A cordless nailer with the power of a pneumatic? It’s a dream-turned-reality thanks to Senco and its brand new cordless 34° Framing Nailer and DA Bradder releases.
EVOLVE IS an appropriate name for Senco’s latest lineup of elite power tools, because it demonstrates just how far technology has come.
SEE MORE: Tradie Tough Tests
The biggest factor for both nailers is convenience, whether it’s in the capacity and life of each gun, or the ease of changing magazines and topping up the cylinder. Senco Australia Product Manager Dan Rizio said from head to toe, everything about these guns made life for tradies a breeze.
Tradies can get their hands on either of these fresh nailers for external or internal jobs, knowing full-well they can handle whatever’s thrown at them. For this test, The Tradie got in touch with apprentice carpenter Angus ‘Gus’ Redfearn from Teak Building Co in Melbourne’s east.
He was working on a reno at a home that worked with both LVL timber and OB hardwood. “We’ve been putting blocks on the wall, new noggins into OB and we’re shooting through LVL reliably,” Gus said. “It’s definitely worth the wait to be able to have a gun that can reliably shoot through thicker timber.”
TEST #1: ON-THE-FLY RECHARGE
Re-filling the cylinder mightn’t be something that comes around often, but having to put a stop to work because of it is a pain.
Senco is on the ball here, with the ability to top up your gun on-site and quickly.
“After about 20-30,000 shots, you’ll start to see the nail not protruding as much as it should and not delivering as much power,” Dan said.
“All you need to do is flip the lever and there’s a little valve where you can just attach a normal tyre chuck to it.
“Set your compressor to 125psi (80psi for Bradder), it’ll top it up and you’re ready to go. You don’t need to take it into a repair shop, you can do it all yourself.”
TEST #2: FAST AND FURIOUS
Both the Bradder and Framing Nailer sport jam reduction intelligence which means less nail jams. Should the Bradder experience a jam, it also has an EZClear mechanism which quickly detaches the mag.
“Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to test this feature because it only works when it’s jammed, which it hasn’t,” Gus said. “I’ve easily shot 3000 nails so far without a single jam.”
Simple function all-round made Gus happy with both guns. This included the simple drive depth adjustment, which can be done with a flick of the dial. “The more complicated things get, the more likely something will break,” he added. “I’m so glad the canisters and inner workings of both guns are super simple and self-contained, and that all the intricate parts are outside the gun and easy to replace.”
LOCK AND LOAD
Between limiting off-the-tools time as much as possible, and putting superior power in the hands of tradies, both the Framing Nailer and Bradder deliver. Gus is no stranger to using nailers from various big-name brands, and was blown away by these two.
“I’m super happy with the Bradder – it did everything I needed it to do,” he said. “It was super reliable for the depth, especially for doing secret nails on skirting boards.
“As for the framer, it covered all bases – hard timber, LVL, anything I wanted to shoot into.
“The weight was compensated by the ergonomics, I won’t have to worry about that ever again.”