Professional Builder’s Tibby Singh has a FIXation with Senco.
Having previously reviewed Senco’s 1st fix framing nailer I was looking forward to seeing if the same manufacturer’s 2nd fix F-16S Fusion Finish Nailer also fires on all cylinders.
As previously, there’s no gas needed as it runs off the company’s Fusion Technology, an innovation that does away with cells to provide reliability, power and speed. It is equipped with a brushless motor and, to prep the firing mechanism, it uses a cylinder of compressed nitrogen to pressurise, shoot and re-pressurise over and over without any external air source. The advantage of this is that there’s no hose, and also it’s completely odourless. Finish nailers are most often used indoors, so this benefits everyone working within confined spaces.
The tool will nail anything from 19mm to 65mm nails, making it ideal for a vast range of finishing applications. It also has a thumbwheel depth setting, which is precision engineering. Unlike thumbwheels on other nailers, where you’re left guessing the depth, this one has a dial gauge – which is a thumbs up from me.
The mechanism might be complicated, but the operation couldn’t be easier – you literally fire and you’re away. It operates in the same way as the 1st fix, so turns on from a button just above the battery, which allows you to switch from sequential mode to bump mode in a flash. In the sequential mode it will show a solid green light, and this allows precision nailing which means you’ll need to press the trigger each time you want to drive a nail into the surface. Whereas the bump mode allows you to keep the finger on the trigger and it fires nails on each surface contact, continuously as there is no ramp up time. This is perfect when nailing boards as it increases speed. This mode is indicated by a flashing green light.
What also gets a green light from me is the nose protection on the end. This helps protect and prevent marring the surface you’re nailing into. This is crucial, because not only will you have to fill the pin holes but also the bruises in the wood. At the top, it has a small LED light, which always helps to shed light on the situation.
The nailer runs off an 18V Li-ion and 18V battery, which also has a battery indicator, something that I’d expect on all batteries these days. What I didn’t expect was for the battery to be charged so quickly, thanks to the rapid charge it reaches 80 per cent in just 15 minutes.
Senco’s certainly nailed it again with this Fusion F-16S Finish Nailer, and it’s one of the best 2nd fix nailers I’ve used. Finishing jobs off with this nailer is an absolute pleasure!
For further information on the Senco Fusion F-16S Finish Nailer visit https://www.senco-emea.com/product/2920/f-16s-finish-nailer-16mm-rx
If you want to take a look at Tibby Singh’s previous review of Senco’s new DS722-18V High Speed Auto-feed Screwdriver, which screws up to 75mm fixings, then make us of our digital reader enquiry service and view the feature on the Professional Builder website: https://probuildermag.co.uk/products/tibby-singh-tests-out-sencos-new-high-speed-auto-feed-screwdriver
Tibby Singh – www.TibbySingh.com
