Cordless nail guns? Dangerous?

[stevensfo]

My aunt's retired husband gave me a tour of some work he's been doing at home and showed me his nail gun that he swears is the best thing since sliced bread.

His DIY skills are a million miles better than mine, though to be fair, he did work in construction.

So another tool to add to my list of Makita and Ryobi tools. However, are they really dangerous? I'm a fan of 'Not Going Out' and remember the episode where Daisy saves Lee and Tim by firing a nail gun at the gangster.

Is it something I should hide away from prying eyes when some young 'uns visit? I always keep the batteries separate, but having brought up two boys, I know how the little buggers' minds work!! Do they really shoot nails across the room hard enough to injure someone?

Steve

PS When I was about 6, I played with a knife in the kitchen that my parents told me never to touch. Two seconds later, running round crying while blood poured from my thumb!

[chas49]

AFAIK, most nail guns have a safety mechanism which means the tip of the gun (where the nail comes out) has to be pressed against a surface before the nail is driven/fired. Assuming yours has this feature, the risk of a Daisy/Lee Mack style incident is much reduced.

[bungeejumper]

They're the weapon of choice for the louts in our nearest town, who discovered that they could bust out every pane of laminated glass in the trolley shelters at Sainsburys, and be outta there within a minute.

Speaking of which, we were once given a mains-electric staple gun (for big staples), which has two different apertures from which the staple or nail is going to fly. And neither the instruction manual nor commonsense reasoning could tell us for sure which aperture was which, and in which direction the sharp metal was likely to go?

We still haven't plucked up the courage to try it. It's at the back of the garage, next to the mains-electric plunge saw which makes me want to count my fingers every time I go near it.

BJ

[oldapple]

I do appreciate the humour but we had a lad of 11 years old not far from me who turned his father’s nail gun on himself. Sorry Stevenfo. Keep well out of reach of everyone.

[DrFfybes]

Having just put one back in the box, I can tell 2 things.

As mentioned, there is a safety catch so it doesn't fire unless the end is pressed against what you want to put a nail in.

You can manually activate the safety, eg to clear a jam, and it will launch a nail into the air. However the nail will start to spin pretty much immediately so the TV scenario of using them like an air gun is not reality. I'm not saying it wouldn't injure someone, but it is far more likely to hit them side on.

The biggest risk is using slightly too long nails, so it comes out of the other side of the bits of wood you are holding in your other hand.

Paul

[stevensfo]

I do appreciate the humour but we had a lad of 11 years old not far from me who turned his father’s nail gun on himself. Sorry Stevenfo. Keep well out of reach of everyone.

Will do!!

When I was at school, we heard about a lad who tried his dad's chainsaw. It bounced off the log and cut the boy's neck in half. I have other stories very similar.

Fortunately I have plenty of experience with the little buggers and know how they see everything.

But a few more padlocks will come in handy.

Steve

PS I keep my 45 Magnum pistol and assorted grenades hidden behind the files labelled 'Homework'. No problem.