What Is a Brad Nail Gun?

Brads are small gauge pin type finish nails formed with a "T" shaped head for striking. They are generally used in various woodworking projects and repairs such as: furniture, cabinetry, molding and trim installation, baseboards, chair rails, picture frames, ornamental decorations and numerous craft projects. Brads are installed using a brad nail gun, also known as a finish nail gun. Brad nail guns are manufactured as pneumatically (air) operated hand tools. Electric and fuel cell types are also available, but air driven is most common.

What are Brad Nails?

Brad nails are used as small finish nails due to the small footprint left when installed in various woodworking projects. Brads are available in galvanized or stainless steel. When installed properly, the "T" head of the brad is sunken typically 1/32 to 1/16 inch below the surface of the wood. This makes for easy filling and sanding of wood filler when required to hide the brad heads. Brads are ideal for fastening glued members together, thus no clamps are required when assembling work pieces.

Types of Brads

Brads are made of 18 (.040-inch) gauge hot dipped galvanized steel. Stainless steel is available for corrosion resistant applications. Brads come in lengths of ½ inch to 2-1/8-inches. Brads are glued together in single row strips for easy brad nail gun magazine style loading. They come in various box counts of up to 5,000, depending on the size of the brad.

Basic Brad Nail Gun

A brad nail gun is a hand held device that pneumatically drives a brad nail via internal piston. The gun comprises a motor (piston housing), trigger grip, contact safety interlock, brad preloaded magazine, on-mar tip and jam release lever.

How Brad Nail Guns Operate

Most pneumatic brad nail guns operate on a continuous compressed air supply of 70 to 120 psi. Lower air supply is sufficient for softer woods, such as pine or balsa, whereas higher air supply is required for harder woods, such as oak or maple. Air supply should be adjusted to sufficiently sink brad heads below the surface intended to be nailed.
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Operating a Brad Nail Gun

The operator must first depress the contact safety interlock on the intended surface before the trigger can release air pressure to the motor piston. Once the brad has been struck, the motor piston automatically returns for the next trigger action.

Conveniences of Using a Brad Nail Gun

Preloaded magazines (strips) allow for continuous operation by storing glued strips of brads. A jam release lever is located on the front end of the magazine allowing for removal of improperly driven brads. Use of brad guns with preloaded magazines, jam release levers and on-mar tips makes doing any fine carpentry job fast and convenient

References

• Delta Machinery-Porter Cable