Warning: My framing nailer jammed mid-roof and cost me a full day

I was on a roof job just outside Eugene last Tuesday when my nailer seized up hard. A nail bent sideways inside the magazine and I spent almost 4 hours trying to clear it without wrecking the tool. Turns out I'd been skipping the lube routine for a few weeks because I got lazy. Had to borrow a guy's spare from his truck to finish the last two trusses before rain hit. Anyone else had a jam ruin a full day's pay like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith68422d ago

Did you catch that thing someone posted on the Tool Nerds forum about how dry fire can actually push debris deeper into the firing channel? I read that last month and it changed how I clear jams now. Your story hits close to home because I had a similar thing happen with a Paslode a few years back, ended up cracking the driver blade trying to pound a bent nail out with a punch. The whole skipping lube thing is a trap, I get lazy too but now I keep a little can of oil taped right to the hose so I see it every time I grab the gun. Four hours is rough though, especially with rain coming in.

johnson.jason22d ago

Yeah you ever try to clear a jam while balancing on a truss? It's no joke. I had a Bostitch do the same thing last summer, bent nail wedged so tight I had to take the whole magazine apart on the roof. Probably took me half the day too. The lube thing is real, I started keeping a little bottle in my nail pouch just so I don't forget.