Hammer vs nail gun - what's your go-to?

- Totally agree on the wrist strain thing - tried hand-hammering baseboards in my first custom build and regretted it halfway through.
- Nail guns definitely speed things up, but I've noticed sometimes the nails sink too deep if I'm not careful. Anyone else run into that?
- Also, curious about noise levels. My nail gun seems louder than expected, especially indoors. Wondering if certain models or brands are quieter or if it's just something to get used to.
- And yeah, angling slightly helps a lot; learned that after splitting some nice reclaimed wood trim (still hurts to think about it...).
- Still, gotta admit there's something satisfying about hammering by hand occasionally - feels like you're actually building something rather than just assembling parts. But practicality usually wins out these days.

Yeah, sinking nails too deep is pretty common - been there myself. Most nail guns have a depth adjustment dial or knob; tweaking that usually solves the issue. As for noise, they're all kinda loud indoors, but I've found battery-powered models tend to be slightly quieter than pneumatic ones. Still, ear protection's your friend. And agreed, hand hammering has its charm...until you're halfway through a room and your arm feels like jelly. Practicality wins for me too these days.

- Good call on the depth adjustment knob, saved me a lot of headaches too.
- Battery-powered guns sound nice, but honestly they're still pricey for me... sticking with pneumatic for now.
- And yeah, nothing like hammering by hand to remind you you're not 20 anymore.

- Pneumatic's still my go-to as well - can't beat the reliability and price point. Battery tech is tempting, but I'm not convinced it's worth the premium yet.
- Funny you mention hammering by hand... last weekend I framed out a small shed manually just for old times' sake. Felt great at first, but by evening my elbow was reminding me why I switched to nail guns years ago. Anyone else find themselves randomly going back to hand tools just to see if they've still "got it"?

I hear you on the elbow pain - last summer I decided to build a deck extension and thought I'd "keep it simple" by hand-nailing the joists. Felt satisfying for about an hour, then reality kicked in... next day my wrist was toast. Pneumatic nailer ever since.