Bosch FNS138-23 23 Gauge 1-3/8-Inch Pin Nailer Review
The folks at Bosch recently sent us their Bosch 23 Gauge Pin Nailer FNS138-23 to review and evaluate.
What’s The Hype With Pin Nailers?
Pin nailers seem to be getting more and more popular with woodworkers and trim carpenters and there is a good reason for it.
A 23 gauge pin nail is the smallest pneumatic fasteners available and have no head. They are used to fasten small parts on trim, small furniture parts, bead trim, as well as crown and trim returns.
The best part of a pin nail is that it leaves a smaller hole than a brad nailer which requires no or little filling and is especially important on pre-finished materials.
First Impression:
At 6.7 pounds, I loved the weight and balance. It is a well designed and solid nailer with a great line of sight and fastener tip visibility.
When I first tried this pin nailer, I became annoyed with the double safety trigger. I felt it should be 1/4 – inch longer but as I write this I can tell you that I no longer feel that way. We all resist change – including myself, I quickly got used to the safety trigger after some repetition. Now activating the safety trigger is second nature.
The pin nailer unit dimensions are 16 x 14.5 x 4.8 inches which seems to be a common size among pin nailers, nothing new there.
Using the Bosch FNS138-23 23 Pin Nailer
While I’m a big fan of pin nailers, this nailer was a really joy to use. It had plenty of power to secure maple trim parts as well as pre-finished cabinet crown I was installing. The no-mar tip stays secure and doesn’t fall off – a plus!
An in line self-cleaning air filter / exhaust is located in the bottom of the handle where the air hose connects. This location is perfect and does not exhaust into the users eyes, contaminate the tool o rings, or stain the work piece.
The dry fire, lock out feature is a nice feature, and appreciated but it is pretty common in nailers these days and now has become an expected feature.
Loading the pin nails was easy and this nailer has built in spring-loaded rails that automatically adjust to the pin lengths, holding them securely in place. This allows the magazine cover to easily close without jamming. The magazine automatically adjusts to pin nails and accepts pin sizes of 1/2-inch to 1-3/8-inch long.
Overall Impression:
The Bosch 23 Gauge Pin Nailer FNS138-23 like all Bosch products was well engineered and a really nice pin nailer. We really enjoyed reviewing it and are continuing to use it on our job sites.
My wish list for improvements would be to include a belt hook and maybe a fastener window.
How Much And Where To Buy?
The Bosch 23 Gauge Pin Nailer FNS138-23 sell online for approximately$149.00 here: Bosch-FNS138-23-23-Gauge-8-Inch-Nailer