Thread: Trade Air guns

Just learnt that these products also go under the name Project Air and that the bradder is only for light fixing so probably not useful for architraves etc. Would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has bought this set or just the framer. Bunnings tell me that very few come back and that they have sold heaps.

You can buy the best hammer available, an Estwing, for a lot less than $199 + compressor + hose.

Originally Posted by Tiger

I need a framing gun to do the odd job around the house particularly some flooring (bearers and joists) and architrave work. Bunnings sell a framer, bradder and staple gun for $199. Anyone have any feedback on these guns? Do they last and how do they work on hardwood? Also how are they with toe-nailing which is probably the main reason I would need a framer?

Doctor you're right about the hammer but hard to swing a hammer under the house without much room and I have arthritic hands so that makes toenailing especially hard.

Tiger, I wrote a reply similar to the good doctor but deleted it. Now we know WHY you wanted power assisted tools. Unless you are on a limited budget or this is a one-off job, move away from air and into today's world of power tools, that is, battery powered. At 7:00am next work day, follow the line of trade utes to the local trade supplies. You'll find what you want right there.

Originally Posted by Tiger

Doctor you're right about the hammer but hard to swing a hammer under the house without much room and I have arthritic hands so that makes toenailing especially hard.

Ok, sorry about your hand condition but my comment was only partly sarcastic. Why do you need to nail bearers and joists, wasn't the job done properly in the first place? Are your sub-floor timbers hardwood? I've been using a Paslode gas framing gun for about 6 years now and it has been very good and reliable but it can't do hardwoods once they are dry or kiln-dried, whereas the Paslode air-nailer can on the whole do these. If your problem is to fix someone else's sloppy work why not plate the members together with either metal strapping, Trip-L-Grips or another similar connector and use a cordless screw gun and screws instead of nails. The air-nailer you mentioned may not cope with nailing into hardwood.
Whenever I've had to hand-nail hardwood, I drill a hole slightly smaller than the nail and grease the nail. Makes a very neat job.

Thanks Doctor, I noticed that the floor bounces a little and when I looked at the bearer underneath it's got a bit of rot so I thought I'd run a joist along side it and I naturally thought to nail the new joist, didn't consider the other possibilities that you mentioned.

Originally Posted by Tiger

Thanks Doctor, I noticed that the floor bounces a little and when I looked at the bearer underneath it's got a bit of rot so I thought I'd run a joist along side it and I naturally thought to nail the new joist, didn't consider the other possibilities that you mentioned.

You can very successfully join 2 pieces of hardwood together using a torque driver and galvanised batten screws but again you'll need to pre-drill and also grease the screw.
Also, why not just use bolts then you won't need a torque driver.?

Do you own a Drill/Driver? If it's only a small job and you'll never need a nail gun again, Screw them. You will need to drill pilot holes if its hardwood. Nail guns are great on soft wood but can struggle on hardwoods.

I recently bought a Bostich framing gun on eBay and have been using it to put a few hundred nails into hardwood frames in my garage. It performed brilliantly and I expect it to last for years. I had put in a bid expecting to lose but I won unexpectedly
Apart from its awsome efficiency it made a hell of a lot less noise than swinging a hammer on the walls of a steel covered building

Tiger, I have a Trade Air framer and a compact impact palm nailer. Bought both for a reno six years ago and used them for that, then they have been largely unused since.

Trade Air is big and bulky, and to my mind not real good with 75mm nails and pine, and useless with hardwood.

The impact gun is slightly larger than a cricket ball, fits nicely into the palm and can knock the same 75mm nails in 80yo hardwood in a second and a half. Uses loose nails from 25mm up, any thickness or style. Simply hold the nail in place as you would for a normal hammer, place the palm nailer over the nail head and press. Once you press against the head, it triggers the nailer into a burst like a machine gun unit you release seating pressure or the nail is driven. Light and sustained recoil, unlike the jolt from the framer.

Can loan both to you for a while if you want to try them prior to a purchase, or just use them for the job and return them. PM me if you are interested, I am fairly close by.

Mal

Thanks Mal for your thoughts, I was waiting to hear from someone who actually had the product. Your report is contrary to what I heard from Bunnies who told me that it would handle hardwood, if it can't even handle pine then it would be pretty much useless for what I have in mind. Thank you for the offer of testing out your equipment I really appreciate that. I will try and use the traditional method of pre-drilling and hammer and nail but if that doesn't work for me then I'll give you a call. It looks though that for a nail gun I'm going to have to spend a lot more than I thought.

Hi.

We bought a "Project Air" framing gun (only) from Bunnies for some pergola work in jarrah ... it was maybe $89??? at least 6 months ago. They did have the sets of three also. Trade Air seems to be the same thing I think.

I had NO experience with nail guns at all, so it was a learning experience. The best bit was that they didn't know anything much about it in the tool section either. I wanted nails (obviously) and ended up with the coil of nails that were the only nails in that whole area. Took it home, tried it out, work a bit, screwed up a bit, ... ???

In the end - after looking around online - I figured out that we needed completely different nails - a 'solid' strip of D-head nails. After that - Much Betterer. Maybe the B-shop had them in the trade section ... I had to get a pack of 1000 at a more local hardware store.

I'd say it works pretty well for home-usage. The nails I have are 50mmx2.87.
It will embed the nails about 3mm or so into the bits of pine I have around. I meant to pre-drill all the holes for the jarrah, but I've found that (without drilling) sometimes it will knock it right in, and sometimes there is 10mm or less exposed which I can wonk with a hammer.
Sometimes "wonk" is exactly the right word.

My compressor is medium reasonable (2.75hp/110psi) - larger than the small ones you can buy - I don't know if that comes into it.

All in all I'm quite happy with it - more expensive would have been a waste for our usage. I am keen to look for one of those hand-nailers 'though now + try it out.
It looks like the story is $66 is the US, and $149 in Oz

Cheers,
Paul McGee

I purchased the framing gun for some repairs and have driven nails into soft and hard wood. Was using a gas gun but my mate wanted it back. I was very happy with the Bunnings product and went on to purchase the set of bradders for architraves and light furniture construction. They don't get used a lot, but having them available is good value. They are not meant for tradies but for the money they are ok. Used the bradder yesterday to put together some utility boxes and it's so easy to hold the parts together and one click and it's done. With respect to the framer, you can nail into an existing wall without shaking the plaster as would happen with a conventional nail.
I say "go with it"

Thanks Anodyne for your feedback, I'm now a bit unsure what I should do as the feedback is mixed on this nail gun but I'll try the pilot hole and hammer and see if I can finish the job that way, if not I'll look at the Trade/Project Air. I also have a bath frame to make up as well as some small bathroom framing jobs and a framer would be handy (any excuse for a new tool ).