Customer Reviews

Hitachi NT50AE 3/4-Inch - 2-Inch, 18-Gauge Brad Nailer

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hitachi's 18ga. brad nailer is the best on the market. It handles short to long and sets the heads on all of them even in 2" oak. Our company has used Bostich (takes 2 to handle from 5/8 to 2" brads) previous and they are okay but not as good as this one. Excellent for installing casing, base and crown moldings plus those little tacking jobs.

Plenty of power and easy to get into tight places. The Hitachi brad nailer takes most everyones brads, so you can always get nails for it. This tool has everything you need in a BRAD nailer and comes with a great case.

I own several Hitachi nail guns. I purchased this model about a year ago. I've used it in my cabinet shop to build out numerous jobs. It has never jammed! It's powerful and light weight. I had previously purchased a porter cable but it only fired up to 1 1/4 ". I don't even touch that one anymore. you will never regret buying this one.

First off, I really like the solid feel of this brad nailer, and I've been pleased with its power. Its weight helps minimize recoil, and its grip is more durable than the foam on one of my coworker's Senco brad nailer. In terms of feel, I perfer this brad nailer over the comprable Paslode, Porter Cable, and Senco models (all of which are available on our job sites).

I gave it only 2 stars because it's very sensitive and has a flawed firing mechanism. The nailer often double fires and misfires. It's like the driver bump-fires way to rapidly or doesn't align well with the brads, and as a result, two brads are often hit followed by a total misfire in which no brad gets hit (but the driver still comes down and puts a dent in the wood). Double firing is really annoying, especially on stain-grade wood, because it means that we have to spend extra time finishing the additional brad mark. The second brad that gets fired sometimes isn't countersunk, and in bad situations, pretzels--maybe because it comes out of the gun while the user is pulling it away from the work piece. Compared to my Paslode T200-F18 (which I currently rely upon exclusively), the Hitachi's driver just doesn't hit the brads accurately enough. I know this because in a side by side comparison, the Hitachi tended to pretzel much more often than the Paslode.

For the money, this would be a good brad nailer if I could tweak it so that it never double fires. I installed a sequential trip mechanism that Hitachi sold me for around $10 (I don't remember the exact price), and that reduced the tendency to double fire. Hitachi should offer this item for free. I also tried removing the safety spring and taping back the safety on the nose like one of the other reviewers suggested. That solved the double firing and misfiring problems, but resulted in a dangerous tool. If I were doing benchtop work, the missing safety would probably be OK, but when I'm up on a ladder installing trim, constantly changing hands with the nailer, and putting it in and out of my tool belt, I like having a safety.

If you want a flawless brad nailer that you can trust to never double fire from the first time you handle it, it's probably worth spending more for a different brand. The price difference of a more expensive nailer isn't much compared to the value of the work carpenters & woodworkers create. In my opinion, the only thing worse than double firing is not countersinking the brads, and the Hitachi has plenty of power to avoid this latter problem, provided it only fires one brad at a time.

This tool deserves 2 stars instead of the 3 I originally gave it, but I couldn't alter my original rating.

Aug. 23, 2006 Update: Several months ago I bought an Hitachi NT50AES which is basically an updated version of the NT50AE. The NT50AES comes with a sequential trip trigger and an adjustable depth of drive. Best of all, Hitachi has fixed the misfiring problem. Although I no longer use my NT50AE, I primarily use the NT50AES and have relegated my Paslode T200-F18 to the role of secondary brad nailer (I like to have multiple brad lengths concurrently running on the same jobsite). Unlike the NT50AE, the newer NT50AES is worthy of 5 stars.

I purchased this little cost-friendly brad to replace my 1 1/4" brad nailer and could not have been more pleased w/ it's performance. Using my 4 gallon compressor at 90 psi, it sinks nails very well through oak into oak plywood and is good for about 40 shots without having to recover.

I bought this gun because i know Hitachi makes great tools. When i first hooked it up to air it was fine but the one thing that it did after shooting it a couple times was double and triple fire. I thought it was a one time thing but it kept doing it. The feel of the gun is great. It shoots solidly into oak and poplar. Needless to say i was going to return it but im going to keep it. After locking the saftey back it fires fine. Actually i like it better without a saftey. You just have to be more careful, as with any power tool. So if you think the saftey is completely nessessary I wouldnt buy it, otherwise it is a great gun for the price

I've owned on of these for 3 years and use it almost daily. I like this brad nailer a lot. It's been totally reliable and has all the power I need. It never double-fires and only jammed up once when the brad hit something under drywall. The wider-than-normal contact area on the nose means I don't have to worry about leaving a dent in stain-grade material. Although I usually dislike the cheap blow-molded cases that comes with a lot of tools, this one is actually sensibly designed. For 80 bucks, it's hard to beat. The only thing Hitachi forgot was a hook to hang the nailer off of your belt or a ladder, so I guess I'd really rate it 4 7/8 stars.

I bought a set of Craftsman Nailers(stapler, brad, and finish), and I also bought the Hitachi NT50AES(I don't know what the S model is). After firing 200 nails on the Craftsman Finish Nailer, the guide that holds the strip of nail broke(plastic crap). I pulled out the Hitachi nailer and it finished what the Craftsman couldn't. For the same price or lower, the Hitachi nailer is solidly built, metal was used where it should be, grips well, the gun is balanced, can do what more expensive brands like DeWalt, Makita, and Porter Cable does for a lot less. Since Hitachi is not well known, many hardware stores don't carry Hitachi brand nails, but I used Porter Cable branded nails and it worked without a misfire or jam. I am now inclined to sell my Craftsman nailers in eBay and start building up a collection of Hitachi tools. I think this tools will last a lot longer and I can pass it on to my grandchildren, if I ever get married and have kids and my kids have kids. ;-p.

All I can say is that after 6 years of home use, it has worked very well. The only service I have given it, after 5 year, is that I had to go buy an o-ring that finally dried out. These are easy to find in local hardware stores and replace. Hitachi makes a good product.

oh, I really love this brad nailer. In my job, I get the all the wood working and cabinet work. This brad nailer is so very handy, the weight, the over all feel of it is just perfect for me. And not that ever jams on me, but when/if does, the front of it opens with a simple flick of the lever for easy nail extraction. I love that about Hitachi air tools (which I have 4 in all. 18 gauge; 16 gauge;15 gauge and the 1/4" stapler. all very very nice tools) I'd recommend them for the professional as well as the handy man or hobbyist.