Old Nailers and Staplers

[Sourwould]

Looking around, it seems the nickle squeezers at the tool cartel have milked about everything they can out of finish guns. While they're smaller and lighter*, they seem to almost be disposable. Seems like my boss buys a brad nailer at least once a year.

I'm not old enough to remember the large nailers of the 80s, but I'm hoping there's some folks around there that are. I'm thinking about getting a few older Sencos to rebuild (Senco seems to have good parts availability on older models). I need a finish nailer, a brad nailer, and a stapler to do 99% of my work.

So, what do y'all think? Lost cause? Some older carpenters I've talked to said the old guns were a pain and jammed a lot, but knowing them I'd say anything is a pain if you abuse it and never maintenance it. Also, the new guns are a pain and jam a lot.

*I like a heavy nail gun with less recoil that won't leave a nail proud when your shooting in a tight spot at a weird angle behind your back around a corner blindfolded.

 

[Brian Patterson]

I’m leary of old mechanical tools, especially air tools that can get a lot of wear from use, but if there are good brands that can be refurbished, they can be valuable. Hope you get something worth your while - nailers can be a blessing or a curse.

 

[bob vaughan]

The older tools were made for manufacturing where the air pressure could be monitored. Little compressors of today have a wild range of pressure so when they get down to kick-on pressure, that's often too little pressure to set the longer nails and staples. Keep the pressure around 100 and you should do OK.

Senco made a bewildering range of staplers. You'll have to be more specific on that. The M-II and M-III were popular for sheathing and putting plywood down for good.

 

[Graywolf]

If you can get some parts I have a few Sencos that you can have very inexpensively. They don’t jam hardly at all. I just don’t use them anymore. I have at least one sfn2 and maybe two. I also have an ls4 and an ls3. These were purchased in the early nineties and used well into the early 2000s. I retired them and my father rebuilt them for himself. He’s not using tools anymore and if you can make use of them I will cut you really good price. If you’re interested send a private message and we will go from there.