"Borrowed my buddy's cordless framing gun once—was great for convenience, but halfway through the day it started to lag on thicker engineered lumber."
Yeah, I've had a similar experience. A while back, we were working on a custom luxury build—lots of LVLs and engineered beams throughout the place. I was pretty excited to try out a cordless framing nailer my contractor friend swore by. At first, it felt like a dream—no hoses to trip over, no compressor noise echoing through the site... just grab and go. But after a few hours of driving nails into those dense LVLs, I noticed it started struggling. The nails weren't sinking fully, and I had to finish them off with a hammer anyway. Kind of defeated the purpose.
I think cordless tech has definitely improved over the years, and for smaller projects or quick fixes around the house, they're fantastic. But when you're dealing with heavy-duty framing all day long—especially with engineered lumber—I still lean toward pneumatic tools. They just seem more consistent and powerful in the long run.
That said, I'm always curious about new tech developments. Maybe there's a newer model out there that's better suited for heavy-duty tasks? Would be interesting to hear if anyone's found one that genuinely holds up under constant use with LVLs or other dense materials. Until then, though, I'd probably stick with air-powered tools for reliability and peace of mind.
I've actually had pretty good luck with cordless nailers—even on engineered lumber. The key is battery size and nail quality. Upgrading to a higher amp-hour battery made a noticeable difference for me... might be worth trying before writing cordless off completely.
Interesting point about the battery upgrade—I hadn't considered that angle before. I've been mostly hammering away (literally) because I figured cordless wouldn't handle engineered lumber well. Might have to rethink my stance now... or at least borrow someone's nailer for a test run.
I've found cordless nailers surprisingly capable with engineered lumber, especially the newer models. Borrowing one first is definitely smart—no sense dropping cash until you're sure it'll handle your typical projects. I've saved myself some headaches (and money) that way.
Interesting point about borrowing first—wish I'd done that myself before grabbing mine. Have you found the cordless nailers reliable enough for framing jobs, like building walls or decks? I still reach for my pneumatic nailer when things get heavy-duty, maybe out of habit more than anything. Cordless is tempting though, no hoses to trip over or compressors buzzing in the background...
Also curious if you've noticed much difference in battery life between brands or models? I've heard mixed things, and nothing worse than being halfway through a project and having your tool die on you.
