Harness the power of air

With the avalanche of cordless battery-powered tools over the past few years, air-powered options are often overlooked. These old reliables have several things going for them that the trendy newcomers don’t. They never need recharging, so they can operate continuously all day long in a busy woodshop. They can be lighter to hold, too, because there’s no battery or motor. And their high output means they can deliver quite a punch all day long – think impact wrenches for installing hardware or guns that set the heads of large nails. In most cases, air tools can deliver more torque and higher revolutions per minute than an electric or battery powered tool.

Pneumatic tool construction is simple with few moving parts, so maintenance and repair are easier. And air tools are quite affordable both to buy and run. Their metal bodies are usually a whole lot tougher than their plastic counterparts, and while hoses are often cited as a disadvantage, they can easily be hung from the ceiling to keep them organized. A hose can make it easier to find a tool on a busy bench: just follow it with your eye and it leads right to the tool. An old carpenter’s trick is to spray paint a short area on each hose with a different color (or use different colored tapes), and that makes it easy to grab the right pinner, stapler, or nail-gun every time. You can’t do that with a battery.

What kind of pneumatic tools make the most sense in a woodshop? Intermittent use pinners, finish nailers and crown staplers will all run off a small portable compressor, but you’ll need a larger stationary compressor for sanding and spray coating. Some woodworkers use a compressor for a vacuum system that can operate veneering bags, clamps, or pads that hold work while it’s being machined. Simple blow guns are very popular in woodshops, but it’s better to vacuum up dust than to use compressed air to relocate it. Pneumatic rachets and impact drivers can help with larger hardware tasks and long screws, and some of the discs for grinders can be quite handy in the woodshop for tasks such as cutting piano hinges to length or working with marble and stone countertops.

So, while they’re still king in the spray booth, air-powered tools have also earned some respect on the workbench – especially when it comes to fastening. And as with any tool, they’re still evolving.

The Grex (online at grexusa.com) P635 has been a staple in cabinet shops for two decades. Grex recently updated it to the new P635L, which is a great example of how pneumatic tools are changing over time. The 23-gauge headless pinner has an auto-lockout feature so when it gets down to about seven nails, the sequential trigger stops working and there’s a manual override for driving one pin at a time. It has an optional edge guide that stores on board, and this can be popped into place when needed. This is a little fence that runs against the wood face and lines up shots perfectly. Other upgrades include a belt hook that has a thinner, lower profile and a rotating hose connector.

About a year ago, Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools (senco.com) unveiled a whole new generation of finish and trim tools that are now available in stores. The five new models are the BN31M1P 18-gauge brad nailer; LS61H1P 18-gauge finish stapler; TN11G1P 23-gauge pin nailer; TN41P1P 16-gauge finish nailer; and TN51P1P 15-gauge angled finish nailer. These are lightweight, oil-free guns that come with a five-year limited warranty. Features include dry-fire lockout, rotating hose connectors, no-mar pads and reversible belt hooks.

MAX USA (maxusacorp.com) is part of a Japanese corporation that manufactures in ISO9001 and ISO14001 certified factories, which meet or exceed stringent quality goals set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). MAX features the PowerLite system that runs on 500 psi of compressed air to easily drive fasteners into LVLs and similar new building materials.

The new 440 series from Omer USA (omertools.com) are Italian-made pneumatic guns that build on the company’s 50-year history in this field. The new range includes finish nailers and staplers with rear air exhausts; very thin noses for tight quarters; magazines that can be removed for maintenance without disassembly, a button trigger to slide the magazine for loading (instead of the traditional heavy spring design), and more.

Grizzly Industrial (grizzly.com) makes the FasTak H7664 Pro Series nailer/stapler that shoots 5/8" to 2" long 18-gauge brads and 5/8" to 1-5/8" long staples with a 1/4" crown. It has a viewing window that lets a woodworker see when to reload, and a 100-shot magazine.

Makita (makitatools.com) has four staplers and eight nailers in its latest lineup. Hikoki (hikoki-powertools.com) carries three finish nailers, three staplers, and several coil nailers. Bostitch (bostitch.com) offers the new Smart Point, a narrow finish nailer that can reach into tight spaces.

Pneumatic tools aren’t just limited to nailers and staplers. Full-line manufacturers such as DeWalt (dewalt.com) also offer air-powered sanders, rachets, impact wrenches and other tools that often find their way onto a cabinetmaker’s workbench.

The Campbell Hausfeld catalog (campbellhausfeld.com) includes nail guns and staplers, impact wrenches and rachets, caulk guns, finish sprayers, sanders and even a keyless reversible drill.

Wurth (wurthusa.com) also provides an impressive range of pneumatic tools including several that are intended for automotive finishing but could also find a home in a woodshop. The collection includes drills, several 6" orbital sanders under the Dynabrade label, grinders, sanding files, rachets and impact guns.

Dynabrade (dynabrade.com) also makes a complete range of nine pneumatic routers and trim routers with speeds up to 30,000 rpm. They come with 1/4" collets or 3/8" spindle threads and bases up to 4" in diameter.

Viking Industries is part of the S&H Group (shindustries.com) in Cleveland and manufactures and distributes a complete line of pneumatic tools and related accessories. The menu includes impact wrenches, sanders, polishers, two dozen different drills, several air-powered screwdrivers, and a variety of cutting tools.

Another resource known to mechanics but not so much among woodworkers is Proto Industrial (protoindustrial.com). This Connecticut toolmaker is part of the Black & Decker empire, and makes air-powered impact drivers, wrenches, and grinders. 

Florida-based Universal Tool (universaltoolusa.com) also has manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania and Asia. The company makes sanders, grinders, impact wrenches, drills, and specialty tools for the aircraft industry.

The decision to invest in air tools has a lot to do with the volume of work that flows through a woodshop. Pneumatic tools are usually less expensive to buy than cordless tools, especially when one compares the cost of a small compressor to a bank of high Amp-hour batteries. But they do have their limits and they’re best suited to shops that are equipped with large compressors.

On the other hand, pneumatic tools can benefit from a business concept known as marginal return. The more of them that are used daily in the shop, the less expensive it is to run each of them. One big motor on a compressor is replacing dozens of corded tools and battery powered motors, and it runs in cycles and stores energy quite well in the form of compressed air trapped in the tank. Unless there are leaks in the hoses or pipe connections, there is very little wasted energy. And there are no charged batteries sitting on shelves for weeks at a time, slowly losing their power.

Originally published in the February 2025 issue of Woodshop News.