Tuesday, October 16, 2007

In My Toolchest

I realized that my air compressor was too big and noisy for the little amount of time I use it, so I traded it in for a new systems that works very well for the the little work shops. Lowes' came up up with this neat CO2 regulator that powers most pneumatic nailers. This tiny unit can shoot 600 16 gauge brads or 1200 pins. This is the same system that paint ball guns use, so refills and extra tanks are readily available. The kit cost $89 at Lowes and is worth every penny if you don't use the gun that often or if you do cabinet repair jobs. The refills are about $10 each, so it's quite affordable for a gizmo that turns all your nail guns cordless, is very quiet to use and takes up very little room. What's more important is that it there's no water vapor in the system so the nail gun lasts longer. The problem I do have with the unit is that if there is even al little leak anywhere along the line, then you can easily loose the entire canister of CO2 in a matter of minutes and then have to go get a refill. So I try to have a spare refill canister with me, after losing three tanks, I learned to work around these problems. A pretty good trade off to be able to use my 21 gauge pin nailer at night when that urge hits. Attached to the regulator is a EZ Fasten 21 gauge headless pinner. It's actually a generic no name tool from Taiwan and I got it on sale at Wood craft for $85. It shoots 1-3/8" 23 gauge pins which are the perfect size between the 18 gauge and the tiny 23 gauge micropins. This 21 gauge pins actually has enough holding power for by cabinetry needs and a decently small hard to see head.