Porter Cable has recently come out with 2 new cordless nailers, and there is at least 1 more on the way.
There’s an 18 gauge brad nailer, shown above, an 18 gauge narrow crown stapler, shown below, and there’s a 16 gauge straight finish nailer on the way. (Here’s the latest post, discussing the new Porter Cable 16 gauge straight nailer.)
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- Brad Nailer: PCC790LA (kit), PCC790B (bare tool)
- Narrow Crown Staplers:PCC791LA (kit),PCC791B (bare tool)
- Straight Finish Nailer: PCC792LA (kit), PCC792B (bare tool)
Why?
In the press release, the construction and DIY product manager is quoted as saying:
PORTER–CABLE is synonymous with woodworking and finishing –battery-operated nailers are the natural progression of the 20V MAX system. This new line will provide the tradesman with convenience and efficiency over pneumatic equipment.
The new 18 gauge brad nailer can handle fasteners 5/8″ to 2″ long, and with an optional 4.0Ah battery pack it can drive up to 1300 2″ nails into pine per charge. The nailer can drive up to 450 nails when paired with the 1.5Ah battery pack included in the kit.
It weighs 5.1 pounds without a battery, which is probably why the kit comes with a 1.5Ah battery instead of a 4.0Ah pack. A brad air nailer might weigh 2.5 to 3 pounds.
The new Porter Cable cordless brad nailer has numerous tool-free features, such as the jam release mechanism, depth adjustment wheel, and stall release lever.
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It features 2 LED worklights that also blink to alert the user when battery power is running low, or if the tool has jammed or stalled.
There is also a safety lock-off switch for safer transport and storage.
The brad nailer comes with a belt hook and 2 non-marring rubber tips.
Street Price: $230 for the kit, $150 for the bare tool
Buy Now(Brad Nailer Kit)
Buy Now(Bare Brad Nailer)
The new Porter Cable 18 gauge narrow crown stapler is very similar to the new brad nailer, with Porter Cable saying it has many of the same features except for the tool-free jam release.
The 20V Max 1/4″ stapler can work with fasteners 1/2″ to 1-1/2″ in length, and can drive up to 1300 1-1/2″ staples into 2″ pine per 4.0Ah battery charge, or 450 staples with a 1.5Ah battery.
It weighs 5.3 lbs, without battery.
Street Price: $230 for the kit, $160 for the bare tool
Buy Now(Stapler Kit)
Buy Now(Bare Stapler)
First Thoughts
I’ve been meaning to post about these new Porter Cable cordless nailers for over 2 months now, but it’s taken me a bit of time to think about them.
Dewalt has started off on the larger nailer side of things, with cordless brushless framing and finish nailers. There is definitely demand for smaller gauge cordless nailers, but as we discussed in a post – What’s Delaying Dewalt from Coming out with a 20V Max Cordless Brad Nailer, Pinner, and Stapler? – cordless nailers are big.
Consider these new Porter Cable cordless nailers. They weigh over 5 pounds, without a battery pack. With a battery pack, they’re what – 6 lbs and change? Does that include a full magazine of nails or staples?
In a lot of product categories, cordless convenience comes with a price. Sometimes you can’t use the same accessories as with corded tools. Sometimes application speed suffers. And sometimes there’s the compromise of having to work with a larger and heavier tool.
As someone who doesn’t like toting an air compressor around just to drive a couple of nailers or staples, I am very pleased to see Porter Cable stepping things up a notch and delivering a solution that a lot of users are eager for.
It’s not just Porter Cable that’s making large cordless nailers – all of the ones that have come out recently are somewhat large and weighty.
We know that Milwaukee is coming out with a line of M18 Fuel brushless cordless nailers. Not to mince words, I would wait for their official reveal and more details before committing to any brand’s cordless nailer line right now. Unless you need something right away, in which these new Porter Cable offerings look decent.
There’s no promise of air-like performance, which is a bummer. Ridgid makes a mighty fine brushless air-like brad nailer, priced at $229 for the bare tool, and it’s said to be capable of driving up to 2,000 nails per battery charge.
I’m sorry for the digression, but do you know what I really want to see? A brushless cordless air compressor that accepts (2) 18V battery packs, either for increased power or runtime, and works on-demand to power a single pin nailer, brad nailer, or stapler. Maybe a finish nailer? But I don’t want to be too unreasonable in what I wish for.
mike aka Fazzman
Been eyeing these as im on the PC 20v line,doesnt really surprise me about the size,they dont use fuel or anything,the innards gotta go somewhere. In the review they did over on TIA these seemed great for a DIY/hobby guy,not so much for pro folks.
The Ryobi airstrikes,ridgids and such seem much smaller.
Mike
They arent smaller they are the same weight the PC have a better feel and balance than ryobi and makita
Frank_MFD
Hi Stuart, your nails per charge claim for the brad nailer is incorrect. It drives up to 1,300 2″ nails into pine per charge on a 4.0 Ah battery and 450 2″ nails into pine per charge on a 1.5 Ah battery (which it comes kitted with).
Stuart
Whoops, thanks! I don’t know how I missed that.
RX9
Hitachi, Bostitch and Passlode have cordless hybrid cordless nailers that use a battery in conjunction with fuel/gas cartridges.
Bosch, Makita, Dewalt, Ryobi, Senco, Craftsman and now Porter Cable have cordless electric nailers.
By my reckoning, the only large players who haven’t joined the cordless nailer party yet are Milwaukee and Panasonic.
I don’t know about Panasonic, but I hope Milwaukee’s upcoming nailer (scheduled to show up this year) is worth the wait.
Milwaukee tool Steve
When will the Milwaukee nailers come… it seems they’ll never come out!
pete
milwaukee tool steve? lol do you work for milwaukee?
fred
We had used Paslode Impulse Framing, Finish and Brad Nail Guns for many years and developed a love-hate relationship with them. They worked reasonably well – not quite pneumatic class. They were OK in terms of bulkiness, weight and ergonomics. But for indoor residential use – customers moaned about the smell from the butylene-propylene combustion – some even saying that we were polluting their indoor air. I have to admit that using them in a confined space like a small powder room (just where the convenience of no air hose was most appreciated) – they did smell things up. I suspect that the Bostitch has similar shortcomings – but saw Tom Silva using one on a recent “Ask This Old House ” episode.
Like many others, my old team is waiting on Milwaukee to see when and if they introduce a full-battery-powered framing nailer – hoping it is better than the older Makita Dewalt ones and that we had tried – and found disappointing.
Chad
I was at our local contractors tool store today for their yearly open house. They had the Dewalt reps there along with the rest. I asked the dewalt rep when the Dewalt 20v 18 ga brad nailers would be out and he said “soon”. He had tested them himself a few weeks before in St Louis. “Maybe in the next few months” he said.
mnoswad
Stu,
Could you do a brand by brand layout of cordless nailers in one post?
Charting each brand and which size nailers they are currently offering and what is expected to come out soon and in the future.
As we all know comparing nailer to nailer is a moot point as we are more concerned with which battery brand platform to buy into or to stick with.
Also, should have a feature comparison box, as some nailers do not do bump fire I think.
I am currently useing the dewalt 18v 15ga and 18ga cordless nailers. I just assumed that dewalt would port over those sizes to the 20v line, but haven’t heard about either size at all.
thoughts?
Nathan
other than the prices being right on top of each other this is another time when I wished I could easily put a dewalt battery on to a PC tool.
easily that is.
meanwhile I think doing away with the fuel cartridge is the bigger benefit to these nailers. YEs they are bigger and as I can see so far – slower. but then if you’re running nails all day by the ton you’re probably using a cartridge system or you’re rolling with a hose and a real sized compressor.
donnie griffith
i am interested in buying one of the porta cable battery finish nailers 16 18 gauge. i have been to lowes several times asking what kind of nails that they will accept. I can’t get anyone that can tell me if they will take the pasload nails or the bostich nails. a lot of times when you go to lowes they don’t have the nails you need, wondering if any of them will work. anyone with help would be appreciated thanks
Stuart
Since it’s a straight nailer, 16 gauge straight finish nails should work.
If you want to be sure, contact Lowes, or look at the online manual for the specific nailer you’re looking at. If you find the nailer in-store, the box will usually tell you the size or style of nail you need.
donnie griffith
i know i will need the straight nails but i was wondering if the pasload nails will work in the porta cable gun
Stuart
On Paslode’s site, they say:
Paslode finishing nails are designed to work hand-in-hand with our finish nailers.
Unless someone that has specific experience trying Paslode nails in this Porter Cable nailer, you’ve got 3 options:
1) Ask Paslode of their nails will fit in other brands’ nailers.
2) Ask Porter Cable if other brands’ nails will fit in their nailer.
3) Buy the nailer and give it a try.
I’d be willing to test this for you, but it’ll take me quite some time to get the nails here and try it all out.
Benjamen
Are you asking whether it will shoot the Bostitch or Paslode nails just as an example of other nails, or is there a particular reason you want to shoot those two brands?
I’ve done some testing with the PC 16ga straight nailer and I just grabbed a few random lengths of the house brand of nails at Menards (Grip Fast) so I could try the nailer in a variety of different situations. I haven’t had any problems
As for Bostitch I’ve been using those in the Milwaukee 18 ga straight nailer without any problem, I don’t see why they would work in the PC gun.
MikeinMN
Just got the 16 ga. Porter 20v from Menards. Works well. Two of my coworkers have 18v Dewalt 18ga that they use constantly, but they cost a bit more.
My only beef is with the firing sequence. The Dewalts activate when the contact tip hits the piece, then the trigger is pulled and it fires immediately. The Porter Cable requires that the tip hit, then trigger pull turns it on and fires. This is a consistent 1.5-2 second delay, whereas the spinup delay in the Dewalts is masked by the time it takes to pull the trigger.
TBC
We’ve purchased two of the PC 18g 20v cordless brad nailers in the last ten months. Both began having the same issues around the 4-5 month mark. It will fire a brad, then wind up to fire another…nothing. Let the tool rest for a minute, fires again. Try for a second brad, winds up…nothing. Terribly time consuming to wait 1-2 minutes in between firing a single brad. Can’t seem to find any relevant troubleshooting online and emails to PC have gone unanswered (so far).