Nailer size for a couple of jobs

[WanderOverYonder]

Not sure if this is the right sub forum for this question, if not please move.

I have a couple of jobs to get done, first is lining my garage walls with 12mm MDF (I have already fitted the stud frame to the concrete panel walls using 89 x 38mm CLS) and want to nail the MDF sheets rather than have hundreds of screw heads showing.

The second job is that I am building a shed using 25mm x 34mm frame and 150mm x 11mm feather boards to create shiplap sides. The floor and roof will be 18mm OSB (roof then felted).
The floor frame and the wall frames I am happy to screw together but for the shiplap, again I want to nail the boards in place.

At the moment, I have an 18g air nailer and an air pinner. Clearly the air pinner is of no use for this application and the 18g is probably also not up to the task of securing everything with enough force.

So I am looking at another air nailer (as I already have the compressor and airlines) and my question is; is a 16g first fix nailer any good or am I better looking at a framing nailer firing 2.2mm nails? Air framing nailers aren't too expensive but they all seem to have reviews that they are heavy as feck. I don't want to go to the expense of a £500 Paslode when I only have these two jobs for it.

Advice appreciated.

 

[foxhole]

Your current kit should be ok but would use osb over mdf as it’s cheaper lighter and less likely to be affected by damp in garage .
You shed timbers sound rather flimsy .

 

[WanderOverYonder]

You reckon the 18g nails would hold? I mean, I trust it for making cabinets and bench tops but holding 8 x 4 sheets up?

I can pick the 12mm MDF up for £5 per board, OSB would be nearly double. The garage is leak free and doesn't get too damp. Cold yeah, but never really had issues with damp.

The shed timbers, these are actuwould you suggest 2ally thicker than a pre-built/ one was selling with at nearly double what this will cost. Would you suggest 47 x 47?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

18 gauge is just too light for anything like building a shed, but your 25 x 34mm framing timbers are far too small to go anywhere near with a proper 1st fix nailer (typically 2.8 to 3.1mm diameter and 50 to 90mm - and BTW 16 gauge is a second fix size, as is 15 gauge). The first time you try to use a first fix nailer on anything much smaller than 3 x 2in (70 x 44mm) the timber may well disintegrate. Given a choice of readily available nail sizes for your applications I'd have to say go 15 gauge. Whilst these are only marginally thicker than 16 gauge (they look similar to panel pins), they do have bigger heads which gives better pull out resistance. Lengths available are 32 to 64mm

On a different point are you sure about your framing material size? It seems woefully small to me. I'd normally go no smaller than 2 x 2in (44 x 44mm) pressure treated softwood on a shed frame and only then on a very small bicycle shed or the like. Go to something like a garage and I'm happier with 3 x 2in or 4 x 2in scant, but then I do live in a hilly district where recent weather events would have seen such a lightly built shed flattened

 

[WanderOverYonder]

18 gauge is just too light for anything like building a shed, but your framing timbers are far too small to go anywhere near with a proper 1st fix nailer (typically 2.8 to 3.1mm diameter and 50 to 90mm - and BTW 16 gauge is a second fix size, as is 15 gauge) and the first time you try to use a first fix nailer on anything much smaller than 3 x 2in (70x44mm) the timber may well disintegrate. Given a choice of readily available nail sizes for your applications I'd have to say go 15 gauge. Whilst these are only marginally thicker than 16 gauge they have bigger heads which gives better pull out resistance. Lengths available are 32 to 64mm

Any ideas on where to find a 15g nailer? All I seem to be able to find are 16 or 18. Happy to hand hammer on the shed build, yeah will take me longer but for the garage wall boards I would be there forever.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Bit difficult for me to say as I'm trade and I dont use pneumatics on 2nd fix. I also doubt you'd want to spend the sort of money I need to on tools. I use Hitachi 2nd fix cordless nailers (15, 16 and 18 gauge - I've been using the 15 gauge on lightweight 2 x 1 softwood framing), the no gas variety, all bought recently, but I'm aware that deWalt and Milwaukee do cordless nailers in the same sizes as do Ryobi (their Air Strike range) which are more reasonably priced. A quick look round the net and I found Tacwise and Arrow 15 gauge pneumatic guns (both mid market products) selling at around the £135 mark as well as a couple of unbranded 15 gauge pneumatic nailers selling on eBay at around the £70 mark, so it is possible to find lower cost guns if you look - just not in B&Q or Screwfix.

I know that 15 gauge are used more widely in the USA, but here they are somewhat less common. The same is true of the nails, but things are getting better.

An additional note about nails. 15 gauge nails are angled, but there are two different types - the Bostitch FN type which are angled at 20 or 21 degrees and the more common DA type which are angled at something like 30 to 34 degrees (that's what the cordless tools use). They are not interchangeable, so if you do go 15 gauge make sure you get the right nails for the gun!