# One length of brad does it all :)



## hands made for wood (Nov 2, 2007)

Now forgive me if this is already common knowledge! hahaha But doing alot of cabinetry lately I find I'm always needing different lengths of brads to ensure I'm not blowing my brads out the side or back of the wood.

Anyways I just buy 2 inch long brads and when needing shorter lengths, I simply snip off as much as needed on enough brads to do what I'm needing done. I just use 'tin snips' which seem to work great!

I hope this might be a simple tip some of you might use! :smile:


----------



## 6SpeedSD (Jan 21, 2011)

Smart thinking! I had a project the other day where I needed a shorter brad, but all I had was 1 1/4". Wish I had thought of that handy tip!

One of the reasons I love this site!!


----------



## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

I have almost everything from 5/8" to 2" with few exceptions. They are cheap enough in the smaller sizes $5 or so for a box of 5000.


----------



## Mr Mac (May 31, 2010)

I'm with Richard, they are just too cheap to not have at least a few different sizes on hand. This is one of those times where I might just find myself in HF to buy something other than an F-style clamp.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

I've never "snipped" brads, but it seems it could interfere with their strip assembly to be loaded in the magazine. You can understand that principle if you break off a few brads and set them in the magazine for loading. They are oriented a certain way to fit the guides in the magazine, so the heads and points are guided correctly.

The other concern is that the points on brads are shaped to perform. If you look at the way they are shaped, you can see how they are cut. Snipping them off would in effect put a blunt point on the end. This would give way to brads not shooting and seating straight. The chance for blowout is greater. In cutting, you would lose the coating the brads that have that acts like a glue when driven in. The friction of entering the wood activates the adhesive.

For as cheap as they are, and for as few of different sizes you may need, just having a box of those sizes to use could make you more productive. You might say that you've done this a hundred times with no problems. It's an easy way to get a problem shot, have an accident, or damage the gun. JMO.












 







.


----------



## hands made for wood (Nov 2, 2007)

Thanks cabinetman for your advice, it was just something that I was in a situation where I needed shorter brads and didn't have any on me, so I did the next best thing.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Mr Mac said:


> I'm with Richard, they are just too cheap to not have at least a few different sizes on hand. This is one of those times where I might just find myself in HF to buy something other than an F-style clamp.


Man I tried HF's 23g pins... They SUCK! lol... Not one would drive into the red oak I was working with... All just drove about 1/4" then splayed out...

Switched back to Bosch of same size/length and they drove with no problem...

~tom


----------



## MastersHand (Nov 28, 2010)

I have a top of the line 23g gun which will shoot from 1/4" to 2". I use it all the time for finish work especially pre finished crown. A lot of which is solid maple and have never had a problem. Are you sure your air pressure is adequate. As far as snipping Brad's this is not recommended and can actually be dangerous and you risk splitting the driver pin in your gun. With all the money you will be making from your beautiful work you can certainly afford the proper size Brad's


----------



## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

firemedic said:


> Man I tried HF's 23g pins... They SUCK! lol... Not one would drive into the red oak I was working with... All just drove about 1/4" then splayed out...
> 
> Switched back to Bosch of same size/length and they drove with no problem...
> 
> ~tom


+ 1 . HF pretty much sells junk. Their nail guns are OK if you never use them for anythng harder than soft pine. I think the one I tried was 18 Ga. dont remember for sure, but I do remember them not being able to work on red oak, which is not all that hard of a wood.


----------



## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

Tony B said:


> + 1 . HF pretty much sells junk. Their nail guns are OK if you never use them for anythng harder than soft pine. I think the one I tried was 18 Ga. dont remember for sure, but I do remember them not being able to work on red oak, which is not all that hard of a wood.


I have a HF, a Craftsman and a Husky and they all work about the same. I know the HF worked on Red Oak, Spanish Cedar, and Maple. 

I will know by tomorrow if it works on Lyptus which is 2250 on the Janka scale.


----------



## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

I've got the Porter Cable pinner and my 5/8" pins are HF and I didn't have any trouble driving into red oak. I got the HF pins when I ordered their 23 ga pinner but the pinner was DOA so I just sent it back and kept the pins. I run everything at 90 PSI except the framer which likes 110 better.


----------

