Customer Reviews

Black & Decker BDBN1202 5/8- to 2-Inch 12-Volt Ni-Cad 18-Gauge Cordless Finish Nailer

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was excited to get the B&D nailer. It had a great set of features for the price, even included two batteries.

I started using it to attach the crown molding for our dining room/kitchen, and had great results. Nails were driven just right, easy to use, lightweight. Then I got to nail 89 of 100. The gun jammed. No problem, clear the jam, move on.

Nail 90 jammed. OK, little worried now. Clear jam, try again.

Nail 91 jammed.

So I remove the remains of the clip. Maybe it doesn't work well with only a few nails in the magazine.

Nail one jams. And two, and so on. I thought maybe the battery was low (although it has an indicator light just for such occassions), so I switch that out. More jams/half-driven nails.

Tried different sizes of nails. No luck. I should mention that the nails were the ones that came with the tool from B&D.

I examined the "driver" area, and it appears that the little "hammer" that shoots forward to drive the nail was not fully retracting after each drive.

Probably should also mention that I read/followed the directions to a 'T'. Fully charged the batteries and so on.

I am returning the driver for a refund. Which makes me sad because I had great plans for this tool... Ah, the things I was going to make.

Maybe I just got a bum tool, like one in a thousand. I have B&D's 18v Firestorm kit with the circular saw, reciprocating saw, and drill, and I love it. Use it all the time with great success. That was one of the reasons that compelled me to buy this tool. Unfortunate. I really wanted it to work.

Bought the nailer from a B&D Factory store and was told it was a new product with no track record. I experiemented with various soft and hard woods with the same poor results. The gun wouldn't sink nails nor would it set them flush on either of the 2 settings. In addition it would jam after each fire requiring me to open the magazine and pull the clip of nails back to reset the gun. I returned the gun thinking I had a defective one only to find the replacement just as bad. Today the store refunded my money. It's a nice gun but it clearly needs more power.

After researching a cordless nailer purchase for months, buying and testing them, I've come to one conclusion. The only real true cordless battery operated nailer (at this time) is the DeWalt. The Porter Cable has been discontinued and the Paslode needs fuel cells.

I figured I would by the B&D since I am just a weekend warrior home improvement woodworking type of guy. I knew my nailer would not see daily use. Since I didn't want fuel cells (Paslode), and the DeWalt was much more $$$, and since I had heard the B&D was going to be released around the holidays, I treated myself to the Black and Decker. Bad Move. It went back two days later and I came home with the DeWalt.

Well for starters it can only shoot up to 2" 18 gauge brads. The DeWalt does 2 1/2" 16 gauge nails. Huge difference when your attaching window trim or crown molding that has to go through your molding, skim coat and lathe before hitting the stud. This model has two depth settings, the DeWalt has six (comes in real handy when working with hard woods). This is 12Volt, the DeWalt is 18Volt (huge power difference, but heavier). And the decision maker - This thing jammed regulraly, my DeWalt has yet to jam.

Now I know the DeWalt is more $$$ and that why I had never purchased a DeWalt tool before, they just seem so much more expensive. But I had bought it during the holidays when Amazon was running it's 20% off all power tools so I got it for $320. That comes with two battery's. You can buy it without the battery's for much cheaper if you already own 18Volt DeWalt tools. Looking back, and knowing what I know now, I would have paid full price! This truley is one of those situations where you get what you pay for.

The B&D could be a good tool, I think it just needs to have some kinks worked out...it only came out two months ago.

I saw this cordless nail gun at Lowes at half the price of the DeWalt. I am going to need to do some trim work coming up and was not looking forward to manually nailing all the pieces, or the $399 list on the DeWalt alternative. Note: I do have several DeWalt tools, and find them to have exceptional value. I was concerned about this tool being from B&D. I know, DeWalt snob... But, with a baby coming up and other expenses, decided to try this tool. I have only shot a few dozen brads to make sure it worked OK out of the box. Also, I bought what I consider to be quality brads in decent packaging for a few bucks, rather than use the ones included. I would assume that brads kept straight in the packaging, rather than the somewhat bent packaging in teh B&D box would keep the tool firing better. Anyway, I was surprised to see how well it fired the 2" brads that I purchased. I was skeptical because most cordless/battery operated nailers only go up to 1-1/4". I don't think I'll have any problem going through 1/2" molding, 5/8" drywall and a stud with a 2" brad. If you're that concerned about thicker hardwood moldings (and can afford to purchase it!), you can probably afford the DeWalt and already purchased it!

I bought this Nailer about 2 years ago and it has worked great so far. Due to the low price I bought a second off of ebay for backup and an extra battery. I knew when I bought this that it would not compare to the Dewalt 16 Gauge...but I also knew that I would save over 200 hundred bucks. I have used it on a few small furniture projects to drive 1/2 to 3/4 brads, but I really put it to the test when I replaced all of the trim and moulding in my 1900 square foot house. I got rid of the ghetto builders special and made my own moulding and trim from 1x4 and 1x6 lumber. My BD 12 volt nailer had no problem driving 2 inch brads and keeps the trim in place nicely. The 18 gauge also hides better than 16 gauge from the dewalt. And not having to haul an air compressor around the house like I did when i put beadboard in my kitchen was great. I have not used it in hardwood other than 1/2 inch and smaller oak, but it worked fine for what I used it for. It is definately not a contractor's tool, but for the weekend warrior, i think its great, espescially with a 2 year warranty.

Have had the B&D cordless nailer for eight months now. Sorry the other reviewers have had such problems, but I've had nothing but success. Maybe I got the good one? Anyway I have used it to do all the composite molding in an 800-square-foot addition that we just built on our house. Also have used it to redo all the molding in the mainhallway and entryway, consisting of half-inch hemlock (includes 6 doors). And a couple weeks ago I built a headboard for our bed consisting of plywood back and fir, maple and hemlock. I've had no problem with it sinking brad heads, even in the maple, although I've found that the gun must be completely flush with the surface. I've used it with brads ranging from 5/8" to 2". We'll see how the tool works in the long run.

I read the bad reviews and most of them must have been about the 12 volt version. I bought the 12 volt version of this nail gun when it first came out 2 years ago. I had good luck with it using the 1.5 inch nails on most projects although sometimes had to use more force than I would have liked to seat the nails.

When they came out with the 18 volt version though I was excited because the batteries were interchangeable with all of the other Firestorm tools I had. I managed to acquire one of the 18 volt versions and it is by far the best value for home owner cordless nail guns. Where the 12 volt would be slightly underpowered sometimes the 18 volt always had enough power to fully seat 2 inch nails. It seems to work even in oak. All in all great product for the money.

I bought the B&D Brad Nailer as an impulse buy. It was on clearance. I've wanted a brad nailer for a long time but was
put off by the bulk of a compressor and air brad nailer. The
others, DeWalt, Palsode, etc. are nice but a lot of money for
something I won't use all that much. So when I saw the price
of this tool I could not resist.
I really like this nailer. I've never had a jam and it drives 2" brads with ease. It appears to be very well built and it has a two year warranty.

The bad:

I've owned both the BDBN1202 and the new 18V Lowes FS1802BN. They are almost identical except for the voltage. I had 3 12V models, they all failed under 500 nails. I returned them under the 90day store policy. The new FS1802BN failed after about 1800 nails, fortunately it is still under the 2 year warrnaty, so off to the BD service center. This was after putting up a whole house of crown. Mode of failure: the impact slide will not retract after it shoots a nail. Unit will work if you open the hatch, remove the nails and manually push down on the slide. This slide will also retract if the tools is turned upside down, I assume a retracting spring broke. Others failed with similar mechanical issues. On the BD parts website, the entire nailing assembly mechanism is a single $100 unit, so if you need to repair out of warranty this unit is for all intents and purposes disposable.


Other issues, I have to nailset most of my 2" nails. Not a big deal to me, but it is an extra step.

I never got more than 300 nails with one charge, this is with the 18V model. The 12Vs were around 150 or so.

Guide may leave slight marks on the wood if nails are shot at certain angles, not really a big deal for paint grade moulding.

The good:

2 year warranty (for the 18V unit) that you will most probably use. Drives 2" nails without a compressor. Great for crown and other moulding.
Tool is reasonably balanced and has some safety features. Be sure to wear safety glasses. I've had nails miss the moulding and hit my glasses. Also, keep fingers at least 8inches away from nailing surfaces. I've seen nails make U turns and come straight out of the surface. This is common sense for any nailer and not specific to this product.

Summary:

For lightweight, occasional home use where you need to shoot a few nails or put up a chair rail, crown in a few rooms it is probably a good choice. If you are going to shoot over a thousand nails, think of this review. There is no where in the instructions telling you that it is light duty and for sporadic use. I would not use this if I was a pro. I believe it is a cheap, made in China, disposable tool. It is truly a shame how name brand quality truly takes a back seat, and the tool isn't $10 either. This tool would otherwise have great potential.

Buy with a credit card that extends your warranty because these things will eventually need it.

This is the second nailer I've owned and it is wonderful. I would definately recommend this. Make sure the batteries are freshly charged before a job because they seem to lose some of their strength in storage.