In case you missed the news post, Milwaukee is coming out with a new line of M18 Fuel brushless nailers!!
At launch, there will be an 18 gauge brad nailer, and 3 styles of finish nailers: 15 ga angled, 16 ga straight, 16 ga angled.
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We had the opportunity to take a quick first look at Milwaukee’s new M18 Fuel nailers! Woo!
First off, they’re a little large, and a little heavy, but we expected that. Frankly, I don’t think most users will mind, due to the power, speed, cordless convenience, and runtime. Oh, and the lower noise from not having an air compressor nearby.
But really, the most surprising part is this: Milwaukee M18 Fuel nailers have a built-in nitrogen spring mechanism! That is what makes them so fast and powerful. Well, that and a lot of time and effort by Milwaukee’s product engineers.
No, it’s not a fuel cell. No, it shouldn’t require any user actions. It’s a sealed self-cycling nitrogen actuator.
So although Milwaukee doesn’t use this particular language, it might be safe to say you will likely get air-like performance.
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I drove in 2 nails with the Milwaukee 18 gauge brad nailer. I don’t recall what the target material was. It was either solid oak (laminated from several smaller pieces), or a thick piece of oak attached to structural wood.
The brad nailer can sink 2″ nails into solid oak. That’s what it says on Milwaukee’s product page.
There was a diagram, showing how the Milwaukee M18 Fuel can out-drive competing cordless nailers. I believe it – the brad nailer did a great job driving the 2″ nails flush with the worksurface. Well, very nearly flush. The first slightly caught my nail as I scratched over it, the second didn’t.
Once I have a sample in-hand, I’ll be in a better position to tell you how powerful the brad nailer is. From what I saw, it’s at least as powerful as the air nailers I’ve used in the past.
The brad nailer stands up! Try that with an air nailer!
The jam-release lever is huge (that’s a good thing) and easy to use.
Some might not like the placement of the belt hook, but it makes sense to me. I hung it off my belt – not a tool belt, but regular pants belt – and it felt alright. It’s not a featherweight tool, but it was nicely balanced, which helps.
Keep in mind that it hung off my belt for a total of maybe 20 seconds. Ask me again how I like the weight and balance after I use it for a lengthy project. Although, I’d probably stand it upright or on its side more than I’d wear it on my belt. The finish nailers can all be placed down on their sides too. I believe the straight finish nailer can also stand upright on its battery.
There’s only one non-marring pad. Why do a lot of nailers come with more than one non-marring pad? I thought it was so that you didn’t have to run out to buy a replacement when the first wears down. Wrong. It’s so that you don’t have to run out to buy a replacement after you lose the first one.
Milwaukee engineers worked to make sure that the non-marring pads are securely fixed to the nailers’ noses, but you can still pop them off if needed, or when it’s time to replace them.
Come to think of it, yea, some of my nailers have these little vinyl non-marring pads that have fallen off at times. Has that ever happened to you?
The non-marring nose pads of the finish nailers were larger than I’ve seen on other finish nailers, but nail placement visibility is still excellent. They were angled, so they shouldn’t get in your way as you use the nailers.
Hmm, this is in contrast to the Bostitch Smart Point nailers that Clayton reviewed for us last year. Nail-placement accuracy is definitely something I plan on testing once I have more time with these nailers.
I popped off 2 nails with the brad, and then asked the product manager to fire off 3 nails as quickly as he could. There was no lag, no waiting, no delay.
If I recall correctly, the cycle time is said to be something like 0.08 seconds. And I believe that the product manager also said that the fastest a user might drive nails in at, is typically 3 per second.
So when Milwaukee says zero ramp-up time, what they mean is that M18 Fuel cordless nailers will always be waiting for you, and that you will never be waiting on the nailers.
Assuming I’m not mistaken about the 0.08 second cycle time – and I don’t believe I am – you would have to drive in at least 13 nails per second before outpacing any of the nailers’ cycle times.
Update 1: Yes, the actuation time is 0.08 seconds for a single nail to file. The full cycle time, including reloading, is 0.3 seconds. So the fastest the nailer can drive nails is ~3x per second.
Update 2: There is a limit as to how fast you can fire the nailer. If you bump-fire many nails as fast as you can, you will hit a thermal overload protection scenario. Milwaukee says that this should not happen in real-world use.
Even in bump-fire mode, that’s just not possible to do hand-held.
Can you tell that I was impressed?
Questions? What else do you want to learn about Milwaukee’s new M18 Fuel nailers?
Nathan
so it’s a nitrogen balanced accumulator that is re-pressurized by the motor drive?
Makes some sense.
so how does one of them compare to the dewalt version.
Jason
Dewalt uses a flywheel mechanism with their nailers.
Stuart
If by accumulator, you mean a compressor – nope.
My understanding is that there’s a pressurized cylinder. When you drive a nail, that pressure is released. The electronic components serve to reset that cylinder to its starting position.
If it helps, consider it an air spring.
Jon
This is “nitrogen piston” technology commonly used in modern airguns (pellet guns). The amount of energy required to charge a nitrogen piston is relatively low.
The interesting thing going on here in the nail gun application is the speed at which it can reset.
Jc
It all sounds good but what do you do if the driver doesn’t want to return all the way back
Robbie
I just bought one and the driver won’t go all the way back in how do you fix that?
John
Robbie,
Same thing just happened to me, it’s brand new.
How did you fix yours?
John
Update!!!
I spoke with a Milwaukee service tech and I’m happy to give you the answer to clearing a jammed nail driver.
With any empty magazine and the gun powered up, retract the nail gide backwards and dry fire the gun and the nail driver will retract
John
Should have replied here given this thread was more apt, but did they give any word to the total lifetime of the nitrogen cylinder and if it can be user/factory replaced when it eventually is spent or will I have to buy an entirely new gun. The nitrogen cylinder in the Senco Fusion is expected to last about 200,000 shots before it needs to be replaced. The replacement cost is estimated to be around $175. Any notes on that for these Milwaukee?
Bob
Hey Stuart. I have ran in to an incident where I must be hitting the thermal limit. Once it got warm it will shoot about 2-3 nails and then the light flashes and won’t shoot for a couple seconds. Then we can shoot a couple more and then wait a couple. We had it in single shot shooting in to standard 1x’s with 2” nails. Can the thermal detector be bad or is it something that happens.
Stuart
That definitely doesn’t sound normal. If this is a new tool, I’d return it for an exchange. If it’s an existing tool that developed this problem all of a sudden, your best bet would be to send it to a Milwaukee service center, or at least contact Milwaukee for advice. I don’t recall hearing about this before. If I had to guess, I would think that maybe the temperature sensor is malfunctioning, or maybe there’s something wrong that’s causing excessive heating.
Ronald G Schafer
Hey Guys,
I just had the same thing happen. Has it been confirmed that there is a thermal limit or is it a defective gun?
Stuart
I haven’t heard more about this since my comment. If this is happening with a new tool, my advice would still be to return it for an exchange and see if the replacement does the same.
It might be worth checking with Milwaukee service department to see if they have better advice.
fred
It sounds a bit like the Senco Fusion – or at least as how I understand the Senco works. The Senco gets some bad reviews because of batteries – Milwaukee batteries are likely to be better. I’d be interested to hear how the testing goes on these. I know a batch of ex-compatriots who would love to get rid of their Paslode Impulse guns – so if this can sink nails in oak and maple – and work better than the Paslodes in cold weather – then it should be a winner.
Stuart
That’s the idea I got too, that it’s likely similar to the Senco Fusion nailers, at least in simplistic sense. I don’t know how different the internals are.
Steve RICHMAN
Love to Hear the feedback! The Milwaukee team cannot wait for the launch of this new FUEL product line!
Stuart
Thank you for the comment! I think it’s fair to say that we’re all excited for the launch too.
RKA
As a recent Milwaukee cordless convert, I’m looking forward to trying these out. Unfortunately I’m laying base and crown in a bedroom this week, so I won’t get to try these new guns. I’m really concerned about the size and weight. Nothing I’ve seen so far has swayed me. Best estimate on a release date is mid May?
Richard G.
Home Depot shows availability on May 24
John
I’m very excited about the release and chomping at thr bit. I just hope Milwaukee comes out with a pin nailer too to round out the entire set. No one but Makita has a cordless pin nailer, and both releases have been pretty darn under powered. Milwaukee could sure clean up with that offering hole in the market.
Stuart
I requested a pin nailer too. They might have some work to do to develop an appropriately sized nailer. How awesome would it be if they somehow built an M12 pinner?!
John
Sweet, hopefully it’s on the roadmap. Oh and Absolutely! You’re right, an M12 pinned would be amazing, sign me up! 🙂
Brien
An M12 pinner could be modeled from the m12 stapler. Just saying… that would make me happy.
Surbhi Sharma
Very informative article. Thank you for sharing it with all of us. I really like that it has lower noise due to not having an air compressor.
Stuart
Each actuation is still a bit loud. What I meant is that there’s no compressor running in the background, periodically kicking in once the tank pressure starts to dip.
Pete
So theyre awesome?!? Sweet! Just wish they weren’t so expensive!!
Chad
Amazing how good the seals in the nitrogen cylinder must be as they can never ever leak even a tiny bit. This compared to a normal air gun where the pressurized air as freely fed and any leakage is trivial as the incoming air replaces the lost each recharge.
John
There is still a finite lifetime of the nitrogen chamber if it’s anything like the Senco nitrogen actuator. The Senco F-18 which has a nitrogen nitrogen cylinder that is expected to last about 200,000 shots before it needs to be replaced. The replacement cost is estimated to be around $175.
Chad
Ouch! that is a figure that is worth putting some thought into. For my current brad nailer I probably have put a dozen 5000 bricks through it. That is 60,000 plus shots over 15 years? hmm… maybe 200,000 shots is not so bad.
Lance
What do I want from an M18 Fuel nailer?
An M12 Fuel nailer!
An M12 version geared at the homeowner doesn’t need to cycle as fast as the M18 “pro” version, so I’m sure it could get by just fine on the 3 cell M12 batteries vs. the 5 cell M18 batteries.
Make it so, Milwaukee, and your M12 lineup will have a very attractive offering that no one else’s sub compact line does. The average DIY guy doesn’t need the power of 18v tools anymore, hence the attractiveness of the M12 line.
Lance
I should clarify, an M12 18ga Brad Nailer.
Stuart
The size isn’t about cycle time, but power. The top section of each nailer is where the nitrogen piston/spring mechanism is housed, with the motor and other mechanical system in the front part of the tool.
Scaling that down would be difficult.
Plus, Milwaukee doesn’t design tools for homeowners. I think that’s a little less clear when considering their ball bearing tool storage products, but their cordless tools are always said to be designed for professional users.
Lance
The tool would need to be exactly the same size as the M18, the physics of driving the nail wouldn’t change.
All that would change is the voltage of the battery, and a reduction in the cycling speed to reflect the lower power output of the smaller batteries.
They don’t design tools for homeowners? Funny, I bet they sell more tools to homeowners than to pros by an order of magnitude! Maybe you are referring to thier design philosophy where all of their tools should stand up to professional use, which is probably the case for Makita, DeWalt, Bosch etc.
I’m not suggesting they build a weak tool for homeowners, I’m suggesting they take their existing M18 design and simply power it with an M12 battery, and that if it ran slightly slower than the M18 version it would still be perfectly acceptable. 🙂
This woukd open them up to a whole new market (M12 owners), and allow them to spread their investment Engineering the M18 over more tools.
Stuart
Milwaukee and other pro tool brands are very adamant about how the design their tools for professionals and professional use.
Anyone can buy them, but they’re designed with professionals in mind.
RC WARD
Sounds like a good thing. All a matter of how it holds up.
KenZ
I know everyone has their favorites, and I don’t even OWN any Milwaukees bc I bought into the Makita line back in like 2008. But seriously, Milwaukee is, in my mind, clearly the leader in cordless tools, bar none. Were I ever to scrap all my tools, or God forbid they were all stolen, it’d be Milwaukee for me.
I just wish they did an X2 36V setup for things like concrete drills, circ saws, heavy recip saws, table saws, and other things where 18V just doesn’t get close enough to corded performance.
Lance
I just flipped to Milwaukee’s M12 line from Bosch’s 12v stuff because Milwaukee absolutely dominated the 12v market. Not only do they make great tools, but they offer by far the best selection of tools.
I too have Makita’s 18v tools dating back to 2008 when I built my first deck. If I were in the situation of replacing my Makita stuff it would be a tough decision between them and Milwaukee.
If I was buying tools for heavy industry, I’d go Milwaukee. They have some heavy duty M18 tools that Makita doesn’t offer, albeit at a hefty price (mag base drills, for example).
For a DIY type (me) or a tradesman, I think Makita may have the edge. They offer a great selection of very capable tools, and I’m still in love with their forced air charging system, which has been in place since the beginning and has yet to be surpassed (in my opinion). Keeping batteries cool is the name of the game.
Jason
Makita is great for a carpenter or GC if your an electrician or plumber Milwaukee has you covered on tools you would need like the propress and propex tools
mike
Other than the gunfire from a Paslode Impulse it works best for me here in CA. Lightweight, hose tangle free, batteries last, and keeps working well if you maintain it, which I do. I also tried the Dewalt 18v until it broke down and cost more than 50% of the cost of a new tool to repair.
John
I’m still a little unclear if this nitrogen actuator is any different than say the Senco Fusion and it’s stated total lifetime. Sealed or not, there’s still a finite lifetime on these (obviously no where near the shorter life time of the battery itself etc). One thing to keep in mind, on the Senco Fusion F-18 at least, is that the nitrogen cylinder is expected to last about 200,000 shots before it needs to be replaced. The replacement cost is estimated to be around $175. Did they specify if it’s the same deal for these Milwaukee? If so, is it user/factory replaceable or will I have to throw it away and buy a new one?
fred
Like the Paslode Impulse guns we had – I would think that the target application is for punch-list work and for awkward jobs where a compressor and air hose would be a nuisance. There is no framing nailer or roofing nailer in the initial lineup – and that would line up with what our use had been. We had 10 IM250A finish nailers and 12 IM200-F18 brad nailers but only 2 CF-325 framing nailers and 1 CR175-C roofing nailer.
About the 200,000 shots – if you figure a punch list will be not more than 200 nails per day – then at a full 5 days per week use – the nitrogen cylinder should last almost 4 years. By that point the tool should have been fully depreciated anyway – if you capitalize small tools. Our criteria was that we expensed anything with a first cost less than $500 for one business and less than $250 for another business – but we naturally followed accounting principles that took into account the life of the tool. So it can depend on your size, policy, depreciation schedules and accountant’s advice.
Jason
Well Milwaukee has a 5 year warranty, so I don’t know how they are going to cover a part that one company considers a consumable.
Chris Pyfer
I’m interested as well to see if the nitrogen cartridge is covered by warranty. Since it is integral to the nailer’s function it should be.
JackC
If and when they show up, I will buy a M12 23 gauge pinner as fast as I can.
Toolpig
I personally love senco pneumatic trim guns. I have not felt the same way about their cheap made in China cordless options. I have had 3 generations of Paslode trim and framing nailers as well. I am disappointed in Makita trim guns as well as the Ridgid hyperdrive. These finish guns are long overdue! They will dominate the market as far as I am concerned. I will get the 15 Ga. and the 18ga. first. My Paslode guns are great and they owe me nothing but as soon as I confirm the Milwaukee’s perform at least as well, I will be eBaying the Paslode guns .
fred
We had multiples from a combination of brands of pneumatic nail guns (Bostitch, Cadex, Grex, Hitachi, Makita, Porter Cable, Powernail, and Senco) – having picked some brands/models based on what we thought to be best and/or most cost effective at the time of purchase. While we found that we liked the performance of some better than others. I can’t recall that we disliked any enough to scrap them. That was not true for the cordless Makita’s (only one each brad nailer and pinner) that we bought to test out – finding them underpowered for the hardwood trim we often used. We never tried the Senco Fusion – not wanting yet another battery platform – but my old comrades will likely try the M18 – based nailers.
Benoit
I’m curious to know if Milwaukee has any plans for framing nailers in a near future. I’m wondering if this technology of nitrogen cylinder can be scaled up to bigger nailers. I have the 20v MAX Dewalt framing nailer, and while it’s a very nice gun, it’s quite heavy. I’m just a DIY doing reno work in my own properties, but I wouldn’t want to frame a whole house with a cordless framing nailer as it’s an heavy tool.
I would also purchase a M12 23ga pin nailer on the spot.
William
That belt hook does seem like its in a strange place. Did you find the gun was battery end heavy when you put it on your belt, or did the handle stay parallel to the ground? My gut reaction says it would be pulling down and twisting towards the battery end.
Stuart
There was weight to it, but the balance was spot-on. It seemed perfectly balanced (or close enough) about the belt hook, keeping the nailer parallel and easily reachable.
johnny
speed
johnny
the official website doesn’t announce the weight of these nailers，so I
guess they are not light，how much do they weigh exactly？
Benjamen
I just weighed the 18 gauge brad nailer (the only one I have right now). Empty without battery weighs 5.8 lbs.
johnny
So it’s not that light as a brad nailer, the dewalt DCN660 ( finish nailer ) weighs 5.3lbs without battery.
John
I read a pretty in depth review of the M18 Brad nailer vs Ryobi Airstrike:
The results are not good. You’d think the Milwaukee would blow it out of the water but this doesn’t look like the case here. Between higher recoil, more failed fully driven nails, failed drive nails, etc the clear winner here was Ryobi:
“If the overheating issues, hard-hitting recoil, and non-consistent performance can be resolved in a future version — it would be one to consider. However in this test — the Ryobi Airstrike P320 is the clear winner.”
This really deflated my excitement for these nailers. I really hope these issues have been resolved before release of this will be a big disappointment. 🙁
glenn
Just checked it out. Bit disappointing for sure. I have been holding buying the Ryobi waiting for these.
For what I do with brad nailer I need the ability to fire on an angle. Guess I will just keep using my old P300 for a while longer.
glenn
Had a bit of a rethink, walked into my garage and a look at my very ordinary P300 and also my use of it as a bradder.
I use it to occasionally to make speaker pods, consoles door trims motorcycle seats etc for custom car and bike stuff and upon reflection I realised that I very rarely fire off vertical. Nor do I even have a bump mode.
I will wait til I have a hands on til I comment any further on the capabilities of these nailers.
Mike
Had it in my hands today, and I did not buy. I wanted angle 16 gauge and the Home Depot only had straight. I was going to get it anyhow, but $400 is $100 higher than my “what the heck” zone. $250 each and I would buy all four.
Geoff
Not happy with it at all as it struggles to push the nail below the surface
Liam
I have a massive issue with the anti jam mechanism on the 18gauge, had it 3 times in a week where the firing pin got jammed over the top of a mangled pin and 2 times I had to strip the gun down, this was using 45mm nails for architrave and 20mm for hardboarding a floor. Id say use it for beading and light work(which is what it’s actually intended for), I invested in the 16 gauge and it perfect had it jam once and the anti jam switch at the top solved it, SOME REALLY GOOD ADVICE is if this fails to unjam the gun on any model is to take the nails out, put a fresh pack in if theres only several left and hold the trigger, this should retract the firing pin and pin a waste bit of wood as this usually fires a shitty nail out. Then it should be fine.
stephen rogerson
just bought 18v nailer using it for fencing work ,brilliant for one person fixing of boards ,softwoods onto softwood 4×2 .But when going back double nailing the nail gun will not keep up before hitting thermal cut out .put the gun down leave for 15 mins and fire away again .Estwings dont need a rest but i do.
Brien
So… is there an m12 pinner on the horizon?
koby
So nobody out there can answer the question of how to fix a M18 15 ga driver that won’t retract and is stuck in the fired position
Stuart
If you’ve already consulted the manual on how to clear jams, the only next-step advice I could think of is to contact Milwaukee if it’s still under warranty, or a service center if it’s not.
Koby
Thank you kindly
Jason
I just got the Milwaukee M18 brad nailer shot it four times on the four-time the Brad jammed I was able to get the brat out I have the driver all the way up as far as I know but the lights come on for the 1 or 3 Hit for the power but whenever I mash the tip for the safety mechanism to go up and pull the trigger zilch happens I’m in desperate need of getting this gun running as I have a huge job that I have put a lot of money into and can’t get paid until job is complete so can anybody please help me thank you
Joe
Use a hammer
Stuart
That kind of response isn’t called for. If you can’t help him, please don’t mock.
Trippy
Hi, This article is over three years old. I too am a m12 fuel guy. Has there been any rumors of a m12 18g or 23g nailer possibly coming out? Nothing on there web site.
Before I go to Harbor Freight and pick up one of the new Banks branded pneumatic ones.
Thanks
Stuart
I have not heard anything about M12 staplers.
John
My other cordless nailer stops firing when I run out of nails letting me know I’m empty does the Milwaukee do that as well