Steve Maxwell, Canadian Home Workshop's technical editor, was joined by contributing editor Cathy Dalrymple and veteran project designer and builder Ryan Shervill as they sampled a cross-section of eight pin nailers on the Canadian market right now. Each tester assessed the same lineup of pinners independently in his or her own workshop, getting a feel for each one by driving hundreds of short, medium and long pins into MDF, softwood and oak lumber, trim and project parts.
Click here to watch a video demo of how pin nailers work.
King #8251PN
Price: $100
With its cherry-red paint job, this pinner looks great and boasts the ability to shoot 2"-long pins. It also has good balance and a comfortable, rubber-covered grip, although I found it too short. While I don't have a large hand, the grip doesn't offer enough space to accommodate four fingers comfortably. The King also has a great slim tip with a removable plastic guard. Dalrymple said she found the tool easy to load, but she preferred the left-sided magazine latches found on other models.
Rating
In your hand: fair
Depth control: good
Tip shape: good
Reliability: good
Magazine operation: good
Overall rating (out of five): three
Fastener lengths: 1/2" to 2"
Weight: 2 lbs. 8oz.
Warranty: 2 year
Porter-Cable #PIN100
Price: $95
This pinner is one of the lightest, as well as being compact, well balanced and pleasant to hold. It also has a tiny, well-rounded tip that's highly manoeuvrable. Loading the magazine is easy, and unloading is even easier. Press the large, flat catch on the back of the tool, slide the magazine open completely and any remaining fasteners will pop up for easy removal.
Shervill found the rear-mounted exhaust performed well, “but the tool could use a muffler to tame the high-velocity air coming out.”
“This model is fine overall, but small inconveniences make it less attractive to me than other models. It jammed during my tests, and I'm not a fan of the bottom-up loading,” Dalyrmple said.
The only significant concern I have is the 1" maximum length of pins. This short size limits the tool's usefulness to projects involving only thin pieces of wood.
Rating
In your hand: excellent
Depth control: good
Tip shape: good
Reliability: good
Magazine operation: good
Overall rating (out of five): three
Fastener lengths: 1/2" to 1
Weight: 2 lbs. 1oz.
Warranty: 1 year
1 Comment
Thanks for the review on pin nailers... was somewhat informative... I think you under-rated the King unit.... I was unsure of which to buy but after further research I decided on the King as it was the only other nailer with a 2 inch pin capacity. This is a huge benifit which should put this tool at #2 given it's 1/3 of the price of the Grex. It works incredibly well and can drive 2 inch pins into 2 inches of solid maple. Additionally it does not require any setup for pins of different lenght...(Rob)