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by Peter Brett - February 2008
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Cordless Finish 41
A Fine Finish
But I suppose the truth is that nailers won’t now simply go away and be disinvented. Despite some Health and Safety fears the end-users love them and they save a huge amount of time and effort on building sites.
Over the years I have reviewed in ToolBusiness many of the independently powered nailers on the market. The vast majority of them have worked very well and have survived the rigours of the market to find their own niche. A few have disappeared, and such is life. My guess is that the Cordless Finish Nailer from Poppers SENCO will be one of the success stories. Why? Well read on and I will tell you.
It is a given that all independently powered nailers are bulky creatures. The SENCO is no different, but it is a lot less heavy than some. At about 3.5 Kgs it has an acceptable balance between the weight needed to perform well and the need to be carried around a lot of the time.
Other specifications make good reading too. The 14.4 volt NiCad batteries charge in an hour on the diagnostic charger and the light and strong nylon composite nail magazine holds up to 110 15 gauge nails. Nail sizes can be from 11/4 inch to 21/2 inch in length, enough to cope with many finish nailing tasks I think.
Handling the machine is easy too as the handle is roughly on the centre of gravity with the firing head counterbalanced by the weight of the battery at the end of the handle. The handle also has a smart red rubberised grip and sensible sized trigger that can be used even with gloved hands.
I doubt whether I would ever use the inbuilt belt hook because the weight of the machine would pull my trousers down, but I suspect that many professional users would need to have at least some way of holding the machine nearby when not in use.
In some machines loading the nails can be a nightmare, but this is simplicity itself. The nails literally slide into the slot at the rear of the magazine and then the spring loaded retaining clip is pulled past them to enable them to be fed ready to be fired.
Adjusting the machine to fire the correct nail with the correct amount of force takes a little bit of trial and error. This involves setting the dial on the back of the motor housing to the left or right. I confess that this was the only part of using this nailer that I had trouble with because I couldn’t get it quite right until I had fired off at least half a run of nails. This however allowed me to use the excellent E-Z Clear latch system. I have not seen a simpler or more efficient system on any other nailing tool. The spring-loaded latch is raised and unhooked, the nail is cleared by hand and then the latch is rehooked. It takes longer to describe than to do.
The user also has the choice of pushing the button on the adjuster to select contact trigger actuation or sequential actuation. Basically one nail at a time with the nailer in contact with the workpiece, or firing a series of nails close together without raising the nose of the nailer from the workpice. Of course the nailer will not fire without the rubber protected nose being in full contact with the work.
I have found using some nailers quite scary at first because they are potentially dangerous. The bangs and recoils can take a bit of getting used to and I am always careful to don my best and safest safety specs. With some cordless nailers the whirr and buzz before the nail fires can also be a bit offputting. It is sometimes hard to guess when the nail will be fired. With the SENCO I got used to its minor peculiarities very quickly. There is quite a whirr from the motor but it builds quickly and the tone of it tells you when it is ready to fire. The actual firing is quick and to the point with very little recoil or any other dramatics. The noise levels are minor and it feels really safe to use.
When set just right, the nails, even the longest ones can be driven flush or below the surface quite easily. One handed use is easy and doesn’t seem to affect the way in which the nails are driven.
Downsides? I expect all modern cordless tools to be Lithium-ion or at least Nickel metal Hydride these days so the NiCad was a bit disappointing. The newer types give significant weight and power advantages as well as retaining their charge longer term. No doubt Poppers SENCO have Li-ion in their sights further down the line when NiCads are banned in the EU in the next few years.
Apart from that I can’t really find anything to fault with this tool. It works much better than I expected – in fact I would go so far as to say I really enjoyed using it on the range of finishing jobs I tried. It is a no-nonsense tool with a bit more sophistication than many.
The whole package comes in a blow moulded plastic case with dedicated spaces for the charger, nailer and spare battery and with a list price of £399 + substantial dealer discounts available, it should be competitive.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications