Which V nailer is best

AuzzieMatt

Grumbler
Joined
Jul 7, 2004
Posts
34
Loc
Australia
Hi,

I had an Alfamachine V Nailer (Alpha 3) lined up to buy, but it has fallen through. All I can seam to find available to buy here in Australia 2nd hand is the Cassese V-nailer.

I liked the Alfamachine as it had a good write up and they promoted their features well. I havent heard much about the Cassese V-nailer nor can I find much info on it.

I would really appreciate your input from experence in using either.

Thanks

Matt
 
It would be helpful to know which Cassesse you're looking at. Some are first-rate and some are boat anchors.

Also, how readily available are parts and service over there for the Cassesse?
 
The following is just my personal opinion, based on my experience with Cassese V nailer's.

The only good Cassese are their older models. The 810 was probably their best machine, problem is getting parts for the older ones. In the US, Active Sales has pretty much everything you will need, I don't know about availability in Australia. Stay away from Cassese newer models.

They started out as probably the absolute best V nailer's with their 810 series. Their newer ones leave a lot to be desired. I'm hopping that they will go back to their quality machines someday. It's a shame, they had a great reputation at one time.

There is an old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Cassese is a great example of how things can go wrong by fixing what ain't broke.

John
 
Good news.... looks like I am still getting my Alfamachine V-nailer. Thanks for your posts.

Cheers

Matt
 
So far, I've owned only Alfamachine/Amp/MiterMite/Putnam machines (lots of names, one Italian maker). The first was a new VN2+1 in 1991, which was traded for a gently-used VN42 three years ago. I've been happy with both of them -- easy to use, dependable, low maintenance, always good results.

My new Fletcher 5700 is on order, and should arrive soon. I'll let you know all about it soon after it arrives. After seeing it for the first time & trying it out in January, at the WCAF show in Las Vegas, I just couldn't live without it. This Fletcher machine, also Italian, is beautifully made, and has more features than I imagined a V-nailer could have, with a price comparable to the VN42.
 
John, the Cassese 486 is a vastly better v nailer than the 810 (we gave away two of them about 4 years ago; they didn't have much left in them after 8 years or so) and the 4095 is in a class by itself. I'm pretty sure we bought the first 810 in the US from Juel Pacific. The 810's were good machines, better than the Amps (we had those too; I sold a VN4 +2 to Bud). The lighter machines may have problems but the heavy duty machines are very good. We have 2 486's we use for backups to a 4095. The 4095 gets heavy use and it's only been back to Active Sales once in the 4 years we've had it. We had a problem with the sleeve selector barrel. We've never used one of the 486's, but it's comforting to know it's sitting there if we need it.

The 4095 almost does for frame making what a CMC does for mat cutting. Almost, we still need a skilled operator but it's very fast. Punch in a number and it selects the right sleeve and puts the v nails in preset positions. It will even change sleeves in the middle of an operation. There's no operator setup; the 4095 knows how wide the moulding is, which v nails to use and where to put 'em. Slick. On the down side, it takes about 3 weeks to be serviced. One week to Ca, a week there, and a week back. That's why we have a back up and a back up to the back up. A good friend of mine, Gene Grigg, sells Cassese machines here in NC and we might ship it to him when the next problem hits. The Active Sales people have a lot of experience though.
 
Warren, I also have one of the first Cassise 810s. I purchased it from Juhl Pacific. I had it for about a year or so, and the main cylinder fried. I had it replaced and was told that you have to put a few drops of oil in the air line every now and then. I installed an automatic oiler and have not had a serious problem since.

It's been over 25 years and we are still using that same machine today. I decided it was getting old, so I bought a new 299 from Active Sales. That machine was a joke, period. We had it for a little over a year, it was broken down just about the entire time. We would fix it, have Active fix it, even had Cassise headquarters call us and talk us through the problems. Longest the 299 lasted without breaking down was joining six frames in a row, it crashed on the seventh.

I ended up selling the thing and took a thousand dollar beating. It was a useless machine that was taking up valuable floor space while it was waiting for it's next parts to arrive. In the meantime, we continued using our old 810. I doubt if I will ever consider purchasing a Cassise V nailer again.

Thank you for the recommendation though.

John
 
John, I can't believe you didn't just have Active replace the 299. We didn't have anything like the problems with our first 486 but Active replaced it. We had a 4095 replaced, too. Cassese shipped it from France air freight to Charlotte and private carrier from Charlotte to Wilmington. I can only wonder what the freight bill must have been. I've been told that Active doesn't make much on the machines; they want to sell the v nails.

I loved the old 810's. We had each of them refurbished in MN twice during the years we used them. If they had a weakness it was the clamping strength. That and they were top heavy which made 'em difficult to move. And they ate hammers which were a pita to replace. Had to remove the main cylinder if I remember. correctly.

My wife is way anti French but even she knows we'll stick with Cassese. We've had problems with Cassese machines but they've been handled quickly with no harm done to us. A Juhl technician stayed in Wilmington a couple of days getting the first 810 working.

If I'd had the problems that you've had, I wouldn't buy another Cassese either. I can't believe they didn't get you another machine. We anticipated having problems with the 4095 (hence, the backup machines) but the second one has been very reliable.

Warren
 
Active Sales was the company that offered to purchase it back at $1,000.00 less than I paid them about 13 months earlier. I had no interest in getting another 299, I can't recall if it was offered anyway, if it was, I would have rejected it. I was grateful for their offer and was glad to get rid of it, even at a severe loss. All it did was p*ss me off every time I looked at it sitting there, taking up space. Like having an employee who does not produce, yet expects a paycheck. I look at it as a learning experience.

John
 
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