A nail gun, nailgun or nailer is a type of tool used to drive nails into wood or
some other kind of material. It is usually driven by electromagnetism,
compressed air, highly flammable gases such as butane or propane, or, for
powder-actuated tools, a small explosive charge. Nail guns have in many ways
replaced hammers as tools of choice among builders.
The nail gun was designed by Morris Pynoos, a civil engineer by training,
for his work on Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules. The wooden fuselage was nailed
together and glued, and then the nails were removed.
The first nail gun used air pressure and was introduced to the market in 1950 to
speed the construction of housing floor sheathing and sub-floors. With the
original nail gun, the operator used it while standing and could nail 40-60
nails a minute. It had a capacity of 400-600 nails.
Usage Nail guns use fasteners mounted in long
strips or collated in a paper or plastic carrier, depending on the design of the
nailgun. Some full head nail guns, especially those used for pallet making
and roofing, use long plastic or wire collated coils. Some strip nailers use a
clipped head so the nails can be closer together, which allows less frequent
reloading. Clip head nails are sometimes banned by state or local building codes.
Full Round Head nails and ring shank nails provide greater resistance to pull
out. Nailers may also be of the 'coil' type where the fasteners come in wire or
plastic collation; the advantage is many more fasteners per load, but at the
expense of extra weight. Industrial nailers designed for use against steel
or concrete may have a self-loading action for the explosive caps, but most
need nails to be loaded by hand. Nail guns vary in the length and gauge of
nails they can drive. The smallest size of fasteners are
normally 23 gauge, commonly called "pin nailers" and generally having no head.
They are used for attaching everything from beadings, mouldings and so forth to
furniture all the way up to medium-sized baseboard, crown molding and casing.
Lengths are normally in the range ⅜ to 1¼ in., although some industrial tool
manufacturers supply up to 2 in.. The 23 gauge micro pin is rapidly gaining
ground as users find that it leaves a much smaller hole than brad nails,
thereby eliminating the time normally taken to fill holes and presenting a far
better looking finished product. The next size up is the 18 gauge fixing,
often referred to as a "brad nail". These fastenings are also used to fix
mouldings but can be used in the same way as the smaller 22 to 24 gauge
fastenings. Their greater strength leads to their use in trim carpentry on
hardwoods where some hole filling is acceptable. Most 18 gauge brads have
heads, but some manufacturers offer headless fastenings. Lengths range from
⅝ in to 2 in. The next sizes are 16 and 15 gauge.
These are generally referred to as "finish nails". They come in lengths
between ⅝ and 2½ in. and are used in the general fixing of much softwood and MDF
trim work where the holes will be filled and the work painted afterwards.
The largest sizes of conventional collated fastenings are the clipped head
and full head nails which are used in framing, fencing and other forms of
structural and exterior work. These nails generally have a shank diameter of
0.11 to 0.13 in. although some manufacturers offer smaller diameter
nails as well. General lengths are in the range 2 in to 3 1⁄3 in. Shank styles
include plain, ring annular, twisted, etc. and a variety of materials and
finishes are offered including plain steel, galvanized steel, sherardised
steel, stainless steel, etc. depending on the pull-out resistance, corrosion
resistance, etc. required for the given application. These sizes of fastenings
are available in stick collated form or coil form depending on the application.
Full-head nails have greater pull-out resistance than clipped head nails and
are mandated by code in many hurricane zones for structural framing.
Another type of fastening commonly found in construction is the strap fastening
which is roughly analogous to the large head clout nail. These are used in
conjunction with a strap shot nailer to fix metalwork such as joist hangers,
corner plates, strengthening straps, etc. to timber structures. They differ
from conventional nailers in that the point of the fastening is not sheathed
so it can be exactly positioned before firing the nail gun.
Other specialist nailers are also available which can drive spikes up to
6¼ inches long, fix wood to steel, etc. A variation on the nail gun is the palm
nailer, which is a lightweight handheld pneumatic nailer that straps to the
hand. It is convenient for working in tight spaces where a conventional nailer
will not fit and is flexible enough to drive either short nails into metal
straps or six inch nails into timber. By repeated hammer action the fastener is
driven into the material by a more constant palm pressure.
Safety In the United States, about 42,000
people every year go to emergency rooms with injuries from nail guns, according
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Forty percent of those injuries occur to
consumers. Nail gun injuries tripled between 1991 to 2005. Foot and hand
injuries are among the most common. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
estimates that treating nail gun wounds costs at least $338 million per year
nationally in emergency medical care, rehabilitation, and workers'
compensation. Often personnel selling the tools know little about the dangers
associated with their use or safety features that can prevent injuries.
Injuries to the fingers, hands, and feet are among the three most common, but
there are also injuries that involve other body areas such as arms and legs
as well as internal organs. Some of these injuries are serious and some have
resulted in death. All kinds of nail guns can be dangerous,
so safety precautions similar to those for a firearm are usually recommended
for their use. For safety, nail guns are designed to be used with the muzzle
touching the target. Unless specifically modified for the purpose, they are not
effective as projectile weapons. The most common firing mechanism is the
dual-action contact-trip trigger, which requires that the manual trigger and
nose contact element both be depressed for a nail to be discharged. The
sequential-trip trigger, which is safer, requires the nose contact to be
depressed before the manual trigger, rather than simultaneously with the
trigger. Approximately 65% to 69% of injuries from contact-trip tools could
be prevented through the use of a sequential-trip trigger, according to
the CDC. There is recoil associated with the
discharge of a nail from a nail gun. Contact triggers allow the gun to fire
unintended nails if the nose hits the wood surface or a previously placed nail
following recoil. Nailers with touch tip triggers are susceptible to this double
firing. According to a 2002 engineering report from the Consumer Products Safety
Commission, the recoil and firing of the second nail occurs well before the
trigger can be released. Acute injury rates are twice as high among users of
tools with contact triggers. In September 2011 The Occupational
Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health issued a nail gun safety guide that details practical
steps to prevent injuries including use of tools with sequential triggers,
training prior to use, and use of appropriate protective equipment such as
eye protection. In June 2013, NIOSH released an instructional comic
providing information on nail gun hazards and ways to use the device
properly. Research aimed at reducing nail gun
accidents among frame carpenters, among the heaviest users of nail guns, is
ongoing. Types of nailgun
= Pneumatic nailgun = This is the most popular type of nail
gun. It is powered from a compressed air supply. For more information see
ttp:home.howstuffworks.com/nail-gun2.htm = Powder-actuated nailgun =
Explosive-powered nailguns fall into two broad categories:
Direct drive or high velocity devices. This uses gas pressure acting directly
on the nail to drive it. Indirect drive or low velocity devices.
This uses gas pressure acting on a heavy piston which drives the nail. Indirect
drive nailers are safer because they cannot launch a free-flying projectile
even if tampered with or misused, and the lower velocity of the nails is less
likely to cause explosive shattering of the work substrate.
Either type can, with the right cartridge loads, be very powerful,
driving a nail or other fastener into hard concrete, stone, rolled steelwork,
etc., with ease. = Combustion powered nailgun =
Powered by a gas and air explosion in a small cylinder; the piston pushes the
nail directly and there are no rotating parts. For more information see
ttp:home.howstuffworks.com/nail-gun3.htm = Electric nailgun =
In one type of electric nailgun, a rotating electric motor gradually
compresses a powerful spring and suddenly releases it. For more
information see http:home.howstuffworks.com/nail-gun.htm
= Solenoid-powered nailgun = Here a solenoid propels a metal piston,
which has a long front rod which propels the nail. For more information see the
end of page ttp:home.howstuffworks.com/nail-gun1.htm
The solenoid tends to attract the piston or projectile towards the middle of the
solenoid. If a series of solenoids is used, to get more power, each solenoid
must be switched off when the piston has reached the middle of the solenoid. In
multi-solenoid coilguns a short burst of power from a big capacitor comes at the
right time to propel the piston or projectile. For more information see
Coilgun#Coilguns for ferromagnetic projectiles.
Media In 2006 horror movie Final Destination
3, Erin Ulmer is killed by a nail gun shooting several nails into her head.
In Season 4 of the The Wire, a powder-actuated nail gun features
prominently in the plot. Gallery
See also Staple gun
Air compressor Needlegun scaler
Paslode Impulse, a trademarked name for a cordless nail gun powered by a small
flammable gas explosion References
External links How nailguns work
Nail Gun Safety: A Guide for Construction Contractors Occupational
Safety and Health Administration Nail Gun Safety: The Facts
Original nail gun idea started in Winsted
Pritts, Timothy A; Knight, Douglas; Davis, Bradley R; Porembka, David;
Cuschieri, Joseph. "Accidental self-inflicted nail gun injury to the
heart". Injury Extra 36: 517–9. doi:10.1016/j.injury.2005.05.003.