hammer
it also has a two-tiered jaw which is
useful for bending or tearing as well
as splitting or cutting material. The
tail of the tool is in the shape of a
prying bar and enables the operator
to pull out nails and pry or wedge
apart various materials. It is a heavy
tool and as such can be wielded
with a lot of impact. The grip is
textured and allows for user
comfort and is unlikely to
slip out of the hand
even in the wet.
For more
information
visit www.stanley
tools.com.au.
34
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Bosch
Right: The Bosch 18x2 battery
pack charges in 30 minutes.
hard screw driving applications, and 35
(GSR 18x2 V-LI) and 32 Newton
metres (GSB 18x2 V-LI) in soft screw
driving applications. The largest
drilling diameter is 50mm for wood
and 16mm for steel.
The IM250S has been designed
with a smaller, lighter shell and
excellent balance which results in
reduced arm fatigue to the user
When the impact mechanism is
activated, the Cordless Combi GSB
18x2 V-LI drills holes up to 17mm in
diameter in masonry.
The tools come with two battery
packs as standard.
Paslode is also offering great things
in smaller packages. The new Impulse
IM250S straight bradder from Paslode
is the latest model to join the
comprehensive range of cordless tools
designed specifically for the
professional trim carpenter.
Ergonomically designed with a
smaller, lighter shell and excellent
balance which results in reduced arm
fatigue to the user, the new IM250S
includes a quick clear nose cover in the
unlikely event of a jam, last nail
lockout preventing unnecessary
damage to the wood and a tool-free
depth of drive adjustment providing the
user with a precise control of nail
depth.
The IM250S is capable of driving
both C (16 gauge) and ND (14 gauge)
brads out of the box, with no nose plate
change required. H
For more information on:
Paslode − call 02 9829 4000
Bosch − visit www.bosch.com.au
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007
Power Tools Test Drive
gunning
H
Photo courtesy Bostitch
ammering nails by hand is not
always easy. So we invented a
nail gun to do it for us. These
guns are generally powered in
one of four ways:
• pneumatic (compressed air)
• electric (either AC or DC)
• gas
• explosive charge – used generally for
fixing to concrete and steel.
Both gas and pneumatic nail guns
essentially work on the same principle:
a shot of exploding gas or a sudden
release of compressed air forces a piston
down a cylinder which in turn activates a
driving pin that drives home a nail.
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007
for it
Electric nail guns, in their simplest
form, use ordinary springs to generate
the hammering force operated by an
electric motor, which uses a solenoid
as an effective hammering device.
A solenoid is a simple sort of electromagnet used in a variety of machines.
This article does not look at explosive
tools.
Nail guns can be dangerous tools, and
the cause of many accidents around the
world. We counted as many as 40
different warnings that should be
observed in the various safety
instructions. A favourite is the one that
says that you should not invert your
$1200 nail gun and use it as an ordinary
hammer. However, if used properly,
these tools provide an easy, safe and
efficient method of driving nails into
most materials.
Possibly the most important safety
aspect of these tools, and often
misunderstood, is the firing mechanism.
Invariably this involves the nose
contact area or work contact area and a
trigger. Unfortunately the terminology of
this can be misleading and confusing.
The many terms include contact trip,
bounce, bump, full sequential actuation,
rapid fire actuation, contact actuation,
bottom fire, trigger fire, dual action,
and restrictive trigger fire.
If used properly, these tools
provide an easy, safe and
efficient method of driving nails
into most materials
Basically, a nail gun can be set to
operate in either of two modes.
First, after the gun’s nose contact area
has been depressed to fire, the trigger
needs to be pulled. Now the gun will not
fire again until this whole sequence is
repeated in the same order. So the trigger
needs to be released and the nose contact
needs to be released; there is a sequence
of action, hence the name sequential
actuation.
Second, after the nose contact area has
been depressed and the trigger has been
pulled there is now no need to release
the trigger: simply press the nose piece
again on to anything and the gun will
(accidentally or otherwise) fire again.
This allows for very fast firing, albeit
inaccurate, and can be dangerous –
particularly in heavy framing guns.
This method is called contact trip.
In Europe, under Norm EN 792–13,
since 2001, all guns that have contact
trip must be clearly marked with
‘Do not use on scaffolding and ladders’,
and are excluded from use in
certain applications.
Left: Bostitch’s coil nailer is light,
well-balanced and has little recoil.
35
Power Tools Test Drive
THE TEST DRIVE
Nail guns come in a variety of shapes
and sizes, from small pin or fixing guns
and staple guns to large framing guns
that will fire nails up to 100mm in
length into a variety of materials.
Housing had the opportunity to
closely examine a number of these guns.
To truly evaluate and compare any guns
you would need to use them in a
professional manner under real and
similar conditions for about 12 months,
which was not possible here. However,
Bunnings, Gasweld, Nylex and ALCAVE
Trade Pty Ltd kindly allowed Housing to
test drive a number of their tools, namely:
• Bostitch coil nailer N66C–1
• Paslode pneumatic PSN 100 strip
nailer (PowerMaster Plus)
• Paslode IMET cordless framing gun
(Impulse Compact Nailer)
• Toolex 575705 framing nailer
• DeWalt 18V XRP DC 619KA
cordless (battery operated)
• Max Superframer CN890S (CE)
• GMC ALN18V
• Senco FramePro XP 751
Bostitch coil nailer N66C–1
This Bostitch is a coil nailer, i.e. it is
loaded with ‘coils’ of nails containing
up to around 300 nails, often held
together with plastic. This is a very light
gun and it fires a range of nails from
31–63mm with 2.0–2.3mm diameter
shanks that are either smooth, ring or
screw. It claims to be able to fire 100
nails a minute which we didn’t check.
There is little recoil due to the smaller
type nails that are being fired and we
thought it very well balanced. It has a
tool-free adjustable exhaust and a toolfree depth of nail adjustment. Actuation
can be changed from sequential to
contact trip. Jam clearing was easy.
Overall, a very impressive nail gun.
Paslode pneumatic PSN 100
(PowerMaster Plus)
This Paslode is a strip nailer framing
gun. It is loaded with ‘strips’ of nails,
i.e. a row of 50 or so nails held
together by paper, and fires a range of
nails from 50–100mm in length with
2.8–3.4mm diameter shanks. These can
be smooth, ring, brite, or galvanized
nails. As with the Bostitch N66C–1,
it can be changed from sequential
actuation to contact trip. It is a heavy
gun, almost 4kg, but it certainly was up
to the task of dealing with the 75x3.06
nails fired into seasoned brown stringy
bark across the grain. It had quite a bit
of recoil, and both the exhaust and the
depth of drive need to be adjusted with
an Allen key. A tool (usually an Allen
key) is required to clear jams.
Most nail guns have metal spikes at
their nose contact area to facilitate nail
placement in awkward situations such
as skew nailing. Most – as does this
gun – also come with a useful piece of
rubber or plastic that fits over these
spikes to prevent marking when nail
guns are used for finishing work,
i.e. ‘no-mar’.
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Left: The Paslode PowerMaster Plus
has all the power to drive 100mm nails.
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007
Paslode IMET (Impulse
Compact Nailer)
This is a cordless gas-operated framing
gun which has, as do all cordless guns,
the great advantage of not needing
compressors and hoses, so if just a few
The truth about nails
Nails are probably the most
common fastener for timber.
They act in one or both of two
ways. They hold two pieces of
timber together using withdrawal
resistance or friction in the
lengthways direction. This holding
power prevents what is known as
‘uplift’. They also prevent
movement of two pieces past each
other in the direction of the force,
i.e. shear strength move in a lateral
direction (or anti-racking).
What we expect from a nail
largely determines what length,
diameter, head type, metal, finish
and shank type we require. When
fixing skirting boards around a floor
for example, shear force would be
of lesser concern than the need to
have substantial withdrawal
resistance or holding power.
The holding power of nails in
timber depends on the pressure of
the wood fibres against the shank
of the nail. This can of course be
improved upon by using, say, glue
on the shanks, having twisted
screw shaped shanks, or even just
rings around the shanks.
The holding power in timber is
also much greater when nailing
across the grain than when nailing
along the grain (into end grain).
Some years ago the rule of
thumb used to determine the length
of a nail required was 2.5 times the
thickness of the top piece when
nailed across the grain, and 3.5
times the thickness of the top piece
when nailed along the grain when
using smooth shanked nails.
Today the thickness, length and
type of nails used in housing is
determined by the timber framing
code or Australian Standard
AS 1684.
37
Power Tools Test Drive
Left: The DeWalt 18V is a portable,
versatile and useful tool.
Jams were easily cleared with this gun
and all-in-all this is a portable, versatile
and useful tool.
Max Superframer
CN890S (CE)
ourtesy
Photo c
nails are required in a hurry these guns
are extraordinarily handy. They don’t have
quite the same power as some pneumatic
tools but their power is, in most cases,
more than adequate. They have the
disadvantage of not being able to be used
in a combustible environment, nor can
they be used in the rain.
The IMET weighs in at 3.4kg and fires
strips of nails with a length of 50–90mm
and a shank diameter of 2.8–3.25mm. The
gun had no trouble at all with the 75x3.06
nails fired into medium-density timber
across the grain, and it has an easy-dial
depth of drive adjustment.
The gun offers sequential actuation which
means, as mentioned earlier, that both the
nose contacting area and the trigger need to
be returned to their starting position before
another nail can be fired.
The Paslode gas-operated cordless tool
needs to be cleaned often to maintain
reliability. Also, the gas cartridge supplied
with the nails contains a propellant that
has a shelf life of about 18 months, so you
may need to check the use-by date if
buying these nails. However, the gun,
when well-maintained, is worth its weight
in gold as a timesaver.
Toolex 575705
This gun weighs in at 3.7kg and is a
no-nonsense, inexpensive tool. It does the
job with no problems, provided it is
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007
DeWalt
realised that this is not a fast-firing gun.
When firing the second or third nail on
recoil or by using the contact trip feature
these nails had only partial penetration in
medium-density timber across the grain.
The exhaust is changed with a tool,
and the depth of drive needs two Allen
head bolts to be loosened to change the
setting. The same bolts need to be
loosened for jam clearing. The operating
and safety manual could include more
information, and the gun has contact trip
actuation which means that, in a moment
of inattention, it is possible to
accidentally discharge the gun.
DeWalt 18V XRP DC 619KA
This is a coil nail gun capable of
holding some 300 nails. It is relatively
light at 3.3kg and very well balanced.
The nail range is 45–90mm in length
with a shank diameter of 2.5–3.8mm –
a substantial range for a coil nail gun.
It has a trigger lock but is contact trip.
It has tool-free depth of drive
adjustment and tool-free change of
exhaust direction adjustment. A markfree contact tip sits on the gun ready
for use. The hose coupling supplied is
the multidirectional type which is a
neat touch. You would pay a lot of
dollars for a gun like this, but for
someone who uses a nail gun each and
every day it may be well worth it.
The gun oozes quality.
GMC cordless nailer ALN18V
The idea of hammering a nail
one-by-one has not entirely
disappeared. Out of curiosity, we tested
a cordless nailer – the GMC ALN18V
– which is actually designed for
domestic use. It weighs 3kg and has an
impact hammer rate of up to (variable)
5500 blows per minute.
One can dial four depth settings
including one that leaves the nail
10mm proud of the surface for picture
hanging. It makes a noise like a
machine gun and grips individual nails
by the head. This head can be any
This is a battery-operated cordless finish
nailer, i.e. takes small nails. It is angled
to facilitate skew nailing and has
sequential firing only. The nails range
from 32–65mm in length and 1.65mm
diameter shanks. It features two LED
headlights which, when in use, light the
area around the nose contact area. It has
a dial depth of drive adjustment. DC
cordless nail guns don’t yet have the
power that gas-operated or pneumatic
guns can deliver, but it would certainly
suit someone who needs to drive finish
nails in a combustible environment.
Right: Paslode’s Impact Compact Nailer
is totally portable and a great timesaver.
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39
Power Tools Test Drive
Jam clearing is tool-free, and the gun
performed well, firing 75x3.06mm
nails with ease into medium-density
timber across the grain.
The wrap up
As a final note, most guns will take
and shoot a range of nails: different
shank types, different metals,
different lengths and various
diameters. However, it would pay to
check what is available in your area,
if not within Australia for that matter.
If a gun is capable of doing a certain
job with a certain type of nail but you
cannot buy these nails anywhere
there seems little point in spending
$1200 on a gun that ends up being
able to do what can also easily be
done with a gun worth $350.
Right: GMC’s cordless nailer is
really for domestic use but can
hammer one nail at time.
Hardwood vs softwood
The holding power of nails in timber
depends on the pressure of the
timber fibres against the shank of
the nail.
The pressure exerted by timber
fibres varies between the various
timbers and there is a natural
assumption that hardwood has
greater holding powers. However,
think of Balsa wood, a hardwood
which is a bit like cork or
cardboard. Not much holding
power there.
A better way would be to think in
terms of close-grained, medium-tohigh density timbers (density is how
heavy a piece of timber is.
Density=mass per unit volume, i.e.
kg/m3) and open-grained timbers
with a low density. Generally,
softwoods are less dense than
hardwoods.
Hardwood and softwood refer to
the botanical classification of trees.
Hardwood is a pored timber and
softwood is a non-pored timer. The
term ‘pore’ refers to the small holes
seen in the end grain or crosssection or on the surface of a piece
of timber. These can often be seen
clearly with the naked eye.
Some compressors have a faster
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shape provided its maximum diameter
does not exceed 10mm. Shank type is
irrelevant and GMC claims it will drive
nails from 40–150mm into all types
of timber.
We used 150x5.6 smooth shank nails
and the nailer happily drove these
through low-density timbers across the
grain. Nailing into medium-density
timber (seasoned brown stringy bark)
was a no-go; however, the gun had no
problems with driving 50x3.8 smooth
shank nails into the same timber.
rate of replenishment and will
improve nailing performance
The operation and capacity of the
air compressor used with pneumatic
nail guns can also affect performance.
As the pressure of air drops in the tank
or reservoir during use, the nailing
capacity of the gun can be reduced
until the compressor is automatically
activated and replenishes the tank and
the pressure. Some compressors have
a faster rate of replenishment and will
improve nailing performance. H
Senco Frame Pro XP751
This gun is a strip nailer that fires a
range of nails from 50–90mm, with a
2.87–3.76mm diameter shank. In its
appearance it is much like the Toolex
575705 and Paslode PSN 100 discussed
earlier. It has sequential actuation and
weighs 3.8kg. It has tool-free depth of
drive adjustment but you need an Allen
key to change its exhaust direction.
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Right: The Frame Pro performed well,
firing 75x3.06mm nails with ease.
The tools tested in this article were kindly supplied by the following companies:
40
HOUSING NOVEMBER 2007