Metal Connector Nailers

Production tools for tedious tasks

by Mike Guertin



As building codes address wind-zone construction with extra vigor, more metal hardware is being required to tie buildings together from foundation to ridge than ever before. Framing anchors, ties, hold-downs, braces, tie-downs, hangers, connectors, straps — every year I need more steel to build and remodel houses. And all this hardware must be fastened to wood framing with nails — hundreds or even thousands of nails on each building. Ordinarily, that takes a lot of old-fashioned hammer swinging … unless you own a metal connector nailer.

This class of nailers drives 1 1/2- to 2 1/2-inch-long by 0.131- to 0.162-inch-diameter nails through holes in metal hardware with pinpoint accuracy. But they're not all created equal. Toolmakers take different approaches to power, size, operation mode, and hole indexing, so each model has its strengths and weaknesses. Choosing one to suit the range of connecting tasks you encounter may be difficult. My crew actually runs three different models to meet the challenges of each connector situation.

To help you sort through the group and find the tool(s) to fill your nailing needs, we tested 14 different tools to see how they operate and to evaluate how they perform.

Right out of the gate, the field can be divided into two categories based on drive mode: multi-blow (like a palm nailer) and single-shot (like a regular framing nailer).

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