Imagine yourself strutting across the building site, Hi-Vis jacket, safety helmet, slightly scuffed but still impressive rigger boots, and most importantly, a Paslode frame fixer swinging from you leather tool belt. You feel like John Wayne and before you know it… you walk like John Wayne! Buy yourself a Paslode and you are the first cowboy among many cowboys. In your hands you have the power to shoot yourself, an innocent bystander or, if you are lucky, maybe even fix two bits of wood together.

The Paslode is simple and complex at the same time. Very easy to use, but quite an impressive piece of engineering.. It fires a range of nail types and lengths, from 40mm -100mm. It operates with a battery (4000 nails per charge) and a fuel cell (1200 nails per cell) to provide the explosive charge. The nail packs are expensive compared to traditional fixings, and you obviously have to charge the battery and replace the fuel cell at regular intervals. By some strange quirk, the gun always needs reloading at the most inconvenient moments, but that’s life. It is also not the tool to give the new boy on his first day. There are inherent dangers with tools of this type. It can easily shoot across a room but it is most dangerous to the operator. This writer has had the pleasure of shooting a nail into his hand before. Ouch.

The decision on whether to purchase or not should be down to pure economics. The Paslode IM350 will make the job much quicker and so, increase productivity. For roofing, it massively speeds up the fixing of tile batten. For building studwork, it can fire three 4” nails a second. No hammer can compete with that. The nail gun is also less damaging than hammering a nail. Despite the big bang, it causes fewer vibrations. Perfect for restoration work where there is a risk of damaging existing structures.

There are many builders and serious DIYers who love having the latest toys, and will probably splash out on a Paslode regardless of financial reason. But for those who take a more considered approach I would suggest that the expense of a nail gun can be recuperated by using it for just a couple of weeks of studwork or roofing.

There are a couple of other nail guns made by Paslode. We have used their straight Brad nailer in the past. Designed for second fix site carpentry, it fires small brad nails leaving a tiny hole behind. The tool does have its uses but we found it jammed quite a lot and it didn’t seem as rugged as the IM350. It would take a lot of architraves and skirting boards to get back the initial investment in our opinion. And if you want a brad nailer for workshop joinery it would be prudent to compare prices with compressed air nail guns as the benefits of a cordless nailer are much reduced in a workshop environment. But we would love to hear from you if you have a brad nailer and have found it indispensable.

Why do we like it?

• It’s a gun. It fires big nails. Obviously quite appealing.
• It will definitely save time, and thus money, if you do even a modest amount of first fix carpentry or roofing.
• Wide choice of nails available, including stainless steel, to suit a most situations.
• Young builders don’t have to worry about learning to hammer a nail in straight; anyone can fire a nail gun.

Availability

• Any decent tool shop, the internet.
• Good deals will see you paying a little over £300 inc VAT
• See www.paslode-cordless.com for more info.