What Size Air Compressor For Framing Nailer?

Framing nail guns come with heavy-duty constructions, and you need to provide extra pressure from an air compressor to work.

However, if your nail gun comes with Pneumatic designs, you need to use a 6 to 8-gallon size air compressor so that your nail gun gets the best output.

Do you want to find the right air compressor size for your nail gun? Then you can check out the following calculation to easily find the right size air compressor.

How to Calculate the Nail Gun Pressure?

The air compressor operates the majority of the nail guns. You will discover different levels of air compressor pressure for the nail gun.

Here, you will discover a minimum level of air compressor for the nail gun. So, let’s get started.

First and foremost, you need to figure out the highest CFM of your Pneumatic nail gun.
After that, you need to divide it by 1.5
And the average which you get needed for your nail gun.

For example, if your nail gun CFM is 3 CFM, then you need to divide 1.5, like 3/1.5 = 2. You just need to follow this formula to clear your confusion.

So check out this rule to manually find the nail gun pressure to choose a perfect air compressor for your nail gun.

What Size Air Compressor for a Nail Gun?

Framing nail guns and other nail guns come with different features and designs.

However, if you want to know the air compressor size for your nail gun, you need to find out the CFM of your nail gun. You will discover CFM from the user manual of your nail gun.

After getting the CFM of your nail gun, you need to divide the CFM by 1.5 numbers.

The result should be the best size for your nail gun air compressor. You can also check out the above three points to measure the air compressor step by step.

What Size Air Compressor for Brad Nailer?

Do you have a Brad nail gun for your projects which are operated by an air compressor?

Then you can use 0.5 CFM and 60 to 90 PSI air compressor.

It is truly important to follow the right number of pressures; otherwise, the air compressor is not provided with a high amount of power on the nail gun.

On the other hand, you can also manually check out the air compressor size. First, you need to find your Brad nail gun CFM number.

After finding the CFM, you need to divide it by 1.5. Now, you may get a result which is the size of the air compressor for your Brad nail gun.

What Size Air Compressor for Staple Gun?

The staple nail gun is less powerful than a Framing nail gun. Am I right? But what is the actual size of the air compressor for the staple gun? The 2-gallon air compressor is perfectly designed for a staple gun.

Note, when your nail gun comes with 0.5 to 1 CFM, you can consider a 2-gallon air compressor for this nail gun.

On the other hand, you can also consider an air compressor for your staple gun to maintain the guideline of the air compressor.

So, check out your nail gun user manual and find CFM to consider a perfect air compressor for your nail gun.

Chart of Nail Guns, CFM, Pressure, and Maximum Compressor

This chart is ready to provide you with accurate CFM, pressure, and maximum compressor for different types of nail guns. If you have multiple nail guns, this may help you a lot to get a clear concept.

Types of Nail Gun	CFM	Pressure	Minimum Compressor
Brad nail gun	0.5 to 1 CFM	60 to 90 PSI	2-Gallon Compressor, 2.0 CFM and 90 PSI
Framing Nail Gun	~2.5 CFM	90 PSI	6 to 8-Gallon Compressor, 4.0 CFM, and 90 PSI
Finish Nail Gun	0.5 to 1 CFM	60 to 90 PSI	2-Gallon Compressor, 2.0 CFM, and 90 PSI
Palm Nail Gun	1 to 2 CFM	70 to 90 PSI	3-Gallon Compressor, 3.0 CFM, and 90 PSI
Flooring Nail Gun	~2.0 CFM	90 PSI	3-Gallon Compressor, 3.0 CFM, and 90 PSI
Roofing Nail	2.2 to 2.5 CFM	90 PSI	6-Gallon Compressor, 4.0 CFM, and 90 PSI

FAQs (Frequently Ask Questions)

Q: Will a pancake compressor run a framing nailer?

Answer: The official answer is yes. You can use a pancake compressor with 150 PSI for framing the nailer. Moreover, you can also use a round head framing nail gun with a pancake compressor.

Q: How big of an air compressor do I need for a nail gun?

Answer: It depends on your air nail gun CFM. You can divide CFM by 1.5 numbers to get the perfect size air compressor for your nail gun.

Q: What’s a good compressor for a framing nailer?

Answer: If you want to consider a good compressor for a framing nail gun and the CFM is ~2.5 CFM, you should go for a 6 to 8-gallon tank capacity air compressor because of getting perfect power and pressure.

Q: How much air pressure does a framing nailer need?

Answer: The framing nail gun needs more air pressure to operate. The framing nail gun demands a minimum of 90 PSI. But, you can also choose 120 PSI to get the best performance.

Final Words

I think you can understand how much CFM and PSI you need and also understand the size needed to choose the air compressor.

You can also manually find out the size of the air compressor to follow the above 3 important points.