Pneumatic Babes & Teak Caulk

“Every one says I’m awfully pneumatic,” said Lenina reflectively, patting her own legs.

I have to admit that the first time I ever read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World I was a bit puzzled by the use of the word pneumatic. In his context it is used to refer with praise to a number of things – women, machinery, furniture and the like. As such it stands more for the objectification of women rather than praise for true virtues or strengths of the object of the statement. In my mind I kept envisioning tires…

After my first day of using a pneumatic caulking gun, I can really say that it is quite…pneumatic! Truly the highest praise in this context (though I still wouldn’t try using it on my wife).

A few hours with this thing and I now begrudge every minute I spent wrestling with the Ryobi caulk spewer. While not representing the Epsilon class of the hand pumped gun, compare to the pneumatic gun it is barely a Delta. Every other tube of caulk or so required that I stop and clean out all the caulk that squished out of the back of the tube. This thing was messy – sometimes requiring 2-3 pairs of gloves just to clean it while dripping and spewing caulk and acetone everywhere as I struggled to get the gum out of the mechanical works before it cured in there. Much caulk was wasted in the gun or left in the tube as it became too messy to function.

Today I went through one pair of gloves, and those weren’t really even dirty. Using compressed air to push out the caulk means there is no plunger to blow out the bottom of the caulk tube, and no mess. The button is easier to push, and the gun seems to use up every single drop of caulk in the tube.

I am on my third Ryobi caulker at $39.97 each, having had two lock up with cured caulk in their innards when I first tried this project. By comparison the pneumatic guns are $9.99 each from Harbor Freight; throw in an eight gallon compressor (caught on saile for $89.99), a couple of fittings and a fifty foot hose – all of which are usable for a LOT of other projects – and you’ve spent about the same. But you have a nifty compressor at the end of the day too, which can also run a Dual Action sander, a grinder, an air gun, a spray gun and a host of other tools for this and other projects. And at $9.99 each I can trash a lot of caulk guns compared to the $40 Ryobi…but they don’t seem to “trash” so easily.

I’m sold. Thank Ford for this little gadget!