By some estimates, nearly half the decking market has moved to hidden fasteners. Can you blame them? It leaves a professional finish without the issues of screws popping up. Senco’s Mantis Hidden Deck System came out as an innovative system leaving a gap between the deck board and joist to allow for proper airflow and drying. Now the system expands with the Senco SHD150XP pneumatic fastening tool.
The Senco SHD150XP works by holding the Mantis Deck Clip in place with a rare earth magnet while an aluminum slide attachment guides it into place and aligns it for proper installation. It’s pretty intuitive with an action that promotes not only proper alignment, but also gives you leverage for keeping your deck board flush. This is actually a great feature that wasn’t present on the Tiger Claw hidden fastener gun we reviewed several years ago.
The fasteners are 1-1/2 inches long with a 0.113 inch shank diameter. They’re paper collated to 34 degrees. The design allows them to be driven like a nail, but back out like a screw without loss of holding power. 34 of the fasteners can be held in the magazine.
Several common (and appreciated) features are in place. The dry fire lockout is one that is becoming increasingly noticeable when it’s missing, so we’re glad to see it here. The exhaust deflector rotates 360 degrees and a swiveling rafter hanger is in place as well.
For ergonomics, the Senco SHD150XP weighs in at 4.6 pounds – not bad for what is essentially a specialty framing nailer. Senco’s rubber overmold handle helps the grip and we should be able to expect their typically solid tool balance.
Senco SHD150XP Mantis Hidden Deck Clip Nailer Key Features
- EZ-Slide attachment guide and aligns deck clips
- Rare earth magnet keeps deck clip in place until installed
- Dry-fire lockout
- Rotatable rafter hanger
- 360-degree rotating exhaust deflector
- Rubber overmolded handle
Senco SHD150XP Mantis Hidden Deck Clip Nailer Specifications
- Model Number: 9D0001N
- Power Source: Compressed Air
- Trigger Type: Sequential Actuation
- Operating Pressure: 70 – 120 (PSI)
- Operating Pressure: 4.8 – 8.3 (Bar)
- Air Consumption: 2.3 (SCFM)
- Air Inlet NPT: 1/4″
- Capacity: 23
- Height: 12 1/4″
- Length: 15 1/8″
- Width: 4″
- Weight: 4.6 lbs
- Warranty: 5 years
Check out all Senco nailers from our friends at Acme Tools!
