Customer Reviews

Bostitch CRN38K 20.4-Volt Cordless Roofing Nailer w/Case

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

 

 

My construction class recently bought two of these nailers because our compressed air supply is too high pressure for nailers, so we use cordless or a seperate compressor. I have used a pneumatic nailer on five roofs ranging from small ticket booths to full sized play barns with flashing, felt paper, drip edge, and more. I was skeptical about a cordless nailer that did not use gas cells like a Paslode Impulse system, but I realized that it takes a lot less force to drive a nail through some shingles or a thin strip of aluminum than a 2x12 header. The jackhammer-style system takes some getting used to but it does not require padded gloves like a demo hammer. As for the nail cartridges, they are great. Our pneumatics constantly jammed from misshapened and bent wire-collated nails. The cartridges keep the nails in the correct shape.... This is the only roofing nailer you will ever need, just get some cartridges of nails, a couple of batteries, go up on your roof and start laying whatever is needed. This is a great innovation. If you dont believe me, try Tools of The Trade, they gave it a special award for innovation

While I am not in the trade year round I have found this tool to be the answer to many of the challenges we face with safety and quality while on the roof.
This gun eliminates tripping hazards as there are no hoses or electric cords. This keeps the comprtessor off the roof so no hazard encountered while tring to get your equipment up to the work surface.
No overhead issue for the team on the ground because the grip pads on the top end of the gun really do stop it from sliding off the roof unlike other air guns that momentum of the hose carries the gun off the roof onto the teamn below.
Noise is much less of an issue than with compressed air. Communications from the ground up and down is easier. No noise to yell over.
I have read that you can reload the plastic containers the nails come in however I have not been able to find a manufactures note that would indicate that this is a safe practice.
Compared to the conventional Bostitch RN45B we are able to lay em down and nail em with equal speed and without fighting the hose all day.
The quality of our finished product is greater because there is no marring of the roof edge shingles from the air line rubbing against it. That is the customers line of sight and that matters.

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If you are buying an air nail roofing gun. Reconsider and buy this battery operated gun.

This is a fabulous tool. I use as many cordless tools as I can because I hate listening to my generator and compressor running all the time. Bostitch has made a top of the line tool with this one. The battery will lay about 2 1/2 square of shingles without a recharge and with two batteries one can be charging at all times so you never run out of power. The tool is loud but not as loud as a generator, it is a bit on the heavy side but much better than having that air hose in tow and the way it holds in your hand you barely notice the weight. You have to buy the nails in the in the plastic canisters which only cost on average two dollars more per box but if you are a real miser you can buy regular coil roof nails and reload the canisters. If you are like me and want to use cordless as much as possible and you do many roofs this is a great alternative to pneumatic. I have literally waited for years for this tool. . . thank you Stanley Bostitch.

I thought the basic concept of a cordless nailer was great, but this thing makes no sense.

It does not use gas cells like the Paslode. It is multi-blow, kind of like a jackhammer or a rotary hammer. It actually hits the nail a bunch of times before it drives it in unlike the paslode nailer that drives it in one motion. Seems to be really slower than an air tool. This makes it vibrate like crazy in your hand and it is wicked loud. Wear ear plugs with this thing.

It runs off of a 20.4Volt battery pack. The problem is that the battery is heavy and they dont have a drill or anything to run on the same battery. There is no way to spread your investment in expensive cordless tools. You also have to carry around another charger and battery and plug another thing in. THere is no cigarette lighter charger for the truck available either.

This thing is heaaavvvvyyy. My hitachi air roofing nailer weighs only 5-6 lbs i would guess but i think this thing is over 10 pounds. Way too heavy to be swinging around on a ladder or a steep pitch for repair jobs. The balance is a little weird to. Air tools are built to drive down into the shingle but this thing is shaped like a drill so you have a tendency to not drive the nail in straight.

The thing that really irks me is the fact that you cant use the same nail coils that you use in an air gun. You actually have to buy nails that are specifically for this tool and dont work with anything else! So that puts you at risk for them to jack up the prices on the nails once you are hooked on them. The nails also come in these little plastic individaul pouches. Im no freaky enviromentalist but i dont like wasting all that plastic and i dont like cleaning more junk off a jobsite at the end of a day.

HEAVY, LOUD, SLOW AND YOU HAVE TO BUY THIER NAILS. ALL THIS FOR ONLY ... GET ONE TODAY!

I've owned and used this tool for about 4 years now. While I'm not a roofer, I do on ocassion have the need to do some roofing. First let me say this tool in no way replaces an air gun as your primary roofing gun. It's much slower, heavier and you would need several batteries and chargers to keep you going on a decent sized roof. Furtheremore, it's impossible to bounce fire the gun and drive 3 to 4 nails in a second or two as done with almost any pneumatic coiler nailer out there. This due to the hammering action of the gun and the fact that you have to press the gun into your work rather than letting the weight of the gun bounce fire the nail. This makes it tiring to use for any extended period of time. Aside from that, I find the tool very well made and efficient for small jobs and rework. It's nice not to have to break out the hose & compressor and extension cord and generator for these small jobs. It's a specialized tool and not every contractor will be able to justify the purchase (if you can find one). Despite the drawbacks and having to buy the special nails and not being able to use the batteries for other tools, I feel this tool has earned it's place in my tool fleet and I'll be dissapointed when I have to retire it.

It would be a great idea if the nail canisters were still available. Mytoolplace and Bostitch should be ashamed.