Brad Nailer Sears Craftsman educate me

[MarkSingleton]

Hey gang.  I was given an older Sears Craftsman (ELECTRIC) brad nailer
Model No 900.684252.   Have not had a chance to test it out, but it does
shoot a brad into the trash.  I "think" it is 18 gauge. Not marked as such.

Opinions?   Should I toss it into the same trash, or is it marginally useful?

Reason I ask is, next week I will be helping my sister put in some baseboard
molding/trim, etc.  

I see our local borg has a porter cable air powered brad nailer for about
sixty bucks. Sis has a small compressor, so I could go that route.

Opinions??

Anyone got one they have any experience with?

Thanks.

[meackerman]

installing baseboard with an electric brad nailer?  I don't think I've ever seen one that shoots brads longer than 1 1/4" long.  

baseboard is 1/2" (maybe 3/4"), plus 1/2" sheetrock leaves you a 1/4" in the stud.  Can't see that working very well.

need something that drives a longer nail, 18g will work, but you'll probably have better luck using a 16g or a 15g nail.

[Robert Adams]

It's most likely an arrow brand tool. Those were weak at best. Soft pine was ok but hardwoods, no. 

  If you want a cheapie starter nail gun the harborfreight  ones are actually pretty good. I was in Dayton a while back doing trim in Loml's sisters new house and they had the campbell  hausfield kit with all the nail guns from lowes and it wasn't a bad set for the price. It did everything I needed it to while there.

[Bill Wilson]

Never used an electric brad nailer, but I did contemplate buying one, years ago, before I had a compressor.  I think you would be disappointed in the performance of an electric vs an air driven nailer.  I started out just wanting a general purpose brad nailer and for various reasons, over they years, have since accumulated a finish nailer, pin nailer narrow crown stapler and a pancake compressor.  Looking back, I would have been money ahead had I bought a combo kit from the get go.  Get the air nailer and don't look back, but don't be surprised if you start adding to the collection, once you discover how useful and convenient they can be.    

[sweensdv2]

I would think that a pneumatic brad nailer would be much more adjustable than an electric nailer. You can adjust the depth the brad will penetrate with a pneumatic by adjusting the air pressure when using some of the less expensive guns like the Harbor Freight nailer mentioned. Many 18 gauge brad nailers are capable of shooting brads up to 2" long also like this one, http://www.harborfreight.com/18-gauge-br...68021.html .

[wpwoodworker]

I've had that brad nailer for years, picked it up on a clearance table at Sears for a song. At the time, it was all I could afford.
The major deficiencies everyone mentions above are correct - limited nail length (~ 1 1/4") and penetration into hardwoods is questionable.
On the other hand, for many years it was my only brad nailer and it served its purpose within its limitations. It would be marginal for baseboard because of nail length.
The biggest advantage was you didn't have to lug around a compressor, so it came in handy when I needed to do work away from my shop. It was also very quiet since there is no compressor humming in the background.
If you are in the market to buy something new and pay retail, put your money into one of the nailer/compressor combo's or if you have a compressor and want go inexpensive, buy one of the Harbor Freight pneumatic nailers. My HF units have served me well. I highly recommend you buy good quality nails, not the HF ones. Good quality nails make a mediocre nailer into a good nailer.

[EvilTwin]

The little horror fright ones are actually quite decent and cheap. And they have some decent little pancake or small compressors that work well enough. I would go with a finish nailer around 15-16 gauge as well as a small brad nailer at 18. Give em a couple of drops of oil in the air fitting before you hook em up each time and you will be fine. I would put the electric nailer in the donation pile or on CL.

[MarkSingleton]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen.  I took some time to test out the thing and 
it appears the opinions above regarding it are correct.  It is VERY light duty.
It is loaded, and came with extra, one inch brads. Which it cannot put all the
way into some light pine trim board ( quarter inch thick ) to fasten to a two
by four.  The brads stuck up proud of the surface by about an eighth of an 
inch.  If you have to use a hammer after using it, what is the point.

Oh well. I suppose I shall spring for an air powered unit(s) one day. In the
present project ( helping my sister next week ) I will just go with the old tried
and true hammer and nail set.  Not sure her compressor is all that adjustable 
for air guns anyhow. She is nine hours away and no "tool person" by any 

means.

I have eyeballed the HF stuff a number of times, noting props on this forum 
several times over the years.  We'll see when the time comes.

Thank you once again.

[arthropod98]

i'll just throw out the ryobi cordless brad nailer. seems the one+ ryobi stuff is fairly popular, so may be an option if you already have some of the 18V batteries.

[Steve N]

Mark, starting from free, evidently with some brads you only have to grab some scrap, put said scrap at opposing angles and wham them together. If the head sinks, and the pieces don't have a 1/2" gap between them, it's just done what a much higher priced model should do. If for some reason down the line you decide you just really need to offload some cash, drop down to S&S and offer it up for free, rather than trash it, drop it at a Habitat for Humanity. Someone out there will love you for it. Basically these tools ain't rockeeet science, and if I had a choice between high price nailer, or high priced nail strips. I'd go high price nail strips every time