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A joy to use. The best brad nailer at the best price plus free shipping.
I do a lot of trim work on remodeling jobs and have used Senco, Porter Cable, Paslode, and Hitachi brad nailers. Unlike the plastic nose guards other brands have, Hitachi's all metal nose will last a long time in abusive environments. The nose is large enough to normally distribute the pressure as to avoid indenting the wood, and with a little practice, you'll know how much you can push with the nailer and how much you'll have to push with your other hand or a clamp depending on the material. It's heavy enough to eliminate any recoil, yet balanced. Its plastic, anti-marring nose guard will break (as it has after about a year), leaving you with a pointy piece of metal in its place. I own an Hitachi NT50AE that I no longer use (due to the misfiring problems), a Paslode T200-F18 that I got to replace the NT50AE, and an Hitachi NT50AES that has now replaced the Paslode, which I still use as a secondary brad nailer (I like to have multiple nail lengths running concurrently).
Plus it has a great wrap-around shape for nailing curved trim. A few years ago I wrote a poor review of the Hitachi NT50AE brad nailer because it had a design problem that resulted in misfiring. I wasn't the only reviewer to notice this problem (look up the reviews for the NT50AE if you're curious). The Paslode is a good, reliable gun, but it's rather light and has a tendency to recoil more.
It's better than the Senco because the Senco's cheap foam grip will wear down over time (as it has on our jobsites) and the Hitachi is more powerful than the Senco. Plus my other Hitachi nailers have been extremely durable and reliable.I prefer the Hitachi NT50AES over the Porter Cable because the Hitachi is smaller, more powerful, recoils less, and has a nicer shoe that allows it to more easily nail curved pieces of trim like base shoe. On the one hand, it fits into tight locations pretty well, but it also has a greater tendency to mar the wood. Occasionally I've had trouble trying to get other nailers' noses depressed enough to activate the firing mechanism when nailing curved trim like base shoe, but I've never had this problem with the Hitachi.
I've pushed hard enough on cherry to cause indentations, but I've had no trouble with maple, oak, or MDF. The rubber grip is solid, yet comfortable. I could buy replacement nose guards from Paslode if I wanted to, and I did like Paslode's plastic guard before it broke.Like another reviewer mentioned, the Hitachi's all metal nose will mar soft woods. In addition to fixing the misfiring problem, the NT50AES features an adjustable depth of drive and a sequential trip trigger.Because NT50AES doesn't misfire, I now use this brad nailer as my primary one.
I have mixed feelings about the pointy metal. I know the Hitachi is durable because I've dropped it off of several stepladders, out of my tool belt, and also yanked it off of some upper cabinets by accident without any ill effects. The Hitachi has the best ergonomics of any brad nailer I've tried. This nailer feels like it was designed for production work and will last a long time (I question the durability of my mostly plastic Paslode, because it's light and has a lower air pressure rating ).
Truly the best brad gun for the money mabe the best on the market. I got mine about 6 months ago and I love it.It does not misfire or double fire.It set the nail every time in all types of woods.
I still have my Senco with a plastic non mar tip, not anywhere near the power but does not mark the wood as this Hitachi. I sets nails well alright but the extra mark in the wood is not worth it. 3 out of 5 from me for this huge problem and for the fact the tip design does not allow for pinpointing the exact path the nail will take. This nailer marks soft wood on the recoil and if you push too hard it will mark just setting the nailer on the wood. I don't get why this was not brought up here before.
P.S., this gun replaced a senco 1 1/4" brad gun that wasn't countersinking for me properly (yes i am a senco fan, I love my 41xp), the hitachi is well worth the price, no doubt. Just to see how strong it shot , I took two scrap pieces of 5/4 oak stacked on top of each other and shot a 2" brad into the two pieces , and the nail head was countersunk nicely, needless to say I was surprised. i've been using this brad gun for a little over 2 months now and I really like it, I use it mostly to install shoe molding and other light trim work. The Hitachi has performed flawlessly , always countersinking the brads.
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