Brazilian Cheery / Jatoba install

[Don Monfils]

I’m starting a job with 5” wide 3/4” solid Jatoba this week. I’ve done a lot of research on this material and the fastener of choice is a 18 gauge cleat. I’m good there because I have 2 Primatech 550 combo guns.
I’m going to get a new finish nailer this weekend. I’m debating between a 15 and a 16 gauge gun, for the first and last rows. I normally use both adhesive and my 18gauge brad nailer.
I know the 15 gauge nail is thicker and the gun drives the nail harder. I’m just wondering if this could cause the material to split.
I’m pretty sure the 18 gauge won’t work with this product.
Anyone have any thoughts on nail gauge?

 

[C.J.]

15 gauge is an actual steel nail. 16 gauge and up is a magnesium brad nail. If you’re gonna be hand shooting nails into the crotch of the hardwood right above the tongue, I would pick a 15 gauge nailer because the nail is less likely to deflect than a 16 gauge brad nail.

Here’s a comparison of 15 and 16 gauge nails.

 

[Don Monfils]

Thanks for the info, that helps a lot.
Definitely going to get the 15 gauge!

 

[Don Monfils]

Hey Chris, what do you think about fastener length. With my 18 gauge I would normally run a 2” nail.
With this flooring being so hard I’m thinking maybe I should use a 1 1/2” or a 1 3/4 “.
The flooring is three-quarter inch and we’re going over three-quarter inch plywood.

 

[Don Monfils]

One more question I was going to buy a new 10 inch blade for my miter saw. I normally get a 90 tooth Diablo. With this material being so hard I wonder if I’m better off getting a cheaper blade with less teeth knowing it’s probably gonna wreck the blade on this one 700 square-foot job.
Also, my tablesaw has a brand new Diablo blade( 8 1/2”) that I have not used on a job yet.
I’m thinking maybe I’ll buy a cheap 7 1/4 inch blade for this job.

 

[C.J.]

If the wood will take a 1 1/2” nail, it’ll take a 2 inch nail, otherwise you’re pre- drilling and hand nailing. Maybe you can pre- drill then try and shoot the nail through the hole. If not then set the kid up with a drill and have all the boards pre-drilled and ready to go when you get to that point so you can production line bust a move.

Diablo blades are great. This is my new go to blade I’ve been using on my table saw for maybe 9 months now and I love it. $35 on Amazon.

When you’re done with this job I want you to clean the saw blade. You can buy some blade cleaner or you can use whatever is clever but it’s like getting your new blade back. You won’t believe how much pitch and resin residue on the blade will slow it down and make you think it’s dull when it just needs to be cleaned.

 

[Don Monfils]

Thanks
I have seen your post on cleaning blades. I’ve never done it myself, but I will certainly try it out.

 

[Don Monfils]

This is the blade I use on the table saw

 

[C.J.]

Plywood, laminate and MDF maybe not so much but if you’re cuttin real wood you will get a gummed up blade sooner rather than later. The softer the wood usually the more gummy. Think of soft yellow pine. Just about soft enough to chew but plenty of pitch and resin in that stuff to gum up a blade. When the blade heats up that crap gets all gummy and likes to stick to all that crap that’s already in the wood that you’re cutting.

10” x 60 tooth is what I ran for years but I cut a lot of who knows what now so the change in blade makes a difference. Knowing what I know now I woulda just started out with the 10x50 because if the blade is sharp those 10 extra teeth don’t matter.

 

[Don Monfils]

I see Home Depot has a 2 pack of the blade you showed me for under $50
I think I’ll grab that for the chop saw

 

[Don Monfils]

Never mind, yours was a 50 tooth.

 

[C.J.]

If you have a sharp blade, that 40 tooth will do just fine.

 

[Don Monfils]

I did some shopping today.

 

[MSLI]

What does Don, Milwaukee and C.J. have in common?

Driven to outperform !

 

[MSLI]

M.Sli thought of the day: OUR COUNTRY/ WORLD NEEDS A NEW MISSION STATEMENT and maybe we could borrow Milwaukee’s punch line

…when we are driven or driving to outperform each day in our trade, or in politics, the focus is on optional methods and tools to provide a successful job for each different product out there. We research ask trusted advisers and choose, yesterday’s performance methods or todays possible outperformance improvements.

My point : If the language we are using is on yesterday we may continue to never outperform.

 

[Dan]

One thing I learned in manufacturing over the years, fewer teeth for ripsaw, more for chop saw. Didn't make any sense to me at first, so I learned the hard way.