"DanG" wrote in message
...
An air nailer is just a substitute for an old fashioned hammer and nails.
If you were nailing up the 1x's with a hammer, what nail would you use by
choice? Old normal choice would have been 8 penny headed nails. Could
you have done it with finish nails? probably, but it would not have been
the first choice for many carpenters. Your framing nailer can shoot 8's
through 16's.

The bigger question is how many nails would you have used when you were
hand driving. An air nailer seems to make it awfully easy to shoot a
bunch. I do think old hand nailed work held together better. A carpenter
just naturally angled the nails toward each other drawing the boards up
tight, air nails tend to all go in straight, they don't draw the boards
into plane, and they come apart easier. Ring shanks used on pallets are a
noted exception.

Interesting how some of us become so accustomed to technological advancement
we forget there was a conventional way. How do you work a hammer, anyway?
JK.

The same question does apply to the conventional hammer and nail as well.
I'm not a carpenter by any means but can and have done many carpentry
projects and simply never gave it any thought to the size nail issue.

Thanks for the education.