In the 'real' world, a brad nailer is 18ga and a finish nailer is 15ga,
sometimes 16 ga.

The brad nailer leaves a smaller hole, but the brads may not hold as well
for some applications.

Also, the thinner brads have a bit more chance of going askew as they pass
through the wood, sometimes exiting where they are needed the least G The
longer the brad, the harder the wood, the more chance for this to occur....

Rule of thumb here is: The smaller the piece, the smaller the nail.....

Both types of gun will have a nose protector, at least the good ones do !

Good luck,

Jeff

"Grant Erwin" wrote in message
...
All I know is, sometimes HF carries 2 products that are very similar but
vary widely in quality. For example, take their 4" angle grinders, the
el cheapos. The orange one is about $20 and lasts a couple of years, and
the blue one is about $15 and lasts a couple of hours. Better figure out
which one you *really* want. - GWE

Martin wrote:
I realize it isn't metalworking, but also that a lot of readers here
are Harbor Freight customers.

Here's my question: A current sale flyer has an "18-gauge brad nailer
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46309
" on sale for $20 (reg $50). They also have an "18-19 gauge finish
nailer",
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=42253
, for $40, not on sale. How does a "brad nailer" differ from a "finish
nailer"?

More importantly, would it really matter which one I chose for
assembling my new kitchen cabinets? Does a "finish nailer" have
something extra, maybe a rubber nose to prevent marring? BTW, it
appears that at least two part numbers of the nails fit both guns
(33206 and 33207).

thanks and regards,

Martin