Hitachi cordless nail guns

[bnaboatbuilder]

I have patiently been hunting down reconditioned (Grade A) Hitachi 18v nail guns. They come with a 1 year warranty. Each with a bag, charger and 3.0Ah battery.

As of now I have 3 of them, 18ga, 16ga, 15ga which all together cost a total of $536 thanks to recon AND 15-20% sales discounts over 2 separate purchasing times. Brand new they would have been approx $975.

Really enjoying them. They are large, heavy, but sink nails with no issue and essentially no delay. Single fire, bump fire and onboard LED light. These three use the same main nailing unit and then have different firing pin and trays.

I'll keep most of my other regular nailers since selling them won't yield much money but they do still work fine. I own 7 regular pneumatic nail guns and staple guns, but have gotten tired of hauling the compressor around, especially for smaller work or quick projects. The few pneumatic nailers from Hitachi have been superb.

 

[live4ever]

You haven’t had a chance to compare them to the Milwaukee ones have you?  Can they sink nails when fired at a slight angle to the surface, as would happen with various molding profiles?  That was my main beef with the Milwaukee.

I could never get used to the Milwaukee 16g, much as I wanted to like it due to convenience.  Perhaps the Hitachis represent the next step in the maturation of the technology.

 

[bnaboatbuilder]

So just a basic test using a digital angle gauge. I was able to fully sink 18ga 2" nails with the the gun at 45* tilted sideways and about 30* with the gun tilted backwards. That was with the plastic tip on. Of course with the plastic tip off, it did fine too.

On the 16ga, I could sink 2" nails close to those similar angles but required having the plastic tip off since it's a much larger circular plastic pad. Both these gun tests were done on a square block of wood. I don't have any crown molding scraps, any went to the burn pile.

I have no experience with the Milwaukee guns.

I like the Hitachis for the freedom from a compressor. Everyone's likes and dislikes could be different though. Hitachis are heavy at 7 lbs or so.

Milwaukee, Dewalt, Senco, Hitachi, Paslode, Ryobi to name a few that all have battery nail guns. I have some older Ryobi tools so since I had batteries I thought about their nail guns but honestly I just can't agree with that Ryobi green color, it's just odd. Preferred their older blue color.

You haven’t had a chance to compare them to the Milwaukee ones have you?  Can they sink nails when fired at a slight angle to the surface, as would happen with various molding profiles?  That was my main beef with the Milwaukee.

I could never get used to the Milwaukee 16g, much as I wanted to like it due to convenience.  Perhaps the Hitachis represent the next step in the maturation of the technology.

 

[bnaboatbuilder]

Side by side of just how much bigger the 18ga cordless is from the regular pneumatic.

 

[live4ever]

Thanks John, looks like the Hitachis are a decent option.  I liked everything about the Milwaukee except the angle problem.  And never really got used to the "ker-chunk" on a slight delay, but that was a small price to pay for not having to lug the compressor around. 

Those comparison photos really show the size of these things and they ain't small!  I'm sure they will continue to get smaller and lighter.  At least I hope so.

 

[pingvinlakrits]

I did try out the 18ga Hitachi nailer, it was a bit too heavy for me and took up too much space compared to the other 18V nailers I have had. I had the Senco Fusion and now run a lowly Ryobi which does OK and is fairly compact.

For sheer performance Hitachi was superb, I would say class leading performance.

Hitachi has recently launched a 18V 23ga pin nailer which looks superb and which is probably a great little unit. I run the Makita pin nailer and "upgraded" from the previous version but the newer version misfires more often. Makitas 18V 18ga nailer is a joke to me and I am hoping they will replace it eventually with something better and more ergonomic.

If you can live with the weight Hitachi seems like a great way to go.