Another thread about nailers

[autoBrad]

Hello Everyone,

I am somewhat new to wood working, well, I should clarify, to finish/trim work. I have built my shed, helped a friend with a deck, built a workbench in my garage, etc... And my main hobby is working on and maintaining my cars/truck.. So, I am mechanically inclined. So, anyways..

I am familiar with air compressors, I have one I use for impact guns, etc... and I just bought long good grade hoses... So, I am starting to get into woodworking, took a class, made a little table, etc.. I installed a whole first floor of hardware flooring with a friend and it turned out great..However we used his nail guns, etc and I wasn't paying attention to guage, etc, we just went to home depot and bought a 3 gun kit and it worked beautifully.. Now, I am not going to do this cause I want to run from my larger mostly stationairy compressor so I don't have to hear it or lug it around..

So, I have some projects in mind. I want to trim out the windows in my house and install some crown moldings... So far, I know that the lower guage so say 16 is larger nails than 18 guage... But in my crown molding book, it says for 3 inch crown molding to use 3 inch finish nails and for 4 inch crown molding to use 3.5" finish nails...

Now when I look on porter cable's site, I see " Uses 16 GA. finish nails from 3/4" to 2-1/2" " So, according to my book, this wouldn't be long enough to bite into the studs, etc... I think I could use like wood strips around the room...So, am I missing something here?? For crown molding what's better 16 guage or 18 guage?? Also, I want to trim out my windows and put nice window ledges in, etc( i have like crappy little plastic things on the bottom now).. So, i'm wondering if I really need 2 guns or one, etc?? I am wanting to make some cornice's, etc also.. and wanting to start a hobby of carpentry...

Any feedback is greatly appreciated, I'm sorry this is such a long thread, but I wanted to give a little bit of background, etc as to what I know...

THanks

Brad

[leejb]

Brad most of the builders around here are using 18 gauge, 2" nailer for base molding and crown molding.

[mdlbldrmatt135]

I have an 18 guage 3/4 to 2 1/2" brad nailer and a seperate 18 ga stapler as well......

[autoBrad]

So, that's long enough for crown molding also? Or do you put strips back there into the studs?

That leads to another question... Is there a general rule of thumb as to when to use staples vs. nails??

Thanks Again for the help..

[mdlbldrmatt135]

angle downward into the wall and angle into the celing.... you could use a studfinder to locate them....

[autoBrad]

Oh, ok, the instructions I had putting one nail at each stud, I see, I could do two, one kinda low and one kinda high.. Yeah, I know how to find studs.. and yeah, i'm not inviting any comments about "finding studs"..