Who would have thought that we would be sitting here today talking about a battery powered framing nailer? Battery technology has soared the last few years making more tools cordless than we ever thought possible. Sure, cordless nailers have been out for a couple of years, but when you think of the power needed to drive a nail, it’s pretty amazing that a battery powered nailer can perform this action. So how does Dewalt’s model perform and is it worth the money? Let’s check it out in and see with our Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Review.
Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Review Overview
In the market, you have three types of framing nailers, pneumatic, gas & battery and battery only. A pneumatic is great because nothing beats the speed, but you have to worry about an air hose and compressor. The gas and battery nailer is nice because it’s very consistent and cordless. Its big con is that you have to deal with gas and if you run out, you are at a standstill. A battery nailer is great because it’s cordless and you don’t have to deal with gas. However one of the knocks is that it’s not as consistent and they are sometimes slower than other power options.
Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Review Features
The Dewalt framing nailer, model DCN21PL is a 21° nailer that can drive up to 3-1/4″ long nails.
The nailer is powered by the Dewalt 20V battery so you don’t need air or even a gas cartridge to power this tool.
The system comes with the nailer, a 4 Ah battery, a charger, and a nylon bag.
Inside the nailer, Dewalt designed this with a brushless motor which makes it more efficient and will give it a longer run time.
The grip is typical of their 20V grip. Dewalt uses a soft, over-molded rubber grip.
There is a built-in rafter hook that can be tucked away if you won’t be using it.
The tool will accept nails from 2-3-1/4″ size with a .113″ – .148″ diameter. The aluminum magazine holds 49 plastic collated nails.
On the front of the tool, there is a twist nob that lets the user adjust the depth of fire. However, if you get a jam, you will need a hex key to open the front of the nailer.
On the base of the tool, there are a couple of settings. You can change it from bump to sequential fire and also speed selector.
Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Review Performance
Overall I am happy with the performance. As you can see from the above pictures, you can adjust the depth of the nail. You can see one of the nails is above the wood, while the other is sunk below the wood. The other picture shows when I ran 7 nails very fast with and I was surprised at how consistent it sank the nails into the wood.
As you would expect, this fits perfectly between two 16″ studs and you can fire away.
I used this on a wide variety of quick framing projects for the house. This is one support beam that I ran a ton of nails into. The nailer performs well and didn’t have to grab for my hammer save a few times.
Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Review Value
You can pick this up at The Home Depot for about $400 which also comes with a battery and charger. While I think it’s a little pricey, the freedom from the compressor and cord is worth the extra cost.
Dewalt Cordless Framing Nailer Final Thoughts
Overall I like this nailer. On The Home Depot’s website, it has two negative ratings but I didn’t have those issues. For me, the nailer sank the nails and the only time I had issues, was during user error. My mistake came when I didn’t have the nail head seated all the way as I was going too quickly. This was an easy fix and is part of getting used to a new tool. The nailer is a little heavy, but it’s comparable to other battery nailers on the market. I love loosing the air hose and noisy compressor. You likely won’t be framing an entire house with this nailer. This nailer is perfect for small jobs such as remodeling, building a shed or other projects will be where this nailer shines.
Kinda wish I held out for this one… could have used the same nails as my pneumatic nailer.
Eric liked it quite a bit!
Just bought it yesterday, going to be using it with 8 p galvie ring shanks for a cedar siding job on hotel. We are working 50-60′ up in the air out of a boom lift. Saving me the hassle of a compressor and hose which would be horrible for this job.
Well, you have written down about a well-known framing nailer, “Dewalt.” However, I’m using a different one. How do you feel about Metabo HTP framing nailer? It seems reasonable as it has power saving mood, really lightweight. So, I think this one also good besides others. But you are doing well!
The Dewalt is great but I like the Metabo much better. No ramp-up time and very consistent.