Are you very picky about buying a flooring nailer? If you are so, then you may be in search of the best flooring nailer brand within your budget that will meet up your expectations. Some names of the prominent hardwood nailing brands may peep in your mind. We are here to help you make three best Freeman flooring nailer review as Freeman is one of the best flooring nailers for its budget, versatility, and stability.
Hardwood professionals look for the tools that are versatile. You must want to have some tools by which you may be benefited by multiple functionalities. Freeman flooring nailers are versatile in nature with the use of cleats and staples.
Besides, the investment you are determined to do matters a lot. You will get these nailers at an affordable price. Freeman tools are favorable to users for its affordable cost. So here are three best Freeman nailers you may consider to buy.
Top 3 freeman flooring nailer review
We're going through a lot of floor nailers on the market, analyzing their feedback and usability with our team. In the end, we reached Freeman's floor nailer and decided to write on it. It's affordable, easy to use, and versatile enough to attract any pro and DIY. Once you've gone through our three freeman flooring nailer reviews, we're sure you can reach a conclusion and choose the right flooring nailer and stapler.
Let's dive in to explore more.
Freeman PFBC940 pneumatic 4-in-1 mini flooring nailer and stapler
Specifications:
- Operating Pressure: 70 – 115 psi
- Fastener Gauge: 18ga
- Fastener Head: 1/4"
- Fastener Range: Brad Nails: 5/8" – 1-5/8" / Staples: 3/8" – 1-5/8"
- Magazine Capacity: 100 pcs
- Weight: 4 lbs
If you are a serious woodworker who wants a versatile tool to contain a variety of tasks, Freeman PFBC940 is built for you. In it, you'll find a straight brad nailer and crown stapler together with a 45-degree flooring attachment for flooring nails and staples fastening.
Freeman PFBC940 pneumatic 4-in-1 mini-floor nailer and stapler will give you the convenience of fastening 18 gauge brad nails from 5/8" to 1-5/8" and 18 gauge 1/4" narrow crown staples from 3/8" to 1-5/8''. It is, therefore, a perfect choice for dealing with more delicate and thinner flooring materials for its 18 gauge brad staple gun as well as other delicate woodwork.
Some key features of this amazing flooring nailer are as follows-
- Specially designed for single firing mode.
- Compatible with 18 gauge nails and staples.
- Designed for versatile 4-in-1
Features of Freeman PFBC940
Freeman PFBC940 nailer and stapler has some amazing features that may catch your attention to invest your money on it. Here they are-
Adjustable exhaust:
It's not nice if the sweaty air blows on your face when you're nailing. Freeman understands this clearly and designs its PFBC940 floor nailer with a 360-degree customizable exhaust system that is highly recommended. The machine lets you guide air away from your face and work surface. This will also help you to move the debris where you want to go. The protection of your face and work surface would also give you extra flexibility to work.
Oil-free Design:
It has a low maintenance oil-free engine to avoid staining. The nailer can perform without the need for frequent oil changes and routine maintenance. In contrast, the oil-design tools need regular maintenance and increase the risk of staining the work surface.
Durability:
There is no alternative to a robust body structure to perform a 4-in-1 operation with a single tool. And you'll find all-aluminum construction in the Freeman PFBC940 pneumatic flooring nailer and stapler for added durability. Yes, pros! The cylinder and magazine of this sturdy floor nailer are made of anodized aluminum and is made of die-cast aluminum for long-lasting worry-free use.
Comfortable:
An ergonomically built grip handle can lessen your muscle fatigue, wear, and tear. It also needs to be fitted in the user's hand to optimize his / her power during working time. The Freeman flooring nailer comes with a secure grip handle that helps you increase the ability to operate with great feeling.
Depth adjustability:
The PFBC940 has an excellent tool-free depth adjustment capability, which enables you to customize the depth of the firing on the go. It's obvious you need to change your nailer or stapler depth depending on the woods or surfaces you're going to fasten. Simple tool-free depth adjustment facilities are also essential for speedy flooring, besides using the different nails or staples.
Jam clearing:
Users of the flooring nailer frequently face the problem of jamming the fasteners while operating in their projects. If you use the tool which helps you to unjam the fasteners quickly would be nice. When traditional flooring nailers needed to detach parts to clear a jam, the Freeman tool offers you a simple, tool-free jam clearing without separating the nailer. As a result, you can save your valuable work time.
Air filter:
The flow of dust into the nailer can diminish your tool efficiency. You do need to regularly clean the tool's internal debris, which increases the maintenance time. The air filter or anti-dust cap can protect the system from dust. And of Freeman floor nailer comes fitted with an air filter or anti-dust cap to save you from those problems.
Nail reload indicator:
The inclusion of the Nail-reload indicator helps to avoid misfire by showing in advance. It warns the user when the nails are almost depletive. As a result, you can replenish your tool's stock and prevent misfire. All Freeman flooring nailers have this essential characteristic.
Pros
Cons
Freeman PFL618C pneumatic 3-in-1 flooring nailer and stapler
Specifications:
- Operating Pressure: 70 – 110 psi
- Fastener Gauge: 15.5 and 16 ga
- Fastener Head: 1/2"
- Fastener Range: 1-1/2" – 2"
- Magazine Capacity: L and T Cleats: 100 pcs / Staples: 120 pcs
- Weight: 11.46 lbs.
You can select Freeman PFL618C flooring nailer when you are thinking about solid tongue and groove hardwood decoration of your home or any other ventures. It is one of Freeman brand's most user-friendly pneumatic flooring nailer suitable for 1/2" to 3/4" flooring installation.
This tool is compatible with 15.5 gauge staples and 16 gauge nails that allow you to drive three styles of fasteners - 1/2" staples, T-cleats, and L-cleats ranging from 1-1/2" to 2". This ergonomically built tool can make you feel relaxed when working long.
Some key features of this tool are-
- Designed for tongue and groove flooring only.
- Versatile design for 3-in-1
- Ideal for 15.5-Gauge and 16-Gauge nails and staples.
Features of Freeman PFL618C
Unlike the previous one, this Freeman PFL618C pneumatic flooring nailer and stapler also comes with some useful features. These features will help you complete your hardwood flooring, particularly heavy-duty solid tongue and groove flooring that needs extra binding power with minimum effort. Some of the important features are-
No-Mar Design:
A single delicate scratch on your lovely flooring tiles can pay you a long sorrow. As a reputed brand, Freeman understands it very well and made their base plat with no-mar option. Its no-mar base plate will give you extra protection from marbling on finished surfaces for peace of your mind.
Comfortable Design:
The Freeman PFL618C nailer and stapler have been designed ergonomically for the ease of operation, and it reduces the weariness of the operators. The long reach handle with padded grip will give you comfort when you use the tool frequently.
Durability:
The lightweight body of this device is made from high strength die-cast aluminum for longer service life. The anodized aluminum magazine and the durable one-piece drive blade made of heat-treated steel both help to extend the life of the tool for your worry-free use.
Easier access to driver blade:
If it gets stuck, you need easy access to the driver blade of your nailer. The tool's design has been modified to provide a semi-quick release for easier driver entry, allowing you to easily clean the fasteners and save valuable time.
Air filter/anti-dust cap:
A small particle of dust can ruin your flooring nailer's engine, which ends with a more costly repair. The tool's air filter or anti-dust cap helps keep the interior components free from debris. And like others, this Freeman floor nailer also has an air filter or anti-dust cap to protect the tool from dust. So, you've got a Freeman floor nailer, which means the cylinder will not going to hurt.
Pros
Cons
Freeman PDX50C lightweight pneumatic flooring Nailer and stapler
Specifications:
- Operating Pressure: 70 – 115 psi
- Fastener Gauge: Staples: 15.5 GA / T and L Cleats: 16 GA
- Fastener Head: 1/2"
- Fastener Range: 1-1/2" – 2"
- Magazine Capacity: L and T Cleats: 100 pcs / Staples: 120 pcs
- Weight: 10 lbs.
We are going to review another most affordable and user-friendly flooring nailers for hardwood projects from the freeman family. The Freeman PDX50C is a lightweight 3-in-1 pneumatic flooring nailer that is designed to offer full features to need to fix your flooring job like a pro.
It is an excellent choice for your hardwood floor installation and compatible with 16-gauge T-cleats and L-cleats, and 15.5-gauge 1/2" staples from 1-1/2" to 2''. Regardless of professional and DIYer, you can consider this air-powered flooring nailer a useful device for installing hardwood floors, including cherry, oak, maple, and walnut.
Let's find some key features of the product here.
- Designed for versatile 3-in-1
- Capable of working hardwood installation with cherry, oak, maple.
- Comparatively 20% lighter than other models.
Features of Freeman PDX50C
Versatile and Powerful:
For ease of nailing, this 3-in-1 flooring nailer can be used to drive cleat, nail, and staples on any kind of flooring sheets at your disposal. The PDX50C floor nailer helps you to drive 16 gauge glue collated T and L cleats in a pressure range of 70 to 115 psi, and 15.5 gauge glue collated 1/2" crown staples from 1-1/2" – 2''. It is, therefore, an excellent device for installing hardwood flooring with all types of solid tongue and groove hardwood flooring, including cherry, oak, maple, and walnut.
Lightweight:
Built with high-quality aluminum make this tool a lightweight, weighing just 10 pounds. This is lighter than its rivals by 20 percent. You should also find it a good device for fastening all sorts of hardwood flooring installations without leaving you tired.
Interchangeable base plates:
Freeman PDX50C comes with two base plates – 1/2" and 3/4". These base plates allow you to fasten different depth of flooring tiles by merely changing the tool base. Nailing into the solid wood tongue and groove or engineered flooring from 1/2" to 3/4" will, therefore, not be a problem with PDX50C.
Self-leveling front foot:
This model includes a self-leveling front foot. This self-leveling front foot gives the users comfort to fix the device before they pull the trigger. This front foot makes the tool more stable and constant.
Durability:
The cylinder and magazine is the most critical part of any nailer. Freeman knows it well and uses anodized aluminum to manufacture this pneumatic flooring nailer. As anodized aluminum is more resistant than standard, therefore it will give extra resistivity of this nailer from corrosion. As a result, it will last for a long time.
Included Accessories:
The package of PDX50C includes a long reach fiberglass mallet with a padded grip, two interchangeable base plates, air tool oil, and adjustment tools.
This tool is also covered by Freeman's 7 Year Limited Warranty and 90 Day Wearable Parts Warranty for peace of mind.
Pros
Cons
A quick Comparison between PFBC940 vs PFL618C vs PDX50C
Header | PFBC940 | PFL618C | PDX50C |
|---|---|---|---|
Fastener Gauge | 18 GA | 15.5 GA and 16 GA | Staples: 15.5 GA / T and L Cleats: 16 GA |
Fastener Head | 1/4" | 1/2" | 1/2" |
Fastener Range | Brad Nails: 5/8" – 1-5/8" / Staples: 3/8" – 1-5/8" | 1-1/2" – 2" | 1-1/2" – 2" |
Magazine Capacity | 100 pcs | L and T Cleats: 100 pcs / Staples: 120 pcs | L and T Cleats: 100 pcs / Staples: 120 pcs |
Compatible Fastener | 18Ga Glue Collated Brad Nails from 5/8" – 1-5/8", and 18Ga 1/4" Glue Collated Narrow Crown Staples from 3/8" – 1-5/8" | 16 Gauge Glue Collated Flooring T and L Cleats, and 15.5 Gauge Glue Collated 1/2" Crown Flooring Staples from 1-1/2" – 2" | 16 Gauge Glue Collated Flooring T and L Cleats, and 15.5 Gauge Glue Collated 1/2" Crown Flooring Staples from 1-1/2" – 2" |
Construction Materials | Aluminum | Aluminum | Aluminum |
Base Plate | 45° flooring attachment | Two interchangeable base plate – ½" & ¾" | Two interchangeable base plate – ½" & ¾" |
No-Mar Base | No | Yes | Yes |
Handle | Comfort grip | Ergonomically design | Ergonomically design |
Oil-free | Yes | No | No |
Dimension | 12.4" x 3.7" x 10.75" | 16.75" x 3.5" x 22.75" | 16.8" x 3.5" x 20.8" |
Weight | 4.0 lbs. | 11.46 lbs. | 10.0 lbs. |
Application | Suitable for tongue and groove flooring and finish carpentry work like decorative trim, molding, cabinetry, upholstery, and more. | Suitable for installation of 1/2" to 3/4" solid tongue and groove hardwood flooring. | Suitable for installation of 1/2" to 3/4" solid tongue and groove hardwood flooring. |
Price |
Freeman vs Numax floor nailer
There are hardly any hardwood professionals who don't hear the name of Freemen and Numax flooring nailers. These two names of nailers are quite familiar to the people who are related to hardwood decorations. They want to be well informed about which one they should buy for their hardwood decorations. So we want to help you a bit regarding the matter.
Though both Freeman flooring nailer and Numax flooring nailer are marketed by the same company the Prime Global Products, Inc. (PGP), they are different in some cases. Let's explore those.
Freemen provides the buyers a long time warranty of seven years where Numax provides a warranty of one year. If a long warranty creates value for you, Freeman will be your best choice.
Both flooring nailers are comfortable to use, but Numax is more comfortable for dual handles. This feature helps the user to save their back and reduces their fatigue.
Both the nailer brings some significant improvements in their design, but Numax is well advanced in this arena. It improves their body in order to make it more compact, a semi-quick release for quick access to the drive blade for clear jams, a magazine cover for gentle fastener feeding, and an improved base plate design. Freeman, on the other hand, only improves their foot design.
Except for the above differences, both nailers use high-quality materials to build their tools and have all the high-end features to make hardwood flooring a fun job.
Now, which product you should buy depends on the requirements of your projects and your personal preferences.
Freeman vs Bostitch floor nailer
Both Freeman and Bostitch flooring nailers are used for the installation of nails and staples in tongue and groove hardwood projects. And both are the renowned brand and committed to providing high-quality products. So, it is understandable that you're getting confused in case of making a choice of flooring nailers between Freeman flooring nailer and Bostitch flooring nailer. But, you need not be confused as we're going to present some key differences between the tools for your help.
If you want to complete your floor nailing fast, Bostitch may help you. This flooring nailer speeds up the working process, but Freeman is comparatively slow than Bostitch flooring nailers.
Bostitch flooring nailers consist of an extra-wide base plate than Freeman flooring nailers. So you will get better control and balance from some of the Bostitch nailers.
Freeman floor nailers are less expensive in comparison to Bostitch nailers. Freeman is more affordable with some good features than Bostitch flooring nailers.
You will be able to use the Bostitch flooring nailers in both unfinished and pre-finished flooring while Freeman nailers can be used in the finished flooring surface.
Hope this differentiation helps you to choose the right tool according to your requirements.
Are staples or nails better for hardwood flooring?
Are you decided to replace your hardwood floors? If your answer is 'yes,' you have to choose the right fastener. There are two options you have in your hand. They are nails and staples. You may be in confusion to select one out of the twos as both have some merits and demerits. Let's find out the differences between staples and nails first.
Staples: Using staples for fastening hardwood floor will be a great idea as they are not fragile and have a two-pronged extension. A staple will, therefore, give a non-forgiving and robust hold. Staples are less expensive and speedier to drive than nails too. However, if you use staples, during seasonal changes, you may observe the tongues have been cracked off, and as a consequence, the tiles or boards will tilt and squeak.
Nails: Although staplers give you powerful, long-lasting holding power, nails provide greater versatility. Two styles of hardwood nails or cleats with a head shaped in L and T are found. All styles have a sequence of ribs running at least 2/3s from the bottom of both sides of the nail shank, which hold the subfloor. The remaining portion of the nail is smooth, allowing the finished flooring to expand and contract along with the seasonal temperature and humidity changes.
But the biggest drawback of using cleats or nails is they are expensive. You have to spend almost twice the price to buy nails than the same amount of staples.
Eventually, I will go to the nails side if you ask me. Although it does incur high initial costs, it is cheaper in the long run than a stapler.
How do you use a Freeman floor nailer
Most of the freemen floor nailers users know how to operate or use them. Still, it may be a little tricky for the users who never used the Freeman floor nailers before. Here is a guideline for them.
You need to position the nailer on the edge of the wood. The down part needs to be held carefully.
Then you need to give pressure, so that base plates get fitted to the surface of the wood. Now, this is ready to use. It's not a tough job at all.
Let’s see the below video to know more about how to use a freeman flooring nailer.
Troubleshooting of Freeman flooring nailers
What will be your mental condition if you found your floor nailer stopped in the midst of the work. Definitely, it will make you bore. You may face these types of problems frequently. For this reason, you need to have knowledge of troubleshooting. In this section, I will share some troubleshooting for you.
Before operating the freemen floor nailers, you should follow some checking.
- You should check the correct air pressure. Low or high air pressure can cause some problems like air leaks, slow retraction of the driver, splitting woods, etc.
- You should use a couple of drops before operating the nailers. Low lubrication may cause air leaks, driver jams, no firing, etc.
- One of the most vital things is to use the correct nails for the operation. Incorrect Nails may cause nail jams, misfire, etc.
Some specific symptoms and solutions
Frequent jam of fasteners
- Use correct fasteners.
- Unbent fasteners should be used.
- Clean the magazine with an air hose properly.
- Use the tightened screws for magazine
- If the piston is broken or worn, replace it.
Double firing
- The bump firing option may cause double firing.
- Nailer doesn't get enough pressure when a nail is fired.
- The trigger valve is not releasing fast enough for a single shot.
No retraction or slow retraction of driver
- Lubricate the nailer
- Using without replacement of parts may damage O-rings. Install replacement kit if it is needed.
Final Words
The right choice of floor nailer is very important for professionals at their construction site or for people who want to improve their home because it determines the accuracy and quality of the work. Besides, time is always a significant factor in home improvement or any other project. So, I think this 3 best freeman flooring nailer review is going to give you a clear idea of flooring nailers and their uses.
Among these three, if you want a full professional floor nailer with all the features you need, you can choose Freeman PFL618C.
Or, if you want a tool that can perform all the finishing woodwork, such as molding, cabinetry or upholstery, in addition to installing solid tongue and hardwood flooring, then Freeman PFBC940 will be the best choice.
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