Never been happy with a Ryobi tool untill now: Ryobi Brad Cordless Nailer

[Steven Owen]

Here’s words I thought I’d never utter in my lifetime.  I’m actually happy with a Ryobi tool.  The Airstike Cordless Brad nailer is the first Ryobi tool I’ve ever owned that has simply outperformed many of the Dewalt and Milwaukee nailers I’ve used.

It performed flawlessly on several jobs this weekend that included a small trim job, a bee house assembly and a couple of plant boxes.  It never jammed once using the Paslode nails.  It outperformed the Dewalt and Milwaukee nailers I’ve used in the past. 

The only real gripe I have is the 2 flimsy Amp hour battery they chose to include with the tool.  It doesn’t even have a battery gage.  It would have made more sense for them to bundle it with a better battery.  Aside from that, it performs just as well as any air compressor based Brad nailer.

The widget is a little heavy for extended overhead use for a large amount of crown moulding.  It wieghs in at double the weight of a compressor based unit.

I expected it would jam more often based on some online reviews. I’m guessing those people cheaped out on their nails.  It never jammed for me as of yet. 

There’s a first time for everything.  I’m actually happy with a tennis ball green Ryobi tool. 

 

[RKA]

Agreed!  I tested one along with a porter cable against my Milwaukee (when they first came out.  The Milwaukee wasn’t consistent and would unexpectedly take a coffee break frequently.  The Ryobi and Porter Cable required a little “wind up” when pulling the trigger, but set the nails consistently and seemed to keep going without need for pause.  Both also left small divots compared to the mess left behind by the Milwaukee.

 

[pingvinlakrits]

I know - right?

The Ryobi does really well! After getting five or six years out of my Senco Fusion (great gun too) I decided I didn't want to pay that much again and as a stop gap solution I bought the Ryobi.

Not the fastest trigger response but easy to get used to and very good size and balance. Fits well into a Systainer 2 t-Loc with the smaller charger and some spare nails.  I have the 2,5ah battery on it and it does last quite a while so I don't see any need for a bigger Ah battery for it. I have no experience with the older batteries though.

As a side note I did try the Hitachi 18ga nailer which I would say is the best in class performance for sure.

It is however heavy and does not fit well into Systainers. I think it needs a SYS 3 minimum and has to go in at an angle. They could have shrunk it just a little bit to allow it to pack better. Grip is great and it comes with a rafter hook but it does not shy away from the fact that the Ryobi is so much nicer to handle.

Considering you can fit a SYS 5 with a compressor, hose, nail gun(s) and roll it away the Hitachi does not offer much better portability sizewise. Too bad, I did like the Hitachi but for a full days work I'd be less impressed at the end of the day.

 

[Steven Owen]

I know - right?

The Ryobi does really well! After getting five or six years out of my Senco Fusion (great gun too) I decided I didn't want to pay that much again and as a stop gap solution I bought the Ryobi.

Not the fastest trigger response but easy to get used to and very good size and balance. Fits well into a Systainer 2 t-Loc with the smaller charger and some spare nails.  I have the 2,5ah battery on it and it does last quite a while so I don't see any need for a bigger Ah battery for it. I have no experience with the older batteries though.

As a side note I did try the Hitachi 18ga nailer which I would say is the best in class performance for sure.

It is however heavy and does not fit well into Systainers. I think it needs a SYS 3 minimum and has to go in at an angle. They could have shrunk it just a little bit to allow it to pack better. Grip is great and it comes with a rafter hook but it does not shy away from the fact that the Ryobi is so much nicer to handle.

Considering you can fit a SYS 5 with a compressor, hose, nail gun(s) and roll it away the Hitachi does not offer much better portability sizewise. Too bad, I did like the Hitachi but for a full days work I'd be less impressed at the end of the day.

AEG makes Milwaukee and Ryobi.  Granted they’re competing divisions of the the same company.  It’s actually surprising AEG hasn’t done anything to fix the issues with a new model for Milwaukee.  They have better margins on the Milwaukee brand.

 

[Michael Kellough]

AEG does not make power tools anymore. Since a couple decades ago. It is just another brand of power tools that TTI produces under license (from Electrolux) like Ryobi, Ridgid, and Craftsmen. TTI does own Milwaukee and a few other brands.

 

[pingvinlakrits]

It seems the Milwaukee unit isn't all that good according to the service centre and a shop that sells Hitachi, Milwaukee, Bosch, Paslode and Makita. But, neither Makita nor Bosch has made a good 18V air nailer so Milwaukee is in "good" company.

Picked up some gear today and handled the Hitachi yet again, I want to like it as it works really well but it it quite heavy and awkward in balance. Even the rep uses a Ryobi at home!  [eek]

 

[live4ever]

Ugh, every time I see a happy Ryobi owner I pray to the gods Milwaukee would just fix the issues with theirs.  I'm heavy into Milwaukee and really don't want another battery system (have FT, Mil 18/12, and DeW thanks to Graco), as cheap as it may be.

 

[Steven Owen]

Ugh, every time I see a happy Ryobi owner I pray to the gods Milwaukee would just fix the issues with theirs.  I'm heavy into Milwaukee and really don't want another battery system (have FT, Mil 18/12, and DeW thanks to Graco), as cheap as it may be.

Probably the only real knock for the Ryobi is the design of the air pressure dail doesn’t make it easy to remember any settings.  You pretty much have to run some test nails on test boards every time to figure out your depth setting for a job. 

The biggest mistake I’ve seen people make with Brad nailers is people sinking the nails too deep into the wood/trim, reducing the holding power of the nail.  The nail is in too far only leaving a sliver of wood holding the joint.

 

[JimD]

Glad you like the Ryobi nailer.  I also have their 18V nailer and have put over 7,000 brads of various designs through it.  I rarely mess with the depth setting, doesn't seem necessary.  I also like my 18V Ryobi drills and impact driver and my cordless shop vac (18V).  The oscillating tool, circular saw, and jigsaw are not as nice but are useful sometimes.  I usually use a 3 or 4 amp hour battery on the nailer, it needs a decent sized one unless you are just putting in a few brads.  If you watch for sales it isn't hard to get 2 4 amp hour batteries for $100.

Ryobi makes some tools I do not like but they also make some pretty good tools.  You cannot just trust the name but you shouldn't rule them out based upon the name either.  Best to look for reviews. 

 

[Dick Mahany]

I only have two Ryobi tools.  The 18v powered caulking gun and a flashlight.  Both have been great inexpensive tools, high value to cost ratio, and were in stock the day I needed them.  I was a little hesitant of the brand at first, but was pleasantly surprised after using (abusing) them.

 

[vkumar]

I too have the brad nailer and the caulking gun.  Both are great tools.  What I like about the caulking gun is the precision control and stops immediately when you release the trigger.  The price is right too.

 

[Koamolly]

The old Ryobi stuff was pretty good.  I have a very old Ryobi AP10 benchtop planer and an old BT3000 portable table saw that I purchased new.  Both were well reviewed at the time and have held up well.  When I was buying an RO125 from a guy on Craigslist he asked if I could use a planer.  Someone had given him a planer and he was moving and just wanted to have it hauled away.  I had just bought a DeWalt 735 but ended up taking the Ryobi 13” planer with me for free.  Unlike the other two tools, this one was made in China.  Still it worked well enough so I can use it to save the blades on the DeWalt.  I had heard good things about their cordless nailers.

 

[ear3]

Even though it would have been the logical choice because of battery compatibility, I also initially steered away from the Milwaukee cordless nailers after hearing and reading a bunch of negatives, and ended up going with the Dewalt (which I've been very happy with so far).  However, last year I did happen across a deal for the 15 gauge Milwaukee cordless that was too good to pass up, so I added it to my Dewalt nailers.  It's heavier than the others and has a bit of a recoil (both things in part due no doubt to the size nail it drives), but I have to say it has performed flawlessly for me up till now.

Ugh, every time I see a happy Ryobi owner I pray to the gods Milwaukee would just fix the issues with theirs.  I'm heavy into Milwaukee and really don't want another battery system (have FT, Mil 18/12, and DeW thanks to Graco), as cheap as it may be.

 

[upscale]

[quote author=Steven Owen] Here’s words I thought I’d never utter in my lifetime.  I’m actually happy with a Ryobi tool.  The Airstike Cordless Brad nailer is the first Ryobi tool I’ve ever owned that has simply outperformed many of the Dewalt and Milwaukee nailers I’ve used.[/quote]

I really have to ask. After your initial Ryobi unhappiness, why did you continue to buy Ryobi?

 

[Steven Owen]

[quote author=Steven Owen] Here’s words I thought I’d never utter in my lifetime.  I’m actually happy with a Ryobi tool.  The Airstike Cordless Brad nailer is the first Ryobi tool I’ve ever owned that has simply outperformed many of the Dewalt and Milwaukee nailers I’ve used.

I really have to ask. After your initial Ryobi unhappiness, why did you continue to buy Ryobi?
[/quote]

I can’t say I ever been unhappy with any Ryobi tools with the exception of the crappy Jig Saws and lousy reciprocating Saws.  Never buy Ryobi saw.  The rest of their tool line-up is passable middle of the road gear.  Their nail guns are the first real top of the line performer they have ever released.

 

[DeformedTree]

I know - right?

The Ryobi does really well! After getting five or six years out of my Senco Fusion (great gun too) I decided I didn't want to pay that much again and as a stop gap solution I bought the Ryobi.

Not the fastest trigger response but easy to get used to and very good size and balance. Fits well into a Systainer 2 t-Loc with the smaller charger and some spare nails.  I have the 2,5ah battery on it and it does last quite a while so I don't see any need for a bigger Ah battery for it. I have no experience with the older batteries though.

As a side note I did try the Hitachi 18ga nailer which I would say is the best in class performance for sure.

It is however heavy and does not fit well into Systainers. I think it needs a SYS 3 minimum and has to go in at an angle. They could have shrunk it just a little bit to allow it to pack better. Grip is great and it comes with a rafter hook but it does not shy away from the fact that the Ryobi is so much nicer to handle.

Considering you can fit a SYS 5 with a compressor, hose, nail gun(s) and roll it away the Hitachi does not offer much better portability sizewise. Too bad, I did like the Hitachi but for a full days work I'd be less impressed at the end of the day.

AEG makes Milwaukee and Ryobi.  Granted they’re competing divisions of the the same company.  It’s actually surprising AEG hasn’t done anything to fix the issues with a new model for Milwaukee.  They have better margins on the Milwaukee brand.

Being owned by the same people doesn't mean you have any interconnection (Ask anyone who works in a multi-national conglomerate).  Milwaukee runs pretty independent of anything else.  I wouldn't be surprised if they have zero relationship with Ryobi. When they were sold to TTI it didn't go over well with their loyal owners, I think they have tried to avoid the impression of anything having changed with the brand and their tools.

Ryobi is basically a Home Depot house brand.  For the US market the design/make for what home depot wants. Best I can tell they have similar near exclusive/house brand like relationships in other countries.

Milwaukee is sold by everyone, so design decisions aren't driven by 1 or a handful (globally) retailers.

Tool quality is not a brand thing, it's a tool thing, everyone has duds, and everyone can sometimes have something great, even those that target cheap/disposable tools sometimes make something good (maybe by accident, maybe just to mess with other companies, maybe engineers snuck one past the accountants).

 

[Steven Owen]

I know - right?

The Ryobi does really well! After getting five or six years out of my Senco Fusion (great gun too) I decided I didn't want to pay that much again and as a stop gap solution I bought the Ryobi.

Not the fastest trigger response but easy to get used to and very good size and balance. Fits well into a Systainer 2 t-Loc with the smaller charger and some spare nails.  I have the 2,5ah battery on it and it does last quite a while so I don't see any need for a bigger Ah battery for it. I have no experience with the older batteries though.

As a side note I did try the Hitachi 18ga nailer which I would say is the best in class performance for sure.

It is however heavy and does not fit well into Systainers. I think it needs a SYS 3 minimum and has to go in at an angle. They could have shrunk it just a little bit to allow it to pack better. Grip is great and it comes with a rafter hook but it does not shy away from the fact that the Ryobi is so much nicer to handle.

Considering you can fit a SYS 5 with a compressor, hose, nail gun(s) and roll it away the Hitachi does not offer much better portability sizewise. Too bad, I did like the Hitachi but for a full days work I'd be less impressed at the end of the day.

AEG makes Milwaukee and Ryobi.  Granted they’re competing divisions of the the same company.  It’s actually surprising AEG hasn’t done anything to fix the issues with a new model for Milwaukee.  They have better margins on the Milwaukee brand.

Being owned by the same people doesn't mean you have any interconnection (Ask anyone who works in a multi-national conglomerate).  Milwaukee runs pretty independent of anything else.  I wouldn't be surprised if they have zero relationship with Ryobi. When they were sold to TTI it didn't go over well with their loyal owners, I think they have tried to avoid the impression of anything having changed with the brand and their tools.

Ryobi is basically a Home Depot house brand.  For the US market the design/make for what home depot wants. Best I can tell they have similar near exclusive/house brand like relationships in other countries.

Milwaukee is sold by everyone, so design decisions aren't driven by 1 or a handful (globally) retailers.

Tool quality is not a brand thing, it's a tool thing, everyone has duds, and everyone can sometimes have something great, even those that target cheap/disposable tools sometimes make something good (maybe by accident, maybe just to mess with other companies, maybe engineers snuck one past the accountants).

Home Depot has a similar relationship with Emerson Tool, which is results in Rigid's consumer like of tools being exclusive to Home Depot.  Lowe’s has been trying to execute a similar strategy with a brand call Kobalt.  Lowe’s recently acquired exclusivity for the Craftsman brand from Sears. 

Ryobi quality has improved over the years.  There by no means Festool.  But they have been making inroads against Black & Decker.  Stanely tools has made a lot of bad decisions with the B&D line. 

Ryobi did a better job with their Ryobi One line-up.  Stanley has nearly 28 different battery lines for B&D.  They really messed B&D’s battery line-up to a point where consumers are constantly confused on which battery to buy.  Nothing is interchangeable.     

 

[Steven Owen]

Craftsman is always a funny case study, and it's cousin (Kenmore).  The shear number of people who have no idea they are just sears creations putting their names on other companies stuff amazes me.  It was even more amazing sears tried to sell the Kenmore brand,  somehow an imaginary company had value.  While most all craftsman stuff was junk, the true hand tools where fine, of course they were made under contract by real tool companies.  They did a smart thing at one point by letting some other stores (like Ace) sell craftsman tools, which gave them more legitimacy.  I think Ryobi has a similar thing in the US, where some non-HD places do sell them too.  But of course Ryobi isn't a pure Home Depot creation like say Husky.  The shame with Rigid is now a lot of folks don't know they aren't just a Home Depot brand, many folks have no idea they are actually a serious, real deal, been around a long time tool company.

Yeah, B&D made a mess of batteries.  Their outdoor tools where a perfect example of this, everything has a different battery.  For years I just kept going "why not just use the Dewalt batteries you all ready sell, or mold them in Orange and Black, but have them be interchangeable".  They finally sorta got there by having Dewalt brand yard tools, which then makes one ask what B&D tools are for. But of course again bulk of folks have no idea Dewalt is just a brand of B&D.  Thing is, the cheap 50 dollar B&D battery weed whackers work great,  I bought a much more expensive one, took it right back, bought a newer 50 dollar B&D one, which of course had yet a different battery than my previous one, which was only getting replaced because you could no longer get the battery for the previous one and it had died.

It’ll be interesting to see what Lowe’s will do with the Craftsman brand.  Sears really trashed the Craftsman band in recent years.  Lowe’s has their work cut out for them restoring people’s confidence in the Craftsman logo. 

Home Depot has done a lot to improve Ryobi’s quality over the past 4-years.  The Ryobi products are superior to their Black and Decker, Canadian Tire MasterCraft and Lowe’s Kolbalt Brands. 

The AFS edge trimmers are really Black and Deckers last great product.  I was fortunate to buy one of the 36 volt trimmers before they messed up the line with 20 Volt trimmers.

 

[w802h]

I was unimpressed with the toenailing of the Airstrike Brad nailer.  I used it once before I traded it for 3 30 packs of Gennesee Light!  Bought a Paslode and have been nailing happily ever after!  Pneumatic-like power and no delay. 

 

[Steven Owen]

I was unimpressed with the toenailing of the Airstrike Brad nailer.  I used it once before I traded it for 3 30 packs of Gennesee Light!  Bought a Paslode and have been nailing happily ever after!  Pneumatic-like power and no delay.

Ryobi and Home Depot want you to spend more to get the angled 16 gauge driver for toe nailing. None of the battery cordless nailers are particularly good at toe nailing in 2x4 material.

If I was using it for Toe nailing dimensional lumber I would have stuck with an air compressor model.  The Paslode cartridges aren’t very cheap in Canada. 

I’m surprised your didn’t get the Hitachi canister based unit.  It’s been the favourite of reviewers for several years running.