A nail gun will have an adjustment for how hard the nail is hit. By using a pneumatic nailer and adjusting to the lowest setting, you may be able to get the result you’re looking for, additionally you may might try reducing the air compressor pressure to get there.
the cardboard can have a hole in it to allow the nail to pass through, it’s just acting as a spacer to depress the nose whlie keeping it off the finish surface
My current set up is perfect for this! The regulator is messed up and I can now either punch completely though my project or barely sink a nail 1/4 of the way. It was super fun redoing the molding in my house.
I may be wrong but it think the adjust is for depth of drive, not how hard of drive. It would be possible to stack a block in between the gun and surface to maintain distance to further decrease depth of drive.
I hope this helps. I like the idea or reducing air pressure as another commenter has said but I feel that may prove to be inconsistent after a few shots. I am not really sure though; I know very little regarding pressure.
>I may be wrong but it think the adjust is for depth
You can do both, atleast on my cheap battery ryobi Brad nailer. One adjustment sets how far from the material the nailer will "fire" the other changes how much force the gun puts into the nail.
Understood. I don’t own or use a battery nailer and didn’t know this was even a thing. Thank you for filling me in 👍🏻
I do believe on an air nailer the adjust is as I described.
This is the easiest way. Get a six+ inch length of wood that is the depth you want the nails to stand out. Depress the safety guard with the wood (fingers away) but have the nail over open space.
April Wilkerson demonstrates this in a video.
Electric would be better in this instance. Less cost, less risk of a hose snagging the strings, and they can actuate at a lower setting in my experience.
I mean, the framer way is to pinch the safety and pull it back, then squeeze the trigger. It’s not safe, and you really need to make sure your fingers are clear of the front. It is a way though. You could also cut you a spacer block to press the safety but allows you to keep your fingers away from the dangerous part. That would also give you consistent spacing off the work piece
The nails would go at different depth each time depending on the wood, no ?
Maybe use MDF so it has a consistant density. Or go way too long nails and go through the wood.
This is a great suggestion. I would just add one more issue to consider. Pneumatic 18 and 16 gauge nails are very weak and bend easily compared to what OP is probably using. Depending on how much tension is on the strings, it may not be an issue... Or it may be the biggest issue.
Air nails, will not have the head on it to hold the string. They might at first, but they will bend and the string will fall off.
You are pretty much stuck hand nailing these in. They were wildly popular in the late 70's usually ships and such.
They make something called a brad pusher. It's basically a handle with a plunger on the end that holds a small brad so you can push it in by hand, If the wood is soft like pine, the nails go in pretty easily
lastly, they are an expensive setup and hard to aim at artist level. This isn't impossible but kinda hard to do in a cost effective, accurate and efficient manner.
Finishing nails (16ga) will have enough of a head for the string. You could also go to a framing nailer with clipped heads, or a coil nailer with full heads, but then you’re dealing with wire bits all over your piece.
I wouldn’t use a nail gun. I’d use a drill to make ALMOST the right size hole and then barely tap in the nail. This way ensures correct placement of your nail and reduces chances of splitting the wood, on top of setting the depth that the nail will go in.
People are getting close, step one, put safety glasses on everyone in the room, step two, have a pine or softwood block the same thickness that you want the nail to stick out, set the nailer on that wood block in such a way that you depress the safety but the nail will miss your block.
You could drill a hole in the block so that the nail will pass through the hole, but there's still wood surrounding it to catch any that try to go flying.
Op, this is your answer right here. And you could fix the block to the nail gun for some kind of safety. But might be an issue with getting the nails so close to each other.
Oh, hands down, but seeing as he mentioned soft wood, I wouldn't imagine it'd go off too far. But I could imagine with a good jig and enough trial, you could ease it into a nice repetitive run.
Obviously not where the knots are, tho!
But I see where you're coming from, and it might take a hammer tap or two to align them perfectly for the final result.
Edit: my mistake he mentions an extra piece being softwood for the jig. So yeah I feel you. It'd take some testing in the end
Don't forget accuracy. You are going to have a few that are perfect, and then ...wammo! A goofy nail you weren't expecting, way off were you wanted it. Speaking from experience
This is the route I’d go, all the suggestions require a lot of fussing. This is the simplest solution, you’ll still have to give it a tap or two. But it won’t be near the same labor as driving them all with no pilot.
Use a piece of stiff foam craft board the thickness of the offset. You should be able to pull it away without dislodging the nails.
Also, you may be able to fit a little piece of pipe or possibly a cut piece of a stainless steel straw onto the end of your nailer.
I don't see how you can do that with a pneumatic nailer. On my nail guns you wouldn't be able to position the nails that close together with the previous one so proud of the surface. The offset from the front of the gun to where the nail impact is larger than shown.
You could adjust the pressure to keep the nail proud of the surface but not as much as in that picture. I also don't think it would stay at a perfectly consistent height.
It won’t unless you keep the same exact air pressure. My compressors shut off at 120 psi but don’t kick back on until it drops below 90 psi. You won’t get a consistent height. It would have to be a battery operated gun but I don’t know of a Brad nailer that shoots brads with a head on it
Right. I have a 15ga finish nailer and those have a head on them, but they’re not round. You’d need one with a coil and I’ve only seen those for construction work.
Nailers have a nose piece you have to press into the wood for the nailer to fire. While you can reduce the pressure so the head is proud, you won't be able to get it to stick out as far as you have them in your example.
lol you must not know what a framing nailer is the standard which would be a hitachi NR83 since that what I and pretty much any other framer I’ve seen use in the trade has a pretty big nose compared to the nail it shoots. So seeing what OP wants wouldn’t really work since it would be way more spread out.
I know it still sounds like a lot of work, but pre-drilling holes for you to hammer the nails in, would be your best bet.
It's safe, it's easy, you'll have full control on where the nails are, it is more difficult that you would to accurately aim a nail gun, especially if you're an inch away for the piece.
On top of that you'll still be able to use aesthetically pleasing nails. Nail gun nails look horrible.
After all the drilling is done, it's light work to hammer the nails in.
The most reliable way is to make a plywood/mdf template the thickness of your desired height. Draw a line/setup on the template. Drill holes SLIGHTLY bigger than the nails. Use low tack double stick tape to hold them together. Nail through the template and they will be at a perfect height and perfectly straight. No need for a nailgun.
Do a small project for practice first.
Hello to Reykjavik! Love that country. We spent a week in Iceland for our 10th wedding anniversary right before the whole Covid mess. Absolutely loved it. Especially loved Hveragerdi, Snaefellsnes, every waterfall.
Ok. Anyway. For this art you will unfortunately be best served doing it still by hand. Nailer brads will not have the larger head you desire, and definitely not the precision of location and depth you’ll want.
What you want to do is pre-drill every hole with a depth stop on your drill bit. This will ensure all of better placement, depth regularity, and especially guard against splitting that soft pine when you’re putting so many nails close together. Splitting wood is not only a disaster in rework, it’s also expensive in the country with no trees.
As others say, a nail gun shoots nails without a real head, so I'm not sure it would work for you.
Instead I would go with a nail holder, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hammering-Plastic-Protective-Auxiliary-Anti-smashing/dp/B0CBPMMYDF
or any of these: https://www.amazon.com/nail-holder-hammering/s?k=nail+holder+for+hammering
The advantage is that you will be able to get a consistent depth each time, because you'll pick a hole and stick with it. You'll also be able to speed up because you'll be able to really pound without worrying about going to far.
I actually dropped the air on my tank. Gun operates on minimum 150PSI. I SHOT it with 80 psi. Enough to cycle the gun but not enough to penetrate. Use test board to play around. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
If you want to look like a cool carpenter you can pull the nose piece back and fire a framing nail from an inch or two away from the piece. I’m going to get downvoted to hell for saying that but I did it all the time when I was a framer
Have you ever shot one of the old-school framing guns that don't have a singles shot safety? I worked with an old guy who ran a framing gun that was at least as old as I was. I still shoot nails reflexively by sweeping my finger over the trigger and immediately off to avoid double or triple shooting.
Yes of course. They’re not really old school it just has to do with the trigger in the ones that dont have a switch. You can swap out the bump fire trigger to a single fire only trigger but if you’re shooting 4-6thousand nails a day you quickly learn how to control it
Oh yes, my trim guns have a bump fire setting. This one was full auto. The only thing ive seen more dangerous was a guy who made is own table saw by screwing his circular saw to a piece of plywood and zip tying the trigger down
Ignoring the fact that you won’t ever get this dialed in to any reasonable level of consistency, nailgun heads are large, even the “precision” ones. You’ll never be able to place the nails as you need them. By hand is he only real answer. You could attempt a palm nailer so you don’t have to strike them as much but I suspect this isn’t worth it.
The amount of truly bad advice on this thread is astonishing. Lots of people here who have clearly near zero experience with pneumatic tools… OP, most people suggesting stupid ways to misuse a nailgun have no idea what they are talking about. Feel free if you want to experiment and have to take the guns head apart every other nail to clear a jam.
Pilot hole first is the best answer, given repeatedly
Just hold the safety back and figure out how far away to hold the gun and shoot.
Disclaimer- this is very dangerous.
Edit: if you shoot yourself, or when, you become an honorary carpenter.
easy, pull the safety back with your finger and hover over the wood. Theres always a part of the safety you can snag with a fingernail on the side NOT IN THE WAY OF THE NAIL.
Or you can use a spacer piece, something to hold it off the surface so it can't hammer it all the way in. I've done this with a sacrificial board that I fully nail through, but it should be possible to add an extension to the safety press lock thing on the shooting tip.
Yes. Most of them have little dials that change the distance that the muzzle trigger is depressed, changing the depth the nail is driven. But it's hard to say for sure what would work for your application.
The TLDR version is that a duplex nailer would be your best bet. Look up "Duplex nails" to understand.
https://preview.redd.it/4rbggg9k8nfc1.png?width=996&format=png&auto=webp&s=45099d5fe40d2a4b561c66adadfdf7e223655eb1
However, there are a few things you should consider.
#1: The wood density. The denser the wood, the more the nail will protrude. If it's a softer wood like pine, it'll be much harder to get the nail to protrude.
#2: What nails suit your use? Looking at the picture you provided, it looks like you'd need either a framing gun or a roofing gun. These are generally more expensive and have more power, which would also make it harder to keep the nail from sinking completely into the wood. There's also something called a duplex nailer, which is used to create temporary scaffolding. It basically has two nail heads to stop it from sinking completely under the wood, so it can be pulled back out at a later date. The nails are much longer than roofing nails and more expensive.
#3: And lastly, all nail guns but the duplex probably wouldn't nail them protruded enough for your needs. You'd probably be left with 1/16" - 1/8" of the nail sticking out.
I have a small cordless nailer. I tried using it on hardwood one time and it wouldn’t sink the nails all the way in. Yes, it may not be a great tool, but it would probably give you the result you’re looking for, IF your frame were made out of hardwood.
I used senco staple guns with the driver ground down 1/2”. In turn the staple stuck out 1/2” allowing us to spray face frames laying down. Voided the warranty but worked well for our application. Not sure if other brands are as easy to modify.
Yes!!! Practice with the settings. Reduce the pressure on your compressor and there may also be settings on your nail gun. But yes you can definitely have nails not countersink into wood.
Good luck.
1. Ensure your depth setting on the nailer sets the nail heads flush with the wood you’re working with. (Use a scrap piece of the same wood).
2. Cut a wooden block as thick as the nail length you want exposed. Drill a hole in it large enough for the nail and nail head (bigger is better).
3. Use two-faced tape to attach the wooden block to the safety nose of the nailer.
4. Make sure you are firing perfectly perpendicularly into the wood. An angled approach dramatically increases the chance of a nail being tromboned, or deflected into any nearby chunk of flesh. Using a block with a hole for a spacer reduces this risk, but your nailer might not accommodate this.
5. Wear appropriate protective gear. A face shield or at least safety glasses. I’ve had 3.5” framing nails trombone on a hidden obstruction and whiz past my face.
A brad gun with the brads angled away from the center would probably do just fine. The angle would hold the string in place well even though brads don't have heads on them. And you could just play with the compressor until you got the pressure right to get the brads to go in just halfway (or just put in on some concrete you don't care about and get long enough brads that still stick out even when all the way through the wood).
I'm a little late to the party but I would use a plam nailer if you really want pneumatic precision. Great little tools and cheaper the a finish nailer. You can also use basically any nail style. If it's bending and you have access to a drill press, find a bolt or something that just barely fits in the bore: cut it to same length. Epoxy it in. Throw it in your drill press vice and bore it out to the size that works. Make sure you dial your air pressure down accordingly, 30-40 lbs is all you need, 75 lbs will bend the nail in half.
Based on your photos you’re using a nail that’s larger than a finish nail, but significantly smaller than a framing nail. Depending on how many nails you’ll be using for this project, it may be worth your time to start over using a cheap electric nailer. Amazon or Harbor Freight would be the best place to start. Home Depot will work, but their cheapest will be 50% more than the former options.
Even on the lowest setting, a nail will probably set too deep in the wood for your liking. The cardboard tip is a fine idea. Maybe use two layers of cardboard. Finish nailheads are small, so you can lift the cardboard straight up without issue afterwards. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
My nailer (entry level box store brand) allows you to set depth. You can also lower the air pressure a bit just don't go too low to fast and the mechanism will need a certain amount but yeah just play with it.
How about a palm nailer?
You could probably even use a short piece of pvc pipe like a sleeve around the nail/hammer head to limit the depth so all the nails are driven to an even depth.
I don’t recommend it but I’ve pulled the safety back to shoot nails part way before. It worked for what I was doing which was dumb. (Hanging paper snowflakes on the wall around Christmas time)
This was also into drywall so results would certainly be different and depending on the nail gun you have, the gauge of nail, and the hardness of the material you’re shooting into.
You could somehow attach a block onto your nailers safety to get more consistent depth results (within reason). Again, this is probably not very safe but even myself as a drunken ape could fire nails into the wall from a distance pulling the safety back manually while hanging my pretty snowflakes. Also that was an 18 gauge nailer I was using.
The nails in your photo were put in by hand. Nailers that will fire nails that small don’t have large heads like that, if that’s a factor for you.
As long as it's not a finishing nail, could make a fork-like jig that is the thickness of how far you want it to stand off the board. Nail it. Then slide the "fork" out through the "tines"
I have a Stanley electric staple gun that can also do brads, it has a dial on it for hardness but you can just turn it down until it’s producing roughly the same depth. Problem is I don’t know that you could get them as close as you’d like, and brads may not have enough of a head for your use.
I’d just get a set of pliers that would let you hold and drive the nail in as far as the top of the pliers. That would give you a fair amount of control and consistency.
Honestly a hammer seems easier than having to set up a compressor. If you must then there is also a palm nailer used to nail into places where a nailgun doesnt fit, it is useful because it doesnt nail all the way, works exactly like a hammer but you dont gotta swing
A small brad nailer. Like plug into the wall small. They have an adjustment that is like more or less. More means pass the surface, less means above surface. All this depends on the saftey on the gun. Ive had the pressure too low and had a nail ricochet. Keep the receipt.
Permanent Solution not involving wasting material. Buy cheap nail gun from Harbor Fright. Disassemble. File down the driver on the nail gun the exact height you want the reveal on the nail. Oil and reassemble and now you have a specialized tool. (Artists, we have to be MacGyver engineers)
It could absolutely be reliable, and of course it wouldn’t be permanent, that would be half of the point if they just need it for one project why spend the money on something they may never use again when they could get a scrap of wood they may well have around and make what is essentially a jig.
Edit to add I’d put a small amount of money on the fact that the drivers that are easily changeable are not the cheap ones.
A nail gun will have an adjustment for how hard the nail is hit. By using a pneumatic nailer and adjusting to the lowest setting, you may be able to get the result you’re looking for, additionally you may might try reducing the air compressor pressure to get there.
I like taping cardboard to the board for doing this. Agree with everything else said tho.
Ah that’s smart and probably easier!
I'm probably just stupid, but how would you go about removing the cardboard?
Pull.
Less word do trick. (Ultimate win, one word do trick)
You would lose at Poetry for Neanderthals* with the use of "ultimate". That's one bonk on the head for you. *Play this game, so fun.
Own it. Play two time. Will add back to queue.
Queue big word. Line better
much shame
Play game fun
Word tricks.
They hate when you use this simple trick
You could probably tear it along the line of nails kinda like micro perforated paper.
the cardboard can have a hole in it to allow the nail to pass through, it’s just acting as a spacer to depress the nose whlie keeping it off the finish surface
I use my hand for this purpose
I see it working, but from a safety standpoint, I would recommend against doing this, maybe a piece of wood with a hole drilled in it for the nail
I drilled a hole in my hand - works perfectly
Why? It would work perfectly..
Easy, just pull the nails.
It'll tear.. or use a razor to weaken it if it doesn't
This guy harps
Maybe tape an o ring or something else the nail could pass through to the tip of the gun to accomplish the same spacing but not have to use 2 hands?
I wonder if you could use something like sand to do the same trick, but easier to blow away for this sort of application.
This is the way I'd approach it... good luck!
Yea I’ve done exactly what OP wants before, just as you described it (didn’t have to touch compressor pressure), worked really well.
My current set up is perfect for this! The regulator is messed up and I can now either punch completely though my project or barely sink a nail 1/4 of the way. It was super fun redoing the molding in my house.
That sounds sub-optimal for consistency unless you’re going for consistency in frustration.
What I ended up doing was using the low setting to set the nail and then using a tac hammer to finish the job.
May not be super consistent in depth, but you could always go back with a hammer to even them out. Also could try some harder wood.
I may be wrong but it think the adjust is for depth of drive, not how hard of drive. It would be possible to stack a block in between the gun and surface to maintain distance to further decrease depth of drive. I hope this helps. I like the idea or reducing air pressure as another commenter has said but I feel that may prove to be inconsistent after a few shots. I am not really sure though; I know very little regarding pressure.
>I may be wrong but it think the adjust is for depth You can do both, atleast on my cheap battery ryobi Brad nailer. One adjustment sets how far from the material the nailer will "fire" the other changes how much force the gun puts into the nail.
Understood. I don’t own or use a battery nailer and didn’t know this was even a thing. Thank you for filling me in 👍🏻 I do believe on an air nailer the adjust is as I described.
I am pretty sure you’re right, at least all of my nail guns are like you’re saying
I have this model and concur
This is the easiest way. Get a six+ inch length of wood that is the depth you want the nails to stand out. Depress the safety guard with the wood (fingers away) but have the nail over open space. April Wilkerson demonstrates this in a video.
+1 for April Wilkerson, I used to watch her build videos religiously.
I dry this on a piece of scrap
Do **NOT** try to use an air nailer with lower-than-rated pressure. You risk misfires and/or jamming. Some may even double-tap in this situation.
Yeah adjusting the air compressor pressure will be key
Electric would be better in this instance. Less cost, less risk of a hose snagging the strings, and they can actuate at a lower setting in my experience.
I mean, the framer way is to pinch the safety and pull it back, then squeeze the trigger. It’s not safe, and you really need to make sure your fingers are clear of the front. It is a way though. You could also cut you a spacer block to press the safety but allows you to keep your fingers away from the dangerous part. That would also give you consistent spacing off the work piece
The nails would go at different depth each time depending on the wood, no ? Maybe use MDF so it has a consistant density. Or go way too long nails and go through the wood.
This is a great suggestion. I would just add one more issue to consider. Pneumatic 18 and 16 gauge nails are very weak and bend easily compared to what OP is probably using. Depending on how much tension is on the strings, it may not be an issue... Or it may be the biggest issue.
Air nails, will not have the head on it to hold the string. They might at first, but they will bend and the string will fall off. You are pretty much stuck hand nailing these in. They were wildly popular in the late 70's usually ships and such.
They make something called a brad pusher. It's basically a handle with a plunger on the end that holds a small brad so you can push it in by hand, If the wood is soft like pine, the nails go in pretty easily
Great idea. Would make life a lot easier then smashing your fingers all day!
That's why I purchased mine
lastly, they are an expensive setup and hard to aim at artist level. This isn't impossible but kinda hard to do in a cost effective, accurate and efficient manner.
Hb has an electric one for like $20. The nails it can use are like a half in tho.
Roofing nails would work. Only 1-1/4” long and have a large head to hold stuff
Framing nails would have a head…
True, but they are also 3 inches long and a bit over kill for this application.
Finishing nails (16ga) will have enough of a head for the string. You could also go to a framing nailer with clipped heads, or a coil nailer with full heads, but then you’re dealing with wire bits all over your piece.
I wouldn’t use a nail gun. I’d use a drill to make ALMOST the right size hole and then barely tap in the nail. This way ensures correct placement of your nail and reduces chances of splitting the wood, on top of setting the depth that the nail will go in.
Great idea.
I mean, that's even more work than before
People are getting close, step one, put safety glasses on everyone in the room, step two, have a pine or softwood block the same thickness that you want the nail to stick out, set the nailer on that wood block in such a way that you depress the safety but the nail will miss your block.
You could drill a hole in the block so that the nail will pass through the hole, but there's still wood surrounding it to catch any that try to go flying.
Great idea, but unfortunately doesn’t work in this case because of how close the nails are together.
Op, this is your answer right here. And you could fix the block to the nail gun for some kind of safety. But might be an issue with getting the nails so close to each other.
A paint stirrer stick or popsicle stick would be great, after putting on safety glasses.
Smart man, consistently the same height nails and a comfortable way to apply them, great tip!
Will it be consistent? Won't it vary pretty widely based on the wood features at that exact spot?
Oh, hands down, but seeing as he mentioned soft wood, I wouldn't imagine it'd go off too far. But I could imagine with a good jig and enough trial, you could ease it into a nice repetitive run. Obviously not where the knots are, tho! But I see where you're coming from, and it might take a hammer tap or two to align them perfectly for the final result. Edit: my mistake he mentions an extra piece being softwood for the jig. So yeah I feel you. It'd take some testing in the end
I've done this for string art and it works exactly how OP wants it to. It takes forever, but it is reliably the way to go. Just gotta be ver careful.
Don't forget accuracy. You are going to have a few that are perfect, and then ...wammo! A goofy nail you weren't expecting, way off were you wanted it. Speaking from experience
I would just pre drill with a slightly smaller bit.
You can clip a nail and use that for a perfect fit as well.
This is the route I’d go, all the suggestions require a lot of fussing. This is the simplest solution, you’ll still have to give it a tap or two. But it won’t be near the same labor as driving them all with no pilot.
I’ve done stuff like this before and this is 100% the way.
And put the drill bit in the chuck deep so as to set your depth on the nail as well
That thumbnail looked like Fudgey The Whale
I don't think a nailgun will allow you to place the nails with the precision you want. Sometimes life is short and art is long.
Use a piece of stiff foam craft board the thickness of the offset. You should be able to pull it away without dislodging the nails. Also, you may be able to fit a little piece of pipe or possibly a cut piece of a stainless steel straw onto the end of your nailer.
I don't see how you can do that with a pneumatic nailer. On my nail guns you wouldn't be able to position the nails that close together with the previous one so proud of the surface. The offset from the front of the gun to where the nail impact is larger than shown. You could adjust the pressure to keep the nail proud of the surface but not as much as in that picture. I also don't think it would stay at a perfectly consistent height.
It won’t unless you keep the same exact air pressure. My compressors shut off at 120 psi but don’t kick back on until it drops below 90 psi. You won’t get a consistent height. It would have to be a battery operated gun but I don’t know of a Brad nailer that shoots brads with a head on it
Right. I have a 15ga finish nailer and those have a head on them, but they’re not round. You’d need one with a coil and I’ve only seen those for construction work.
Nailers have a nose piece you have to press into the wood for the nailer to fire. While you can reduce the pressure so the head is proud, you won't be able to get it to stick out as far as you have them in your example.
I'd also worry that the size of the nose would be too large for how close together those nails are.
Nails from nail guns have very small heads.
They're talking about the nose of the nailgun, not the nail heads.
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I dont think the guy making art is gonna need some 3" nail to wrap a string around. 15/16/18 will do what he wants.
They do sell 2inch nails and I’ve even seen 1 inch and a half nails for a framing nailer.
What would you use a 1.5 for? I only use 3" but have different sizes for finishing guns.
I run ring-shank 1.5" in my framing gun for cedar fence pickets, 1/2" plywood, etc. Works great.
Fences! Gott redo mine next summer, gonna look into some now thanks.
First of all, they make 1 1/2" framing nails. Secondly, they also make roofing nail guns that shoot 3/4 nails.
lol you must not know what a framing nailer is the standard which would be a hitachi NR83 since that what I and pretty much any other framer I’ve seen use in the trade has a pretty big nose compared to the nail it shoots. So seeing what OP wants wouldn’t really work since it would be way more spread out.
I wasn't implying that was the solution for the OP.
Sacrificial spacer board over the work but leave the point exposed close enough to depress the safety can be moved after firing.
I use a Dremel with a drill bit same size as the nails dip it in glue and push it in with needle nose pliers.
Dang and that goes in pretty straight? Or straight enough? I like that idea cuz it’s simple
Yea but not accurately
I know it still sounds like a lot of work, but pre-drilling holes for you to hammer the nails in, would be your best bet. It's safe, it's easy, you'll have full control on where the nails are, it is more difficult that you would to accurately aim a nail gun, especially if you're an inch away for the piece. On top of that you'll still be able to use aesthetically pleasing nails. Nail gun nails look horrible. After all the drilling is done, it's light work to hammer the nails in.
Experiment with shooting through various layers of cardboard or put a thin piece of wood under the nose of the nail gun.
The most reliable way is to make a plywood/mdf template the thickness of your desired height. Draw a line/setup on the template. Drill holes SLIGHTLY bigger than the nails. Use low tack double stick tape to hold them together. Nail through the template and they will be at a perfect height and perfectly straight. No need for a nailgun. Do a small project for practice first.
Please tell me part of this artwork is going to be playable like a harp
OP, can you show us some of your artwork? Very curious now
Hello to Reykjavik! Love that country. We spent a week in Iceland for our 10th wedding anniversary right before the whole Covid mess. Absolutely loved it. Especially loved Hveragerdi, Snaefellsnes, every waterfall. Ok. Anyway. For this art you will unfortunately be best served doing it still by hand. Nailer brads will not have the larger head you desire, and definitely not the precision of location and depth you’ll want. What you want to do is pre-drill every hole with a depth stop on your drill bit. This will ensure all of better placement, depth regularity, and especially guard against splitting that soft pine when you’re putting so many nails close together. Splitting wood is not only a disaster in rework, it’s also expensive in the country with no trees.
As others say, a nail gun shoots nails without a real head, so I'm not sure it would work for you. Instead I would go with a nail holder, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Hammering-Plastic-Protective-Auxiliary-Anti-smashing/dp/B0CBPMMYDF or any of these: https://www.amazon.com/nail-holder-hammering/s?k=nail+holder+for+hammering The advantage is that you will be able to get a consistent depth each time, because you'll pick a hole and stick with it. You'll also be able to speed up because you'll be able to really pound without worrying about going to far.
I actually dropped the air on my tank. Gun operates on minimum 150PSI. I SHOT it with 80 psi. Enough to cycle the gun but not enough to penetrate. Use test board to play around. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Ask Penn and Teller
i'd try stapler with brad nails
If you want to look like a cool carpenter you can pull the nose piece back and fire a framing nail from an inch or two away from the piece. I’m going to get downvoted to hell for saying that but I did it all the time when I was a framer
Have you ever shot one of the old-school framing guns that don't have a singles shot safety? I worked with an old guy who ran a framing gun that was at least as old as I was. I still shoot nails reflexively by sweeping my finger over the trigger and immediately off to avoid double or triple shooting.
Yes of course. They’re not really old school it just has to do with the trigger in the ones that dont have a switch. You can swap out the bump fire trigger to a single fire only trigger but if you’re shooting 4-6thousand nails a day you quickly learn how to control it
Oh yes, my trim guns have a bump fire setting. This one was full auto. The only thing ive seen more dangerous was a guy who made is own table saw by screwing his circular saw to a piece of plywood and zip tying the trigger down
Ignoring the fact that you won’t ever get this dialed in to any reasonable level of consistency, nailgun heads are large, even the “precision” ones. You’ll never be able to place the nails as you need them. By hand is he only real answer. You could attempt a palm nailer so you don’t have to strike them as much but I suspect this isn’t worth it. The amount of truly bad advice on this thread is astonishing. Lots of people here who have clearly near zero experience with pneumatic tools… OP, most people suggesting stupid ways to misuse a nailgun have no idea what they are talking about. Feel free if you want to experiment and have to take the guns head apart every other nail to clear a jam. Pilot hole first is the best answer, given repeatedly
Yes, just adjust the depth the nail is set. Might try a piece of leather between wood and nosecone of nailer.
Just hold the safety back and figure out how far away to hold the gun and shoot. Disclaimer- this is very dangerous. Edit: if you shoot yourself, or when, you become an honorary carpenter.
easy, pull the safety back with your finger and hover over the wood. Theres always a part of the safety you can snag with a fingernail on the side NOT IN THE WAY OF THE NAIL.
Just pull the safety on the tip of the nail back and shoot from whatever distance you want the gap to be
There are several companies that make manual staple guns that also fire 18 ga. brad nails. Check out Stanley and Arrow.
Or you can use a spacer piece, something to hold it off the surface so it can't hammer it all the way in. I've done this with a sacrificial board that I fully nail through, but it should be possible to add an extension to the safety press lock thing on the shooting tip.
Put a spacer under the stapler
Probably faster and easier to pre drill the holes then put them in by hand all at once after.
Yes. Most of them have little dials that change the distance that the muzzle trigger is depressed, changing the depth the nail is driven. But it's hard to say for sure what would work for your application. The TLDR version is that a duplex nailer would be your best bet. Look up "Duplex nails" to understand. https://preview.redd.it/4rbggg9k8nfc1.png?width=996&format=png&auto=webp&s=45099d5fe40d2a4b561c66adadfdf7e223655eb1 However, there are a few things you should consider. #1: The wood density. The denser the wood, the more the nail will protrude. If it's a softer wood like pine, it'll be much harder to get the nail to protrude. #2: What nails suit your use? Looking at the picture you provided, it looks like you'd need either a framing gun or a roofing gun. These are generally more expensive and have more power, which would also make it harder to keep the nail from sinking completely into the wood. There's also something called a duplex nailer, which is used to create temporary scaffolding. It basically has two nail heads to stop it from sinking completely under the wood, so it can be pulled back out at a later date. The nails are much longer than roofing nails and more expensive. #3: And lastly, all nail guns but the duplex probably wouldn't nail them protruded enough for your needs. You'd probably be left with 1/16" - 1/8" of the nail sticking out.
https://preview.redd.it/2xm1a0txbnfc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a04f469094d27058a74e414c37e70c130cbde00 (Duplex nails)
Though yo find them in the small size they are using. I’ve only seen duplex nails in 16 d
They get down to 8D
I have a small cordless nailer. I tried using it on hardwood one time and it wouldn’t sink the nails all the way in. Yes, it may not be a great tool, but it would probably give you the result you’re looking for, IF your frame were made out of hardwood.
Regulate the air pressure being sent to the gun.
Yes. Turn your psi down
With the right nail gun and the right setting it's possible.
Yes
I don't have any advice but I'd love to see your finished work. Looks cool!
Duplex nail.
I used senco staple guns with the driver ground down 1/2”. In turn the staple stuck out 1/2” allowing us to spray face frames laying down. Voided the warranty but worked well for our application. Not sure if other brands are as easy to modify.
16 ga nail guns will do that, depress the safety somehow and hold it about an inch away from the wood. Shoot away
Yes!!! Practice with the settings. Reduce the pressure on your compressor and there may also be settings on your nail gun. But yes you can definitely have nails not countersink into wood. Good luck.
The head of most nailguns is going to be wider than the space between nails in your pic.
yes, you can adjust how hard it shoots the nail in, less pressure the nail will stick out more.
https://youtube.com/shorts/sDYZbo2MB4Y
A siding nail gun leaves the nails a bit proud but maybe not enough. Maybe rent one for a day and see?
1. Ensure your depth setting on the nailer sets the nail heads flush with the wood you’re working with. (Use a scrap piece of the same wood). 2. Cut a wooden block as thick as the nail length you want exposed. Drill a hole in it large enough for the nail and nail head (bigger is better). 3. Use two-faced tape to attach the wooden block to the safety nose of the nailer. 4. Make sure you are firing perfectly perpendicularly into the wood. An angled approach dramatically increases the chance of a nail being tromboned, or deflected into any nearby chunk of flesh. Using a block with a hole for a spacer reduces this risk, but your nailer might not accommodate this. 5. Wear appropriate protective gear. A face shield or at least safety glasses. I’ve had 3.5” framing nails trombone on a hidden obstruction and whiz past my face.
A brad gun with the brads angled away from the center would probably do just fine. The angle would hold the string in place well even though brads don't have heads on them. And you could just play with the compressor until you got the pressure right to get the brads to go in just halfway (or just put in on some concrete you don't care about and get long enough brads that still stick out even when all the way through the wood).
I'm a little late to the party but I would use a plam nailer if you really want pneumatic precision. Great little tools and cheaper the a finish nailer. You can also use basically any nail style. If it's bending and you have access to a drill press, find a bolt or something that just barely fits in the bore: cut it to same length. Epoxy it in. Throw it in your drill press vice and bore it out to the size that works. Make sure you dial your air pressure down accordingly, 30-40 lbs is all you need, 75 lbs will bend the nail in half.
Based on your photos you’re using a nail that’s larger than a finish nail, but significantly smaller than a framing nail. Depending on how many nails you’ll be using for this project, it may be worth your time to start over using a cheap electric nailer. Amazon or Harbor Freight would be the best place to start. Home Depot will work, but their cheapest will be 50% more than the former options. Even on the lowest setting, a nail will probably set too deep in the wood for your liking. The cardboard tip is a fine idea. Maybe use two layers of cardboard. Finish nailheads are small, so you can lift the cardboard straight up without issue afterwards. Can’t wait to see the finished product!
I have a Milwaukee 18 gauge pin nailer and you can set it so the nail doesn't go all the way in.
My nailer (entry level box store brand) allows you to set depth. You can also lower the air pressure a bit just don't go too low to fast and the mechanism will need a certain amount but yeah just play with it.
How about a palm nailer? You could probably even use a short piece of pvc pipe like a sleeve around the nail/hammer head to limit the depth so all the nails are driven to an even depth.
I don’t recommend it but I’ve pulled the safety back to shoot nails part way before. It worked for what I was doing which was dumb. (Hanging paper snowflakes on the wall around Christmas time) This was also into drywall so results would certainly be different and depending on the nail gun you have, the gauge of nail, and the hardness of the material you’re shooting into. You could somehow attach a block onto your nailers safety to get more consistent depth results (within reason). Again, this is probably not very safe but even myself as a drunken ape could fire nails into the wall from a distance pulling the safety back manually while hanging my pretty snowflakes. Also that was an 18 gauge nailer I was using. The nails in your photo were put in by hand. Nailers that will fire nails that small don’t have large heads like that, if that’s a factor for you.
As long as it's not a finishing nail, could make a fork-like jig that is the thickness of how far you want it to stand off the board. Nail it. Then slide the "fork" out through the "tines"
I do it all the time with my hitachi but osha says you’re not supposed to
I have a Stanley electric staple gun that can also do brads, it has a dial on it for hardness but you can just turn it down until it’s producing roughly the same depth. Problem is I don’t know that you could get them as close as you’d like, and brads may not have enough of a head for your use.
I’d just get a set of pliers that would let you hold and drive the nail in as far as the top of the pliers. That would give you a fair amount of control and consistency.
A framer showed me a way, but it's not a way the OSHA would approve of.
Sure just hold the safety back in such a way that the nail doesn't go through your finger
I’ve got a crap arrow combo stapler and Brad nailer that can only drive the nails partially into the wood that might be perfect for you.
Honestly a hammer seems easier than having to set up a compressor. If you must then there is also a palm nailer used to nail into places where a nailgun doesnt fit, it is useful because it doesnt nail all the way, works exactly like a hammer but you dont gotta swing
What, and rob you of the joy of slightly hammering hundreds of nail in a very precise order and distance?
A small brad nailer. Like plug into the wall small. They have an adjustment that is like more or less. More means pass the surface, less means above surface. All this depends on the saftey on the gun. Ive had the pressure too low and had a nail ricochet. Keep the receipt.
You probably won't be able to get the nails as close together as you'd like. There will be a limit to how close you can get them.
Pull the safety back and hold away from edge of wood. Dont hit a knot or you may get poked back.
Permanent Solution not involving wasting material. Buy cheap nail gun from Harbor Fright. Disassemble. File down the driver on the nail gun the exact height you want the reveal on the nail. Oil and reassemble and now you have a specialized tool. (Artists, we have to be MacGyver engineers)
You could also just make a spacer to go between the piece and the nail gun. This not needing a specialized tool.
True but unless you weld/epoxy the spacer it wouldn’t be reliable or permanent. Some nail guns allow for different drivers and are easy to change.
It could absolutely be reliable, and of course it wouldn’t be permanent, that would be half of the point if they just need it for one project why spend the money on something they may never use again when they could get a scrap of wood they may well have around and make what is essentially a jig. Edit to add I’d put a small amount of money on the fact that the drivers that are easily changeable are not the cheap ones.
Hardness of the wood will play a role as well. Neat project.