Nailer Reviews, continued
Hitachi NR83AA Clipped-Head & NR83A Round-Head
These guns are identical with the exception of the magazine.
They are essentially the same gun that I purchased 12 years
ago, and like that gun they have features that I like and
dislike. On the positive side, the Hitachi guns have good
balance and feel light for their size. However, there is no
depth-of-drive adjustment so depth must be adjusted by air
pressure. Exhaust is not adjustable. There is no access to the
nose to clear jams if one occurs. The NR83A has a very strong
magazine follower and will crush the plastic collation on the
full-head nails if it is allowed to drop into place. Because a
magazine full of uncollated nails is worse than useless, on
this tool you have to control the release of the follower. All
in all, a reliable performer.
Hitachi NR90AC Round-Head
This gun is a real winner and was one of the top two in the
full-head category. It has great balance and has a screw-type
depth adjustment on the front of the gun. There's plenty of
power, and it will shoot a 31/2-inch nail. It's heavier than
the NR83A (9 lb. vs. 7.9 lb.) but that weight is distributed
well and is not really noticeable. Again, you have to let the
follower down or the spring will crush the collations and
increase misfires and jams. The well-designed nosepiece makes
toe-nailing a breeze and the exhaust port rotates easily by
hand.
Interchange Brands ICB-DF88 Clipped-Head &
ICB-FN88 Round-Head
These two guns arrived late in December, so they did not get
the workout that some of the others did. The clipped-head and
round-head guns look and feel exactly the same and seem to have
all interchangeable parts with the exception of the magazines.
They are on the large and heavy side, but handle okay, have
adequate power, and will do the job. The nosepiece is not very
aggressive, but it works. There's no depth-of-drive adjustment
and the exhaust ports are fixed, leaving these guns firmly in
the middle of the group. The only unique feature of these guns
is the hanger found on the round-head nailer, which makes it
convenient to hang the gun on nearby framing.
ISM Propower 933 or 928 Clipped-Head, 921 Round-Head
At first glance everyone thought that this was another of
those cheap generic nail guns. This will teach you to never
rely on first impressions. This gun proved to be a reliable
performer and it shot whatever nails happened to be around. It
had plenty of power, was well-balanced, and proved to be my
helper Bob's favorite gun. Depth adjustment required the use of
a hex key, but even with the nosepiece adjusted all the way out
it still drove the fasteners deeper than I would have liked in
sheathing. Exhaust was deflected through the front of the gun
and is not adjustable. There is no access to the nosepiece to
clear jams. The gun toe-nailed well even with its
not-so-aggressive nosepiece. All in all, a well-made,
comfortable, no-frills gun. The 933 uses a 33-degree
paper-collated fastener and the 928 uses a 28-degree
wire-collated fastener.
Makita AN922 Round-Head & AN942 Clipped-Head
These two new tools from Makita might make you think that
the engineers were actually listening to contractors like you
and me - they excited everyone who used them. How about a
no-mar tip that detaches and stores on the gun? And it only
starts there. Under the trigger is an easy-to-turn
nine-position knob that adjusts depth-of-drive. On the left
side of the gun is a three-position trigger selector switch
that allows the trigger to be changed from contact-trip action
to single-shot to off. This is a great feature - if you have
it, you use it. The tools are a little on the heavy side (8.4
lb.), but the other features more than make up for this. The
nosepieces are well-designed for toe-nailing, but the exhaust
is fixed. Whenever I lined up all the test guns on the deck,
these were the first ones everyone reached for.