I spoke with Hitachi, Paslode, Bostitch, and Senco. Here is the deal:
Hitachi - There is no coating on their finish/brad nails, other than the galvanization on galvanized nails
Paslode - There is no coating on their finish/brad nails, other than the galvanization on galvanized nails
Bostitch - (says 'coated' on their site) This one is a little more suspect. The person I spoke with looked up in his documentation to confirm they were 'coated', but it appears that is all the information he had and wasn't directly familiar with them. He insisted that they were not referring to a galvanized coating, and that they were not galvanized, despite the fact they are silver in color.
Senco - Offers finish/brad galvanized nails in both Sencote and Plain. The Sencote product sounds like it is as much about lubricating and in some materials (wood) it can also increase pullout strength, often the wood around it failing prior to pull-out. However, they do not market it for strengthening, knowing that stains, paints, etc could be applied and react with the Sencote, rendering it without adhesive benefit. The Sencote may be yellow or clear. Supposedly Sencote is the 'standard' on their products, but they also offer plain in their finish nails, as for stain finishes, some of the coating can come off upon insertion and lead to some discoloration on the material they are being shot through.
Has anyone used the Senco Sencote finish fasteners, who can say if they practically leave much coating on the board surface?
