Cheap-Ass Tools: Central Pneumatic
By Sean O'Hara
If you’re new to pneumatic tools, you might assume that these tools are going to separate you from a bunch of your hard-earned green — but that’s not necessarily so. The 18-gauge Central Pneumatic is a fine example of an honest, hard-working nailer, and at $20, it won’t murder your budget.
Is this going to become a treasured family heirloom? No. But as long as you treat it with reasonable care, it’ll get the job done long enough for you to save up for a better rig a year down the road. In the meantime, for less than the cost of renting one, you can continue on your woodworking way.
Central Pneumatic Nailer [Harbor Freight]
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am
Ahem! You might want to clarify the references to Chicago Pneumatic. This is a Central Pneumatic product. Big difference in price and quality.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:05 am
Nice Catch, GAC! You are, of course, correct and yes there is a large difference between the two.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 am
I’ve got a $20 CP brad nailer from HF and its been extremely useful. Makes quick work of putting up molding. It’s not the best, but for how infrequently I use it it works great, and makes life alot easier than using a hammer and nail punch.
I’ve also got a $60 Campbell Hausfield reconditioned framing nailer on the way, hopefully it will work just as well.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
I picked up one of these $20 brad nailers, and the safety interlock didn’t work: it would fire whenever you pulled the trigger, whether or not the nose was pressed against something. Now, an air nailer has a lot in common with a firearm, and I decided to spend the bucks for a higher quality nailer. Usually I love inexpensive tools from Harbor Freight, but not in this case…
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
I have this.
If you are the sort who enjoys firing off 5 or 6 brads, only to have the 7th one jam up so that you must completely disassemble the gun to pull out the corkscrewed fastener with needlenose pliers, then get on board this misery train.
Suck it up, drop $100 on a Bostich and save hours of your life.
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
I have had this brad nailer for about a year now. The only time it jammed on me was when I used the cheapo brads from Harbor Freight. Threw those away and ended up buying some Porter Cable brads from Home Depot. It has been working jam free since. The name brad nails cost a small percentage more, but seems like it is worth it. Even using it as infrequently as I do, I’ve definately gotten the $16 that I paid out of it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
I’ve had mixed results with HF pneumatics. I have a 1/4″ crown stapler that blows the doors off of my Craftsman 18ga. nailer/stapler (piece o’ crap in my opinion - sold it at a fraction just to get rid of it). I had a HF 18ga. nailer (may have been this one) that is now quite at home in a landfill somewhere. Wasn’t even worth the gas to return it. Replaced it with a Senco and I’m happy now.
The good thing is that the HF tools are cheap enough that you don’t feel too bad when they suck. +1 on Norton’s opinion of HF’s brads however. The PC ones from the big box are a little more expensive, but a lot less frustrating.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:55 am
I have the 2 in one stapler and nailer (18 ga) from harbor freight. I have used it a LOT, few thousand staples (used them for shingles on my shed’s roof (nails would have been better, but this was cheap) and lots of brads for trin and whatnot. It is GREAT. The only time it has jammed (3 times) is when i let the air pressure drop to 40-45psi, so thats my fault. Its wonderful! amazed i put up trim without one before! 100% reccomended
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
I’ve got the same nailer as rick, and it’s worked great for everything I’ve needed it for. Never jammed once and worked perfectly right out of the box. I’ll never go back to hammering in finish nails again!
April 22nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
I have this. It’s never jammed either on the HF nails or on Porter Cable. I feel like I got a steal, it’s just as good as pro versions I’ve used!
April 22nd, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Does anyone use these HF pneumatics in multiple quantities in on the job production use so that you know how they perform as a group?
As an example, I have 7 Grex (6 are P635’s) pinners - and I’ve heard few complaints from the troops.
Similarly we have standardized on Makita AN611 coil siding nailers (6), Hitachi NT65MA2 finnish nailers (12) etc. On all of these - we eased into buying them as replacements for other tools - but now know how they perform as a group and what idiosyncracies exist for each of them.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I have the 18 ga. nailer/stapler, the 2″ 18 ga. nailer, a smaller 18 ga. nailer and a framing nailer (I don’t remember which one). Disappointment has been minimal. The framer only takes clipped head nails, a disadvantage I didn’t learn about after driving a bunch of them. Once I had my hand over the exhaust for the 2″ 18 ga., and the piston broke off the driver. Fortunately, the kit comes with a replacement piston/driver and a set of o-rings for a rebuild.
I think the truth of the matter here is there is a wide gulf between what I have and what I think most would call quality stuff. Chances are some of the non-Craftsman stuff at Sears, the Campbell/Hausfeld/Husky come off the same (or similar) Chinese line. Hasn’t anyone noticed that 1/2 inch impact wrench, the one with the rubber on the nose and on the back, that is for sale under a bazillion names? Once you source it to China, 80% of it is the same. There are probably plants out there where they are have tons of different brand labels on hand. The only difference with the HF stuff is that it is priced right, when on sale.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:39 am
I have this tool and love it. I use it very infrequently (only 3 or four times in the past three years) but it’s worked every time. There’s something so satisfying about the solid Ker-pop! noise a pneumatic nailer makes.
I am an apartment renter and having a compressor in the garage is overkill. Not to mention that it’s buried behind other stuff and inaccessable. If I were to buy all my tools again I’d probably skip the pneumatics and get the cordless electric nailer. Probably from the Craftsman 19.2volt line that’s served me pretty well.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Quality on the HF stuff is always a crap shoot. For the pneumatics they seem to either give years of trouble-free use (at homeowner usage rates anyway) or they are crap out of the box and will never work right. I’ve had great luck with mine, but I know of others who haven’t.