A Heads Up On Cheap Tools...

PPro

I just bought a Bostitch package from Amazon.com a few days ago. It comes with a 6gal 2hp compressor, 1 5/8" brad nailer and 2 1/2" 16 gauge finish nailer. All of that with a factory warranty for $224. Great package if you want to set up another guy on the crew for a cheap price. Those two guns can handle about 90% of the jobs in most production homes these days.

There's only 2 left I believe. Just a heads up if anyone is looking for a cheap kit.

Marco

Headsup on that. Not all tools with the same name are the same. I haven't looked at Amazon, but Bostich has two lines that look the same on some of their guns. One made for the box stores and one for everybody else. Those prices are almost too good to be true and thats probably why. This is common with many of the manufacturers and a good reason to buy your tools from other sources(unless you decide its still worth it). The cheaper versions will be made in China with plastic internals, etc. When they break and you take them to the service repair shops, they'll just laugh.

mdshunk

I know that's true for Milwaukee, which is a brand that I buy a lot of. The Milwaukee dealer in my town told me that they can tell from the data plate if you got the tool at a big box store. Further, they told me that there are some differences between the Milwaukee stuff you buy at a dealer as opposed to the versions that you buy at a big box store.

PPro

I've bought factory reconditioned tools from Amazon before and they worked out fine. It also has a 30 day return policy and whatever warranty the company offers on the tools new. The other Bostitch guns we bought worked fine.

I'm aware of the bigbox tool seconds. Even then, I haven't had a problem with tools I've bought from those stores (though I havent purchased that much there).

TexasTrimmer

Would that be true with Senco as well? I purchased a three gun package (T-nailer, finish stapler, and pin gun) from one of the big box stores last year. I have been pleased with their performance, but then again they haven't seen heavy use yet.

PPro

Senco's quality has dropped drastically since Home Depot started carrying them. Their price dropped as well...

The older sencos have a flat gray finish, and are built like tanks. The new senco guns are still a high quality gun, but not what they used to be. You can tell a new one by the black/gray speckled finish on them.

The newer SpotNail guns have been really nice too, they just aren't very popular. Check them out- www.spotnail.com They have pretty much every type of gun made as well.

Longacre

I went to Home Depot the other day to get a 2 1/2" gun for the apartment buildings I started trimming on Thursday since they require "round" nails in the door jambs instead of "flat" nails like my PC guns shoot. My partner (yeah, all is well with him for those that saw the other thread) had a Senco so thats what I was planning to get for "ammo compatability" purposes.

I stumbled into a 3-gun kit there, FinishPro 30..brad nailer...1/4 crown stapler, which I bought. $219 bucks...heck...ya cant go wrong, even if they arent Senco's top of the line, they work well enough for this. Nice package for setting up a new guy on the crew or just having some backups.

The added plus was getting the wife to warm up to the pricetag of my shopping spree once I told her how much I saved and what a good deal it was

PPro

Yeah, Senco guns are still great performers, they just aren't what they used to be. The company I was working for recently bought that same package as we needed more guns, they worked well.

Andrew

I used to buy the pro grade, and have them repaired when needed. Now, I buy the Made in Taiwan/China guns. When they break, I trash them.