Hi I am a carpenter and hope to be moving to Brisbane in March, I hope to start work within a few weeks of arrival if lucky enough to find work. I have two nail guns which are fairly new and very expensive to replace, would I be able to take these in my luggage as sending with the rest of our boxes would take 12wks.

Thanks
Alan

At a guess you would not be able to ship the gas in the aircraft, as gas cylinders, of any description, are a prohibited item on aircraft. Therefore you would need to be 100% sure that the replacement cylinders here are compatible with your gun. They also are going to take up a fair percentage of your luggage allowance, not to mention the attention that they may attract from airport security.
Unless you have a job lined and/or all the necessary licences and certificates that will enable you to start work immediately, it might be easier wait the 12 weeks to ship yours out.

There are no problems air freight shipping Paslode type nail guns, just take out the gas canisters Oh & make sure they are nice & clean AQIS hate any type of organic material like sawdust etc. They are sold here in both framing & fix-out models. I heard from a mate that uses one all the time that the gas doesn't seem to last as long. He also reckons the nails are not as good as the U.K ones. lol
My local Bunnings stock them Here

Thanks can you recommend any airfreight companies.

Alan

Get a quote from excess baggage.com. There is someone on the forum that works in this field I believe the preferable method was to take tools as luggage & ship clothes as unaccompanied baggage. Do a forum search it's a popular topic

Take a look at a company called 'parcel monkey', they buy unused freight space on international flights and are usually not too expensive. I have used them for shipping car parts and other heavy items.

Agree with the above, I shipped in sea cargo to UK from Oz a Max & Paslode nail gun and as a condition of transport-the gas canister must be removed. The transporters checked before sealing box.

A Paslode box of nails (75mm) plus 3 gas canisters is AUD 50 (about GBP 30)-varies from store to store. Look at Ebay Australia for an indication. I brought the nails and gave away the fuel cells to friends as the gas used by date was approaching.

I brought paslodes and other tools in checked in luggage no probs, never brought gas as knew was a no no! Li-on batteries and all (kept them in hand luggage tho as advised by airline) security were keen on checking hand luggage when x-ray saw batteries but no probs when they knew what they were and had a look.

I flew with BA so packed extra case full of tools for only £30 quid extra

Declared tools to AQIS at airport has had mallet so declared the timber, they asked what it was and then waved me through, no drama.