Rapid Electric Brad Nailer EN330 for No. 8 Brads, Electric
Rapid Electric Brad Nailer EN330 for No. 8 Brads, Electric Nail Gun with Instant Trigger Responds, and Push-Button Magazine, For Finishing Trim, Picture Framing or Decorative Tasks (5001580)
From the brand
Fence and garden pliers
Gardening pliers can be used to gently espalier flowers, trees, and stalks. You can also use them to build fences and cages. Rapid offers three kinds of gardening pliers and a wide range of hog rings.
| Weight: | 1.75 kg |
| Dimensions: | 29.9 x 24.8 x 7.1 cm; 1.75 Kilograms |
| Model: | 5001580 |
| Part: | 5001580 |
| Colour: | Blue |
| Pack Quantity: | 1 |
| Batteries Required: | No |
| Manufacture: | Rapid |
| Dimensions: | 29.9 x 24.8 x 7.1 cm; 1.75 Kilograms |
| Quantity: | 1 |
An adequate but not spectacular brad nailer. Takes 18 gauge brad nails up to 30mm in length. Note does not take staples (I knew that before I bought it and didn’t really need that function). Will drive 30mm brads into softwood but, as it is electric only, it has not got the power to really bury them deep and occasionally you will need to resort to a hammer and a punch.
I have concluded that for a really good, easy to use and powerful brad nailer you really need a pneumatic one. But then you have to buy a compressor which doubles, possibly triples, the cost. To conclude this is an adequate brad nailer for the hobbyist and DIY user that will do the job just don’t expect the performance of its pneumatic cousin.
I’d never actually used a brad nailer before, so it was great fun to be able to use this one! One of the shelves in my chest of drawers was starting to lose it’s base because it was coming loose.
I used this nail gun to easily nail the base back on. I was genuinely shocked by how easy it was! Not having to individually hammer in a load of nails really does make a difference when you can rapidly nail in loads!
The only downside to this is that it doesn’t come with any nails so I did have to buy my own. However, this gives you flexibility to use the brand and material that you wish; so it’s not such a huge deal when they’re so cheap as well.
Overall, I think this is a brilliant brad nail gun for DIY repairs and I’d highly recommend it!
The Rapid Electric Brad Nailer EN330 is a great electric nail gun for finishing trim, picture framing, or decorative tasks. It has an instant trigger response and a push-button magazine, making it very easy to use. The brads are also very easy to load and the gun fires them very smoothly. Overall, this is an excellent electric nail gun and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good one.
So far I have used this brad nailer for two DIY projects. The first one was I replaced the skirting boards in our hallway. I used this with some 15mm nails I bought from a big brand DIY shop and some wood glue and it worked perfectly. It was a lot easier to position correctly.
What I learned from this first use was that it does have a bit of recoil when driving the nail so make sure to hold the gun securely in place when pressing the trigger.
Overall it’s a good bit of kit, I am very much of the mantra to buy a cheap version of a tool and if you find yourself using it often then buy the more expensive version and this fits that bill for me.
The second time I used it was making a sliding drawer frame, for this, I had to buy some longer nails but it was very much up for the job of going through 18mm plywood. I used this to secure it in place whilst I glued and pocket holed.
I couldn’t wait to use this, having wanted one for ages..so was a little disappointed that it didn’t come with any of the actual brad pins needed to use it. Even a small sample would have sufficed. Anyway, it had the measurements on the box Size 8 ( 15- 30 mm) so after discovering my local hardware store didn’t do them, ordered them from Amazon for 3 for 1000.
The instruction book is quite a weighty manual, but this is only because it is printed in a lot of languages- it was actually a very simple and clearly explained page.
The gun is less a nail gun, and more a large tack gun. It is excellent for inside woodwork jobs like door frames and furniture, but not heavy duty enough for fencing etc.
This nail gun is reasonably light and easy to use. The power cable is a decent length at around 1.9 metres excluding the plug. The gun has three controls: a power switch (an on/ off rocker switch at the base of the gun; a power adjuster (although this is a dial there are only two settings, low and high); and a trigger.
The trigger is light and easy to press, without causing excessive strain on the wrist(s) from recoil. I’m a not hugely healthy woman (I’ve been waiting for surgery for almost two years), and I found this easy to use one-handed. The gun weight is a little under 1.5kg, including the cabling, so this is light enough for sustained use. The trigger will not depress fully unless the gun is plugged in and switched on. Instruction manual was reasonably well laid-out and easy to follow.
No brads are included.
This Brad Nailer does not come with any nails supplied.
I presumed there would be a ‘starter’ set in the box to start you off with.
So I cannot comment the performance of this Brad nailer until I purchase the nails for it.
Although, I can tell you it is not portable, and will need a mains power supply to work.
The machine itself is corded which is no big issue, cordless can give a little more freedom especially outside so you don’t have to have a cable trailing through the garden or wherever it’s being used, but the cable is well positioned too so it doesn’t get in the way.
The gun is a good weight — it feels well made and if it feels well made it gives you more confidence in it’s ability to perform the job. Which it does — the gun will accept 15mm to 30mm brads — it doesn’t come with any brads supplied so I bought some 15mm and some 25 mm ones, the 15mm with my wife’s upcycling/crafting in mind. They load easily into the cassette which then clicks into place — if you have not used a nail gun before then I would recommend that you read the instructions regarding loading the brads, although I have used them in the past it’s the first time I have actually owned a nail gun and it’s the first time I’ve had to load one up. The gun cannot be discharged unless pushed against a surface as it has a safety yoke to prevent it firing if not in position. It will also only fire one brad at a time so you have to make the effort to remove the gun from the surface so the safety yoke is reset and place it to the next position — so no mistakenly firing one nail straight into another.
Straight from the off this is soooo much easier than using a hammer on what can be fiddly brad nails, no more pounded fingers while trying to hammer them in. I secured some panels on my shed outside using the 25mm brad nails, just so quick and easy, I also secured some wooden framing around the green house — so that should be just about ready for another Winter.
The machine although solid isn’t overly heavy — in fact it’s quite a comfortable weight and once you get used to it then you’ll find yourself not even thinking about it. There is no hefty recoil or kickback at all, just hold it firm and steady.
The instructions also say that before using make sure the tool is in good condition, to this end there is an allen key attached securely to the side of the magazine housing — this can be used to check the tightness of the screws on the machine body. Probably a good thing considering the impact vibration the tool endures.
Overall it’s a top machine — definitely 5 stars
This little nailer really does a good job with trim and small strips of wood. I have been using it this morning and was surprised at just how robust it is. The build really is as it should be for such a tool – well thought out, well designed and well made.
In use, so long as it is with softwood, it does an adequate job, with most nails being ‘shot’ in all the way. However, with hard wood, it has trouble driving in anything other than the shorter brads (15mm), but as it is ‘designed’ for “Finishing Trim Around Window And Door Frames” and not general woodworking, that is not a problem.
All in all a really good ‘gun’ that I know I will get a lot of use from over, hopefully, many years.
SO why 4 stars and not 5 ??? Two reasons, firstly they do not supply any nails/brads to get you started, and secondly, I think a case or some sort of bag to keep it in would have been a nice touch. However, the ‘gun’ itself is almost a 5 star, so if you don’t mind the lack of case/bag/nails/brads, then I am happy to recommend this nailer.