v-nailer question

martyk

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Sep 1, 2005
Posts
7
Loc
Elm, PA / San Diego, CA
First let me say that I know that I may be the only framer on the planet that still has one of these, Fletcher 5100 v-nailer, but I'm also pretty sure that I'm not the first one to have this problem so maybe someone can help.
I bought this one new in 97, my first and only v-nailer, and it's worked fine up until yesterday. It jamed on me and since it's so old and I decided to just totally take the firing mechanism apart to see what made it tick. Anyway after putting it back together it works "almost" fine again. I say almost because it now wants to drive 2 nails at a time????
I was hoping to keep this one around, and working, till next year, I wanted to get a full 10 years out of it before I bought a new one. If anyone had this machine and has a suggestion as to how to remedy my 2 nail delimma I'd like to hear from you.
Thanks.
Marty
 
It might have something to do with you taking it apart in the first place :eek: You might have put a piece in reversed to what it should have gone or something like that.

This is why we shouldn't do these things with the equipment we are actually using... know what I mean??
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party.gif
 
It probably is not going to help you very much but v-nailers are both the worst and the best of picture framing. Usually, problems are related to glue getting into the mechanism. After each use, we spray a bit of W-D 40 into the machine, it seems to keep the glue from getting firmly attached to the nail and guides.

We have a Euro v-nailer and purchased it in 1990, it has worked pretty well from the day we bought it with the exception of the times that glue prevented usage. After taking it apart and cleaning it it regained its normal usal dependability. There have been times that I would have given it away to anyone that would pick it up until I checked the cost of a new one. Great convincer of perseverence.

Jack Cee
 
You're not the only person that still has one, and you're not the only person that has taken it appart. I am Guilty on both counts.

I have found that the tension from the coiled metal that pushes the nails forward is weakening as the years go by. What I do is grab the v-nail sleeve, and make sure that the stop is tight, and that there is not too much glue holding the nails together in the sleeve.

There are essentially two major problems i've found with this Set-Up, one being the tension, and 2 Fletcher Terry's Quality Control on the V-nails themselves. I have had to toss whole sleeves (mostly the Yellow ones) because they applied too much glue to the top of the strand of nails, causing them to be too attached, and thus sending two or more up the firing chamber. sometimes you can just remove a couple of the nails by hand and that fixes the problem. Hop that helped.
 
Master framah,
Greetings oh master. :)
Actually taking things apart and rebuilding them is what I used to do in another life. I started by rebuilding Holly 4-barrel carburetors back in the early 60's then moved up to high performance engines, so believe me taking it apart isn't the problem. In fact it's probably in better shape now than it was from the factory, which in itself could be the problem :)
Gee by mentioning Holly 4-barrels from the early 60's I think I just let the old timers on here know that I'm one of them, and proud of it!
In answer to Jack's comment, I always wipe it down and WD40 it. I think that's why it's lasted this long without any problems.
I'll have to try Uncle Eli's suggestion and try a new sleeve of v-nails tomorrow to see if that could be it. It will be the first time I've had a problem with the nails but what the heck, it's worth a try.
 
I had the problem with an awp pinner and found it to be the alignment of the upper half of the guide that holds the nail block. I dont know if the one you have has the same arrangement but the block that clamps to the post determines the size of the nail you can use. It's other function is to hold down all but one of the nails so the post (hammer) will only push up the first in the strip.
 
Greetings all,

Here's an update on my origianl post.
I did try a different, but not new, cartridge of nails after Uncle Eli suggested it but it didn't work, it was still firing 2 nails each time so I waited for Fletcher to get back to me. Well they finally got back to me today, June 5th, (the man with the knowhow was out of the office last week) and he suggested that I try the same thing, a different, but new, cartridge, so I went out and tried again and this time it worked :)
It seems the second cartridge I tried last week was one of the two different sizes I was using when the machine originally jammed. Now that I've tried six other cartridges, some even from the same boxes as the bad ones, all is well again in my little world. At least for now.
As a side note: I had mentioned earlier that my v-nailer was probably in better shape after I took it apart and cleaned it and I was right. It's actaully working better now than when I first got it. I may not replace it next year, like I thought I would, until I can't get nails for it anymore and someone will probably always have nails that will fit it so I may keep using it until I get tired of the big BANG. Ha Ha

I hope everyone got to take the day off yesterday to enjoy the 4th with their family and friends.
 
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