As building codes address wind-zone construction with extra vigor, more metal hardware is being required to tie buildings together than ever before. Framing anchors, ties, hold-downs, braces, tie-downs, hangers, connectors, straps - every year more steel is needed to build and remodel houses. And all this hardware must be fastened to wood framing with nails, which means a lot of old-fashioned hammer swinging … unless you own a metal connector nailer. To help you sort through the maze of metal connector tools and find the right one(s) to fill your nailing needs, custom home builder and remodeler Mike Guertin evaluates the performance and operation of 14 different multi-blow and single-shot nailers

Metal Connector Production tools for tedious tasks Mike Guertin As building codes address wind-zone construction with extra vigor, more metal hardware is being required to tie buildings together from foundation to ridge than ever before. Framing anchors, ties, hold-downs, braces, tie-downs, hangers, connectors, straps — every year I need more steel to build and remodel houses. And all this hardware must be fastened to wood framing with nails — hundreds or even thousands of nails on each building. Ordinarily, that takes a lot of old-fashioned hammer swinging … unless you own a metal connector nailer. This class of nailers