Birthday Gift from LOML

[leehljp]

LOML surprised me for my birthday today with a pair of Ryobi 18v tools, the P325 nailer and the P360 stapler and a Husky 14" rolling tool Tote to store them in.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-18-Volt-1-AirStrike-Straight-Finish-Nailer-and-Narrow-Crown-Stapler-Combo-2-Tool-P325-P360-P128/205558930

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-14-in-Rolling-Tool-Tote-GP-44316AN13/204298352

She has some work for me to do in renovating our living room and dinning room in the near future.

It was COLD today here in N Mississippi, so I didn't get to try it out much but I did grab a couple of 2x4 cut offs (cold, wet and only half thawed out) and a couple of 1x4 cutoffs and gave the 18v tools a try. At first with the P 325 nailer, the 2 inch nails only went in to the 2x4 with about 1/2 inch sticking out. With a couple of adjustments, the nails went in all the way, and below the surface by about 1/32 inch. The 360's 3/4 inch staples went in all the way and just below the surface. I haven't tried either in the repeat mode yet.

It is taking a little adjustment to get used to the weight and bulk. I am used to nothing larger than the 18v impact driver and 18v drill driver. But the fun of driving nails/staples without cords or hose sure is wonderful! Can't wait until tomorrow to give these guns a more detailed try-out.

I am looking forward to using these tools. In quite a few reviews, they both do surprisingly well.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Congratulations, and Happy Birthday! I think you'll like them Hank. I've been using my Craftsman-rebrand of the Ryobi 18G nailer a while now on various projects, took a bit of getting used to, but love it now.

[SHADOWFOX]

Hank, Congratulations, and Happy Birthday!

[capncarl]

Happy birthday, can't wait for your tool review on the battery nailers.
capncarl

[poolhound]

Nice score Hank they look pretty sweet.

Have a great birthday

[Turaj]

Happy Birthday Hank. Nice score too!! I am sure she wants you to use it frequently and soon

[trungdok]

Happy Birthday, Hank. You're a lucky man

[Black wallnut]

Happy birthday Hank! Enjoy the new tools.

[LCHIEN]

is that a 16 ga nailer? usually when it says finish its a 16 ga nailer and when it says brad its an 18 ga brad nailer.

But the link did not say explicitly either 16 or 18 ga.

[Bill in Buena Park]

Loring, I found this in the Product Overview section, so you're correct. 16g.

16GA straight finish nailer features tool less jam release for easy access to clear nails
16GA straight finish nailer: drives 3/4 in. to 2-1/2 in. finish nails
18GA narrow crown stapler: drives 3/8 in. to 1-1/2 in. staples
18GA narrow crown stapler: up to 1,000 staples per charge using

[cwsmith]

Happy Birthday!

Very nice presents, I hope you enjoy them,

CWS

[gerti]

Happy birthday!

Yes, the 16GA straight finish nailer is a beast. Got one over the holidays too for some trim work. I hope it'll be more reliable than the cordless Paslodes, which frequently do not want to fire for no obvious reason.

So far so good...

[JimD]

I have the 18 guage brad nailer and I like it. I used it to trim out the rooms over our 3 car garage. I have a pneumatic 16 guage nailer and a 18 guage pneumatic and I knew from prior experience with them that I prefer the 18 guage for trim work. The smaller brads hold fine and make a smaller hole to fill. I had to use the 16 guage finish nailer when installing hardwood floor, however, the brads would not hold well with 3/4 hickory flooring. In finger jointed casing and lightweight MDF base molding the brads worked well. But finish nails would too with the only drawback a little bigger hole to fill.

I'd like to have the finish nailer and narrow crown stapler but need a project that requires them to justify the purchase. I have a narrow crown pneumatic that doesn't work great (it's a HF and lacks power to use 1.5 inch staples like it's supposed to be able to). But it works.

My only complaint with my Ryobi brad nailer is it seem particularly picky about the angle you hold it. When it doesn't like the angle, it won't fire. To be fair, I have that issue sometimes with my pneumatics so some of it is definitely me. I've used it in bump mode too and it actually seems less touchy in that mode.

[leehljp]

A couple of you answered the question before I could.

16 guage nailer
18 guage crown stapler.

I played with them for about 15 minutes apiece a short while ago. But with it 32° and no heat in my shop I didn't stay out beyond that.

I played with the pressure adjuster on the crown stapler and couldn't see much difference over a wide setting range. I was shooting it into 3/8 ply over 12 ply 5/8 to see how it reacted to ply. It would sink it down level but not seated below the surface. Not too good if doing crown moulding. I was shooting 1 inch so I feel that had an effect on it. Crown moulding wood is softer than the plywood that I used, so it should seat better, AND if I used the correct length staple for the job. Using the correct length for the job shouldn't be dismissed as easily as I did today in the trial usage. I had a bit of Tim the Toolman attitude and just put the longest staple I had!

The 15 minutes that I spent on the 16 guage nailer was where I had the most fun. We have about 250 feet of cypress fense around our house and on the side, it has a dual/two layers of top rails. The fence is about 20 years old and the top layer is bucking up in several places on the ends. That got fixed in less than 10 minutes. I didn't expect 16 guage to hold old cypress like that but it did. I had to back off the pressure setting as it was shooting it about 1/4 inch below the surface in the soft wood of the full 1 inch thick cypress. I still don't expect it to hold long term but it was fun trying that out.

THAT nailer has me wanting a battery powered FRAMING nailer. But I don't think that animal exists yet. At lease I haven't seen them or been looking for them.

It may be a few weeks before I get to use either of my new toys in the real world, but I am enjoying playing with them and figuring them out.

JimD, I did move the nailer to different angles but I was not doing trim work nor was I trying to see its limits. I leaned or canted the nailer about 20° to 25° at the most a couple of times to come in at an agle. I didn't have any problems at that angle.