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Air nailer problems

Halo Jones

Halo Jones

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I recently bought the Clarke CFN34 34° Clipped Head Air Frame Nailer (I think the same one Malcolm used when building his workshop). I've had no problems using 50 and 60 mm nails but it has been a very mixed bag with the 90 mm nails. About half the nails go in fine and then I get a run where I get a tremendous amount of kickback, the nail is only half embedded in the wood and is usually bent at 45 degrees. I played about with the pressure being supplied with the compressor and tried to make sure that I am firing the nail straight on but just when I think I am getting somewhere I have a run of bad nails. Is it me or is it the nailer?!
 
HJ

I don't think I can be of any help. I experienced no problems like that at all.

Perhaps, Mark Trimble can say whether he's had any problems.
 
This is the same or very similar to mine. Lubricate everything within an inch of its life, internally and externally. The other common problem I get is that the success rate drops off as the pressure in the compressor falls. It may just be that your compressor isn't up to the task. Also, check the adjusting screw on the mechanism by the head. This can work loose, and lead to poor results. Finally, dump the little plastic thingy on the nailer head...........it doesn't help.
 
I don't think it can be the compressor because the amount of air used per nail is miniscule. Provided the compressor is up to pressure then no need to worry.

As a slight aside, make sure you switch your compressor off at night. I forgot, it sprang a leak and so the compressor ran from the time the leak started to when I went in this morning. It was very, very hot and you could smell it as soon as I walked in. I'll be getting a fire alarm for the workshop.
 
RogerS":2g2c28fq said:
I don't think it can be the compressor because the amount of air used per nail is miniscule. Provided the compressor is up to pressure then no need to worry........
Click to expand...

No seriously, it can be. As the tank pressure drops, my nailer drives the nails in less far. Straight after the compressor motor has run the nails go all the way home, and some 2 or 3 mm into the surface, and just before it cuts back in again, the nails can be sticking up 5 or 6mm above the surface. I have far more mis-fires at that stage than when the tank is full.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried it out again last night and I think that hardness of the wood may have something to with it. Testing 90 mm nails on some scraps of new C16 CLS timber was absolutely fine. When I tried it on some salvaged studwork that I had taken out (installed in the early 90s) the same problem occurred. It has to be said that, unlike the new, this old timber is truly slow grown and is truly dry. Does pine go harder with age like oak does?

I think Mike is right about the pressure drop too. My compressor kicks in below 6 bar and stops at 8. I need just below 7 bar to fully drive a 90 mm nail on the new CLS so it makes sense it struggles with the last nail before the compressor starts again.
 
Some compressor switches have adjusting screws not only for switch off pressure but also the differential between on and off. Small changes in the settings will show what each does.
Don't increase the output pressure one once you have found it and return it to where it was first set but concentrate on the other screw to raise the pressure at which the compressor kicks in so that it say comes on at 7 bar instead of 6 bar. The mechanisms are quite delicate so be gentle with it!

As for pine whether it age hardens like oak I don't know but the growth ring density of wood from a few decades ago is far higher than recent stock and hence much harder so this could exacerbate your problem of air pressure too.
Hth
Bob
 
Mike G":mm9g1kpy said:
RogerS":mm9g1kpy said:
I don't think it can be the compressor because the amount of air used per nail is miniscule. Provided the compressor is up to pressure then no need to worry........
Click to expand...

No seriously, it can be. As the tank pressure drops, my nailer drives the nails in less far. Straight after the compressor motor has run the nails go all the way home, and some 2 or 3 mm into the surface, and just before it cuts back in again, the nails can be sticking up 5 or 6mm above the surface. I have far more mis-fires at that stage than when the tank is full.
Click to expand...


:text-goodpost:
 
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