Thread: 18 gauge bradder up to task?

Shouldn't have any problems

Thanks, just wasn't sure whether I needed something a little heavier for architraves to stay put.

A little Liquid Nails never hurts too...

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

A little Liquid Nails never hurts too...

Yeah but what about when you want to change the skirting board, the plasterboard comes off with it....

Originally Posted by Tiger

Got one of these from SuperCheapAuto a while ago, it shoots nails from 25 to 50 mm. Wondering if it's up to doing trim like architraves and baseboards which is up to 20 mm thick?

Hi Tiger
the rule of thumb is to have at least 2/3 of the nail in the base material
20mm of architrave requires around 40mm of nail in the base material -- i.e. a minimum 60mm nail, which is a bit longer than the 50mm max capacity of your bradder

the nailer you need is described as a "finish nailer" and the nails you would use are 15g, 30 to 60mm long
brads are normally 18g ?

I would have thought that it would be a little light. I don't use anything but a angled senco finish nailer for anything like that. They take a 1.5mm nail. A 50mm nail would be ok, that's all the builders around here use. I have never worried about trying to find the longer nails. In fact, I don't ever remember having seen 65mm finishing nails anywhere. You can probably get them though. I have seen some very resonably priced second hand guns on gumtree just lately, might be worth while looking out for one. Even a straight bradder that takes the 1.5mm brad is ok for doing what you want, it leaves a smaller hole to fill than the angled nail.

Hope this helps.

Robert

10 mm plaster thickness before you hit the stud, however I did use 16 g 50mm nails in a C brad gun for my skirting boards and they haven't moved yet

Thanks guys for clearing this up, I suspected that my nailer might be a little light will now investigate other options.

You will be fine with that