Air Force Selling pneumatic tools

And Nails

1f, LTHOUGH pneumatic tools are &l best suited for professional applications, the drive is on by rumufacturers to get "framing nailers" stocked in more home centers. Becoming familiar with the different types of nailen and nails can help in deciding which products to stockand how to sell them.

Due to the cost of the equipment and amount of set-up time required, pneumatic tools are usually not the best choice for smaller jobs. Nail guns are ideal for applications requiring a lot of repetitive nailing, such as building walls and decks, nailing off plywoo4 wide open nailing or nailing overhead.

A framing nailer is classified as any gun that shoots 6d to 16d (2" to 3-114" long ) nails. They come in two different configurations - stick (or srip) nailers and coil nailers. Stick nailers are most cofltmon, and applications include framing, subflooring, sidewall sheathing, siding, deck construction and roof decks. Large coil nailers that can shoot up to a 3-112" nail are starting to catch on with framers. Yet coil nailers were not originally designed for franing housing but for industrial applications, including constructing pallets, boxes and crates. Coil nailers hold a single coil that contains up to 500 nails and typically have large air chambers with ample power to drive nails ino hardwood. The large coils mean less time loading, but they make for a heavier, bulkier tool. Additionally, the coils don't fit well in nail bags, and if dropped, the wire collation will likely bend and tangle. For stick nailers, there are round-head and clipped-head nails. Clipped-head (also lnown as D-head) nails have part of their heads cut off so they will pack in more snugly together.

Although there reportedly is little scientific evidence that clipped-head nails perforn vs6s then round-head nails, building inspectors in some areas do not allow clipped-bead neils on shear panels (plywood sheathing nailed to engineering specifications for added protection, such as for earthquakes).

Perhaps the most obvious difference between a collated framing nail and a hand nail is the shank dianreter. A standard l6d collated nail has a

Story at a Glance

Which air nailers to carty .., types of tools ... comparison of nails.

.131" diemeter, often specified by generic nail distribulofs as a "framing" nail to distinguish it from a lighter "decking" nail of the seme length with a .l2A'shank. The aver- age hand-driven 16d cornmon nail bas a.l6?'-thick shank.

Most all collated franing nails ue coate( usually with vinyl. The friction of driving the nail heats the vinyl coating, which helps lubricate the nail. As the vinyl sets, it forms a bond that locks into the wood fibers. Since the bond is only temporary (the coating strengo may last only a few days in wet wood), spiral-shank nails or ring-shenk nails should be suggested if holding power really matters, such as preventing squeaks in floor sheathing or in exterior uses where the wmd expands and mtr&B with changes in moistne oonMt and t€mp€raffie. Spiral-shank nails wi0stmd shock loads better and are the best choice for subflooring.

Rust-p'roof reils are also availablg with essentially three types of galv& nized nail @atings: elecrogalvmizrd, mechanically galvanized and hotdipped galvanized. Most basic are electrogalvmized nqils. Their galvanized plating is famed by dipftng tb nails ia an elecuolyte solution with a block of zinc. Tbe zinc dissolves in the electrolyte and is attnrcted to be steel nails, forming a very thin (.0002") coating. Electnogdvanized nails can be recognized by tbeir shiny, chrome-like finish. Sometimes a bright yellow dichromate sealer is added over he zinc plating o gira Oe nail slightly more gotoction.

Mechanically galvanized nails have a dull gray, mottled amefiare. Tbe coating is rylied by plrcing tbe aails in a tumbler with zinc powd€r and small glass beads, which pound Oe zinc onto the surface of the nails. They are slightly more expensive tban eborogalvanized nai\ but the coating is thicker (.0005") and p,rovidas considerably more rust protection. Heavyduty medani<zlly galmnized neils ue also offered with a.(XI2l" thickmting.

Hot-dipped galvanized nails are famed by dipping in molten zinc. Althougb the coating thiclness is about the same as heavyduty mechmically galvanize( the zinc coating purptrtedly adheres beuer to the steel nail. Nevertbeless, the mting is lumpy and hot-dipped neils xp difficult 30 collate and rcportedly jam easier in gtms.

Finally, galvanized nails should comply with ASTM standards.