Buying the best nail gun for cabinet making is not easy as there are multiple factors to look at, from quality working to low budget. Additionally, some people may need a cabinet nail for permanent usage and some may need it for temporary usage.
Considering features of nail guns become more critical when it comes to knowing cabinet making as more force and efficiency are required.
People often recommend using a hammer, but it’s not powerful enough to drive enough force for nails. So, whether you need to drive a nail into the wood for personal homework or home plumbing projects, the best cabinet nail gun is always the perfect choice.
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In this post, we provided a complete review on top nail guns for cabinet making, which are not only suitable for working, but their durability is another feature that urges people to buy them.
However, if you are in a rush, you can check our top picks here!
Top Picks Here
Best Nail Guns for Cabinet Making Reviews
RANK | NAME | WEIGHT | RATING | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ‎5.9 pounds | 4.7 | ||
2 | ‎4.5 pounds | 4.1 | ||
3 | ‎2.09 pounds | 4.5 | ||
4 | ‎1.3 pounds | 4.6 | ||
5 | ‎12 pounds | 4.6 | ||
6 | ‎6 pounds | 4.7 |
1. PORTER-CABLE 20V MAX- Top Rated Nail Gun
One of the top-rated and excellent nail guns that efficiently works for heavy projects is the PORTER-CABLE 20V MAX. It is a cordless nailer, so you don’t need to spend energy and money to use a compressor, hammer, or any other accessory.
This cordless gun has maximum durability with multiple features, including a unique design and a lithium battery that works for a long time. Moreover, the package includes all the essential accessories, so it’s one of the affordable nail guns for cabinet making.
Important Features
Compact Design
The nail gun with elegant design and light weight features fits perfect to use for newbies and professionals. It has 16 gauges brad nailer, which offers enough power even during heavy industries projects and adverse weather conditions, including wet and humidity. Additionally, it is loaded with a wheel and tool-free stall release lever, and both of these features help to increase its warranty time by properly adjusting nails while working.
Lithium-Ion Battery
Its 20 volts lithium-ion batter is another reason why we love and includes this product at the top of the list. This battery can works for hours without dead battery notification issues. As compared to the traditional batteries, this battery can be charged again as i comes with a charger.
LED Light
LED light helps work during the night or in places where light is unavailable. So, now the issues of damaging the device or harming the worker no more exist due to the safety feature of the LED light.
Heavy Magazine
Its latest style magazine can manage 100 nails at a time which is an exceptional feature. Hence, now the effort to fill a magazine again and again after hours or even a small task is removed.
Hence, PORTER-CABLE 20V MAX is a top-rated nail that precisely comes with advanced design and additional accessories features. However, the feature we like the most is its magazine capacity to handle 100 nails, which saved our time during long term projects.
2. Makita XTP02Z 18V LXT- Best Cordless Nail Gun
It is another ideal brand that comes with cordless features, however heavy. Its heavyweight is not a negative point. It helps to add smoothness in work when you need to put force on the cabinets of extra thickness. A lightweight gun may be broken when you put force to drive the nail. Don’t worry, and this Makita brand solve this issue by adding extra safety features.
Important Features
Magazine Capacity
Its magazine capacity is the main feature that attracted us to test and try. With 120 nail fill capacity at a time, it lets you save your time and energy. Additionally, 6 different drive lengths and 23 gauges pin help complete the whole work quickly.
Cordless Design
This cordless nail gun is ideal for DIY projects and hardwood cabinets working. A tool-free thumb on the right side is available, which helps penetrate and reach the required location quickly without any distraction.
Narrow Nose Look
Want to get a gun that helps reach the targeted in significantly less time and effort? Well, Makita XTP02Z 18V LXT is a perfect choice. With a narrow nose look, you can easily insert the nail with only a little effort for up to ¼ inches thickness.
LED Light and Battery Indicator
It has an LED light which is useful when there is not enough light. The gun also has a battery indicator that lets you know about the battery and its charging status. You will be informed when there is not enough battery to work. In this way, the long term battery damage issues eliminate what occurs in traditional guns, which never lets you know about the battery.
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As a result, the battery gets dead without notifying you, and you may need to spend money to change or install a new battery. Don’t worry; this Makita brand has resolved this issue.
Hence, Makita XTP02Z 18V LXT is the best nail gun for light and heavy cabinet projects. All the features are ideal. However, the most attractive feature is the battery indicator, due to which warranty time increased from 3 years to 5 years.
3. NuMax SL31 Pneumatic- Best Nail Gun For Woodworking 
NuMax is one of the well-reputed brands all around the world, which is helping the tool users in getting highly efficient and affordable tools.
This best nail gun for cabinet making is ideal among the professionals who use nail guns as their primary professional because of the several engineering tasks.
It is light in weight and has a compact design which allows everyone to use it without any resistance. A paddle and handle help perform the cabinet, making tasks easy and time-saving.
Important Features
Elegant Design
Its elegant design is the first thing which urges us to use this product. Besides being lightweight (2.09 pounds) and ideal dimension features, it has 360 degrees adjustable exhaust which helps to eliminate dust and debris within seconds. It does not include a tip on the top bar, which saves heavy damage if it hits your body due to sudden force. The addition of paddle and handle makes it a fatigue-free gun for newbies.
Compatibility Features
The nail gun is compatible with staples, brad nails, and finish nails. The value for a staple gun is 18 gauges; for brad nails, it’s 18 gauge, and for finish nails, it’s 16 gauge. These values are ideal for any worker who needs to handle heavy-duty and long term projects during cabinet makings.
Advance Features
This best nail gun for cabinets has an aluminum body and replaceable plates. Also, 3 in 1 designs, including brad nailer, finish nailer, and staples, are advanced features unavailable in other guns of identical size and price. These advance features help in adding extra efficiency during work.
Finally, NuMax SL31 Pneumatic is an ideal nail gun for professionals. With advance features and compatibility options, it’s becoming an ideal brand among millions of users day by day.
4. Metabo HPT Palm Nailer- Best Nail Gun for Professionals 
This is the most versatile nailing tool and you can use it for the primary nailing metal joist hangers. The Metabo HPT Palm Nailer is suitable for the metal connectors and the cabinets; this nailer is very safe to use and can work efficiently with standard nails.
Metabo manufactures this nail machine is, a well-known brand in making the different types of construction gadgets that help us in our daily lives.
While using this machine provides superior maneuverability, even when working in confined areas. You can easily use this nailer even in tight places where your hand cannot reach. Its plastic grip breaks after the 2k nails, and after that, you need to change it.
Important Features
Magnetic Nose
Its magnetic nose will help you work accurately, and you can perform your work without any errors. It holds the nails very straightly and places the nails where you want to place exactly.
Excellent grip
Its grip is firm and works efficiently; as a rubber grip is also available, making you feel comfortable. Additionally, rubber is also good to reduce vibration to perform your work without noise.
Lightweight
This nailer is very easy, and this is very good for the plumbers because they cannot perform well in they have heavy machines as it is challenging to hold it. But this Metabi Nailer only has 1.3lbs, which is excellent for maneuverability and handling.
One of the best features of this nailer is that this allows you to use even for the 360 degrees swivel to use the maximum maneuverability.
5. NuMax SFL618 Pneumatic- Best Nail Gun for Floor Cabinets
This is another good nailer mainly used for the flooring, has stapler features, and design is very lightweight. The flooring nailer is manufactured with a unique design good holding grip that makes it easy to use for the plumber and professional.
The good thing about this nail machine is that it has replaceable plates and three in one designs, which means you can easily switch between T-cleats, L-cleats, and staples for excellent performance. This product is made by a famous brand NuMax, a famous company in manufacturing the different plumbing and construction tools. You can also see some other products if you are professional and want to buy your tools.
This NuMax is the right tool for your job, if you want to get outstanding value, their customer support is also excellent, and you can use this tool for various purposes,
Important Features
Easy and Safe to Use
It is easy to use in different conditions in your home or working places, like upholstery, insulation screen repair, and woodworking projects. The machine is very safe to use even for beginners because of its aluminum body, which you can easily clean.
Ergonomic Design
This nailer machine has a very excellent handle to prevent you from getting any injury during work. It has a long fiberglass padded grip, so you can hold it excellent without facing any difficulty while using it, and it helps you move quickly on the floor. This nailer machine is suitable for professional jobs and house usage.
Quality and Durability
The company that manufactures this machine always provides durable products to their customers, the professional contractors and home owners can use thing machine for a long time without getting any damage.
Hence, this is one of the advanced designed cabinet nailers which saves your time and energy due to working quality. Its three-in-one design is the most attractive feature, making it considerable among 100 similar products.Â
6. Ryobi P320 Airstrike- Best Nail Gun for Beginners 
It is one of the best electric finishing nail guns and is ideal to use for installing house tiles and reinforcing joints. You can use this nailer with an 18-V battery with unlimited working hours. But you have to buy the battery separately, and you can use it without any power outlet because of its cordless characteristic.
It can deliver 60 nails per minute, which is an excellent speed; most professionals love the machines having above fifty nails quality as it has very high delivering speed that’s why it is suitable for the cabinets makers.
Important Features
Excellent battery
The nail machine has a very efficient battery system, but in the cordless Ryobi P320 Airstrike, you can deliver 1700 per single charge. This is mostly enough for the experts because they also have to inject fewer nails than this amount.
Indicator
With an indicator, it warns you when there are a few nails are left in the magazine so that you can reload the magazine to avoid misfiring.
Convenience and Superior Performance
The nail machine is straightforward; if you are a new plumber or using it for your home, you can try this machine without facing any difficulty. Its performance is excellent; it has significantly less noise because of its rubber grip.
ProsMagazine indicator saves time
Excellent battery performance
Affordable to buy
###ER##GF####Magazine capacity is low as compare to other nail guns
Hence, this is ideal due to its superior performance and smooth-to-use features. However, nail magazine capacity is low compared to other nail guns, which may be a negative point for those who need a gun for heavy projects.
Best Nail Gun for Cabinet Making- Buying Guide
To make your choice straightforward, we provide some buying guides that can help narrow down the choice based on your requirements. So, keep considering these factors before buying a nail gun for a cabinet!
Safety Features
Facing current and electric issues is a common problem while working on machines and heavy devices. To avoid severe dangers and currents, we suggest adding safety features. For example, you can read the instructions on the products for what to do in case of an emergency.
Also, we recommend buying a new device which is an insulator and helps maintain safety for heavy industrial projects. From beginner to expert, everyone should take care of it.
Power Supply
Another critical factor is the power resource. Based on the power resources, the device is air-powered, battery-powered, and electric. Now selecting the one depends upon your working area.
An air-powered nail gun works best in the area where the air is available in large quantities, or you can say in arid areas where electricity is not available.
We recommend using electric nail guns for heavy industrial areas as electricity is available.
And for the areas which are far from the home or cities, we suggest using a battery-powered gun. However, a battery-powered gun is used where there is no heavy work.
Efficient Quality
Besides a low budget or warranty, quality is essential to consider while buying a nail gun. No matter how much money you are spending, what matters more is the quality you are getting.
So, make sure that the nail gun you are buying has advanced design and all the latest features, including cordless design and the latest spiral technology. These features make the machine work without resistance, even if it colloid with a solid material.
Also, make sure that you are not spending a lot of time and energy to start and give it a boost. (The one who needs a start may disturb you later during heavy working).
Warranty
It is another crucial factor which you should consider. An expensive nail gun does not mean that it will always work for an unlimited duration. Similarly, a cheap machine may work for a long time unexpectedly.
So, firstly read complete detail about the product including warranty time and then buy the best one which is best for your need. Yes, you can buy a limited warranty time product if you are not using it for a long time.
Weight
Another essential factor to consider while buying a nail gun is weight. There is no limit or the optimum value for the weight. However, we suggest buying a product which is easy to handle. It should not disturb you while forcing the nail to get inside the wood cabinet.
Weight should not be so high that you cannot manage the machine and should not below that does not perform the necessary workload. Instead, it should be a medium that you can handle on the one hand, and it should perform a heavy workload on the other hand.
Extra Features
There are many other extra features that you can consider while buying a nail gun. These may include the availability of LED lights, a belt hook, an elegant design, and a cordless staple.
Additionally, check the accessories which are available with the package. We always recommend buying a product with extra accessories to avoid spending the money you may spend later, even on the needed accessories.
Best Nail Guns for Cabinets! Frequently Asked Questions
What nail gun do I need for cabinets?
Although, there are multiple nail guns available in the market with different designs and gauges. However, a nail gun that drives 15-16 gauges is perfect compared to the others. The reason is that it has some extra capacity to work and can handle a heavy workload.
Can you use a brad nailer to build cabinets?
Yes, you can use a brand nailer to build cabinets. However, make sure that the nailer is 15 or 16 gauges.
How much weight can cabinet screws hold?
It depends upon the cabinet quality and size. However, a standard cabinet screw can hold 75 pounds of weight.
Final Verdicts- Best Nail Gun for Cabinet
Hence, the best nail gun for cabinet making could be a great device, but it depends on quality and features. The nail guns we reviewed above are enriched with multiple features due to the latest technologies. Some of these are based on a low budget, and some are based on quality work.
Related: Best Nail Guns for Baseboards
However, if you need the one with all features in one place with extra accessories, here are our top picks!
- PORTER-CABLE 20V MAX- Top Rated Nail Gun
- Makita XTP02Z 18V LXT- Best Cordless Nail Gun
- Metabo HPT Palm Nailer- Best Nail Gun for Professionals
For more information on tools and their guide, keep reading our latest posts.
