18V Cordless Nailer and Stapler, 50mm Brad Nail

Fifty millimetres of brad nail is a step up from the light tacking tools. It is the length you need for fixing skirting and architrave back to a frame, putting up cornice, fixing beading and door stops, assembling light timber framing, and holding board where a shorter brad would only hold the surface layer. A nail that long reaches through the trim and into the timber behind it, which is what stops the work springing off the wall a month later.

Being cordless and lithium-ion, it needs no compressor, no air hose and no lead, which is the practical reason a fitting team carries one. A pneumatic nailer means a compressor in the van, a hose across the floor and a machine running all day for a few dozen nails. A battery nailer is picked up, fired and put down. The tool fires both nails and staples, so one machine covers trim work and the tacking of board, mesh or fabric behind it. That suits a carpenter, a shopfitter or anyone fitting out a house, a duka or an office where the work moves from room to room through the day.