The guy I learn carpentry work from, taught us to hand drive everything the only thing we did not hand drive was trim work. I miss carpentry work, so much that I am going to build me a 12x20 garage and it will be hand drive. PS I am currently working for the city of Montgomery, my temp job turned into full time work.
Who still hand drives?
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Glad to hear your still hard at it :thumbsup:
Other than 5"spikes on a cooling tower 5 years ago, concrete forming, and toe nailing some trusses, I dont hand drive.
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Good to hear from ya CJ... Congrats on the job:thumbsup:
Most city guys I know get off work with plenty of energy left to swing a hammer for a couple hours
Most city guys I know get off work with plenty of energy left to swing a hammer for a couple hours
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Don't see the point of hand driving anymore, unless you just want to torture yourself.
Just remember, anytime you want to hand drive something, just tell yourself "They make a gun for that". :laughing:
Only thing I hand drive is my nails for my string line, or Ticos if I forgot my palm nailer. I'm too cheap to buy a tico gun.
Just remember, anytime you want to hand drive something, just tell yourself "They make a gun for that".
:laughing:Only thing I hand drive is my nails for my string line, or Ticos if I forgot my palm nailer. I'm too cheap to buy a tico gun.
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Why? Do you ride a horse to work? Do you use candles to light your home? Do you have an outhouse instead of indoor plumbing?
A few strategic hand drives make sense- like suckin plates together or fishin one through the gusset on a truss but a whole wall? That's a waste if time- I know, I've built 2 homes hand driven. One was my dads 15 years ago and the other for a guy that had one gun and I wasn't the guy that got to use it (13 +years ago)
A few strategic hand drives make sense- like suckin plates together or fishin one through the gusset on a truss but a whole wall? That's a waste if time- I know, I've built 2 homes hand driven. One was my dads 15 years ago and the other for a guy that had one gun and I wasn't the guy that got to use it (13 +years ago)
No one ever wanted to arm wrestle a Carpenter, especially a Framer before the gun era...:thumbsup:
CJ, Nail guns are invaluable tools....however they are just some of many.
Literally 10's of thousands of nails are hand driven.
Compressor(s) down, no power, guns don't work, gun nails not available, someone forgot the hoses, or the guns, or the nails or the compressor, or the gas, tacking material in place, (sheathing, shear wall, sub floor), some specs don't permit pneumatic fastening, in certain applications some GC's just don't like it and maybe the boss is pissed off & says just to hand bang it....:laughing:
If a guy has a set of bags on, good bet there's nails in them for a reason...:laughing:
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After breaking my glasses from a ricochet and before getting a positive placement gun I hand drove a lot of ticos. Palm nailer is slower, and I'm not fast.
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Me to, I got a strap shot this year right before deck season, and I bet I saved a week of work.
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Been hand nailing the past year. Space in my life is extremely limited. Hammer is smaller than compressor. Everything goes in by hand.
It's really not much slower for my small scale non-framing operation.
The only real drawback I've found is that working in a lot of newer homes you find that everything is built so sloppily these days that the hammer will knock things loose.
Example, I was installing some casing last week and when I drove the first nail in, the base fell off the wall. Just fell down flat. It had like 3 nails in it, all missed the studs.
It's really not much slower for my small scale non-framing operation.
The only real drawback I've found is that working in a lot of newer homes you find that everything is built so sloppily these days that the hammer will knock things loose.
Example, I was installing some casing last week and when I drove the first nail in, the base fell off the wall. Just fell down flat. It had like 3 nails in it, all missed the studs.
I hand nail everything, except trim. I think it makes me a bad-ass.
But then, I'm not big time like most of the framers on here, so.........
But then, I'm not big time like most of the framers on here, so.........
We hand nail almost exclusively.
Most of what we do is Slate or Ceramic tile roof work,
so I assure you they do NOT make a nail gun for that.
decking repairs are hand driven 8d sinkers or hot dipped Galv. commons.
If we know we will be re-decking 5-6 sq. then I bring a compressor and a spiker------------- but that's like once a year maybe.
If we do a job that requires replacing a lot of crown/bed molding we will bring a trim nailer
I would guestimate that my compressor left the shop maybe 6 days this year- I don't even carry the guns or the stick nails on the trucks,they are used that seldom.
It's very nice not to listen to that compressor running all day, or hear that wap,wap,wap from air guns.
Stephen
Most of what we do is Slate or Ceramic tile roof work,
so I assure you they do NOT make a nail gun for that.
decking repairs are hand driven 8d sinkers or hot dipped Galv. commons.
If we know we will be re-decking 5-6 sq. then I bring a compressor and a spiker------------- but that's like once a year maybe.
If we do a job that requires replacing a lot of crown/bed molding we will bring a trim nailer
I would guestimate that my compressor left the shop maybe 6 days this year- I don't even carry the guns or the stick nails on the trucks,they are used that seldom.
It's very nice not to listen to that compressor running all day, or hear that wap,wap,wap from air guns.
Stephen
I like a framing nailer for building walls on the deck and toe nailing. Otherwise, IMO hand drives can draw boards together a lot better than a nail gun. And of course it's more satisfying. I like hand nailing headers and beams especially. But in a production environment, nail guns just make sense.
Some things still need to be hand nailed. One of my pet peeves is watching someone shooting something a hundred times and it still isn't tight. Like headers. The nails before the nail going in are holding the members apart.
I doubt very highly the best gunners can nail plates to studs as well and as fast (sometimes the same thing) as swinging a hammer and nobody gets shot.
Ever seen a carpenter without a hammer? I bet you've seen carpenters without guns!
The perfect sound of a 16 being set. Tick booouuche.
I doubt very highly the best gunners can nail plates to studs as well and as fast (sometimes the same thing) as swinging a hammer and nobody gets shot.
Ever seen a carpenter without a hammer? I bet you've seen carpenters without guns!
The perfect sound of a 16 being set. Tick booouuche.
Had job couple weeks ago where both framing nailers pm site were on the fritz. Boss acted llike handnailing was super slow and wasn't allowed. blink:
Ended up sending one of the guys to the store to get a new nailer and that one ended up being a slightly different model that didnt take the maked out at 3 1/4" nails and we use 3 1/2" so it ended up getting returned. Had to use the guns which were acting up( had to soak the magazine with WD40 every 15-30 minutes to get the nails to feed, otherwise had to have a hand on the feed lever pushing the nails forward while we shot.)
I prefer hand nailing unless its a big job because I get better placement of the nail.
Ended up sending one of the guys to the store to get a new nailer and that one ended up being a slightly different model that didnt take the maked out at 3 1/4" nails and we use 3 1/2" so it ended up getting returned. Had to use the guns which were acting up( had to soak the magazine with WD40 every 15-30 minutes to get the nails to feed, otherwise had to have a hand on the feed lever pushing the nails forward while we shot.)
I prefer hand nailing unless its a big job because I get better placement of the nail.
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