Powernail PALM001 PowerPalm 16/18 Gauge Flooring Cleat Nailer

Excellent palm nailer!!! It was actually smaller then I expected from seeing the pictures online which is a bonus!Ok, straight out of the box the internal piston was slightly stuck and it blew air just like a previous review said, but this is just the manufacturing lube to protect the unit from rust and time on the shelf waiting to be sold... With the air line *disconnected*, take the nailer and slap it into the palm of your hand until you hear an internal *click* sound... This is the piston mechanism freely moving... Thats it! Done! Now it's ready to rumble when you reconnect the airline... this is NOT A DEFECT... it's a sign of tight manufactiring tolerances, factory shipping lubricant and therefore quality! I know because I never buy tool warranties and so I fix all my own tools when they need repair...Using the nailer was a dream... it seems to have a button magnet on the side of the guide that you see sticking out he front of the unit... this was handy as you carefully pop a cleate nail into it until you feel the magnet grab it... I would suggest you hold the nail with your fingers tips and from the side (not pointed at your hand!) and point the gun away from people when doing do incase you accidentally go too far and hit the pressure activated hammer mechanism which will then launch the cleate nail four the gun...I tested the nailer like a kid with a new toy and yoh can perfectly sink a nail with it and you can even slowely do it as the mechanism is that sensative... I dodnt have any problems in the learning curve, but I would suggest anyone donate 20 cleats nails to playing with it before actual use so.you get the feel... you dont need to push hard and I would suggest a slow controlled hammer down then doing it fast and hard until you learn the tool...My air hose was set tonthe minimum and I nm put 3 drops of air tool oil (supplied) into it to start... I am using 1-1/4" x 18 guage powernail flooring L Cleates... I think any brand would work in it as long as its 16 or 18 guage... I also suspect you can drive 1/4" flooring staples with it based on the slot and hammer mechanism... I dont have any handy, but maybe someone can test this idea? :)My overall opinion is very hign regarding satisfaction and tool quality... it's a bit pricey, but so far I'm satisfied with what I paid and what I now have... I actually bought this to lay down tongue and groove Stranded Bamboo for a customer... were laying the floor 45° diagonally and so there will be plenty of instances where the normal flooring nailer cannot get against the wall to nail the starts and ends and so this palm nailer will be needed for those tight places that the big tool cannot reach...I hope.this review helps people and if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me a questions about it...

Wish I bought this years ago. I am hardwood flooring my third home. This tool makes starting your first rows easy. No need to facenail again. Also will work beautifully in tight places like small closets. Well worth expense. Here are some safety tips. When placing the nail inside palmnailer nose, do so without exposing your hand or fingers to the line of fire. Hold the nail with thumb and forefinger and slide the nail in gently without exposing you hsnd to line of fire. If you shove the nail in hard it will trigger the shooting. I did this the first time, the nail shot out and fortunately missed my hand. Practice on a scrap piece of flooring. I predrill the boards-makes it easier to penetrate the wood. You don’t have to predrill the subfloor, just the hardwood boards. Worth the extra effort. It’s works well without predrilling but don’t want to take chance of partially inserted cleat.

This is a invaluable tool when installing hardwood floors. It gets into the tight spots the normal floor nailer can't reach. It's also very handy when the floor nailer misfires and doesn't drive the nail all the way in. This tool will simply push it in the rest of the way with no effort. Absolutely great product. My only advice is you may want to practice several times to get your technique and your touch just right. This tool can easily bend a flooring cleat. You'll just have to get the touch and the angle that suits you best. Good luck!

Does what it's made for. It's a little touchy but getting hidden nails for flooring tight to the wall is always a pain. It will bend a good number of nails, but there easily broken off and you just try again. If they had a stronger cleat nail it would help eliminate the bending. The only other issue is that sometime the nail doesn't set all the way if you don't get it at the right angle, maybe if the tip was a little smaller it would solve that problem.

Like a lot of people writing reviews I had some trouble at first. I'm using 18 gauge L cleats in 3/4 inch T&G eucalyptus. That stuff is HARD. Maybe 1 in 10 of my practice attempts went through an off-cut. The rest were bending and the air was constantly leaking. Every single cleat I'd have to whack the top to close the internal valve, sometimes more that once. Something wasn't right. I oiled the tool again, this time using more than with my floor nailer, and upped the pressure to 100 PSI. I also started drilling a tiny pilot hole in the wood and ran a few more practice cleats.That did it! It took a while but I completed 2 20 foot rows that were too close to a wall for the big floor nailer. Only a couple of cleats bent before driving down and those were easily pulled with no mark to the finished surface. Still more to do but so far I'm very, very happy with the result.

When we bought our home I installed about 1.5K sq. ft. of 3/4“ hardwood floor (WITHOUT USING A POWERPALM NAILER). Recently a small section of the kitchen floor suffered water damage. Insurance settlement covered the cost of a contractor repair. We opted to do it ourselves. With the extra money we bought enough new flooring for the entire room. WE ALSO BOUGHT A POWERPALM NAILER. I’ll NEVER do flooring again without my POWERPALM. I absolutely love it! Flooring without a POWERPALM is crazy. When the POWERPALM arrived I was initially disappointed, didn’t see how a palm sized tool could get it done. But man was I wrong. It packs a knockout punch. The magnetic nail slot is perfect. Drives nails thoroughly and precisely. Nailing in tight spots is a breeze. Our current install is going faster and way smoother. The Powernail PowerPalm Floor Nailer has made the work so easy we’ve decided to add more new flooring. Immensely satisfied.

Great buy works great .does a perfect install

I installed a number of hardwood floors using the Bostitch floor nailer. It's an excellent tool, except for the first and last few rows. The tool is too big and then you have to hit it with the rubber mallet. And you don't have any room for that! And I hate the face nailing... This palm nailer saved me lots of headache. It"s small and powerful and takes about a sec longer to drive the cleat than it takes the Bostitch to do. To avoid any bent nails I pre-drilled pilot holes in the first and last floor planks before installation. This took other couple seconds. If it takes a minute longer I would still prefer using this tool. It's a joy to see beautiful hardwood floor with no nail holes in it. I have to say, that you can still have a bent nail if you hit other nail in the sub floor (Mr. Murphy). The only think which could turn people off is the price... Other than that this is a fantastic tool.

Very handy but needs a little practice. Very sensitive to fire cleats. I predrill just to hold the nail on the board and i put the tool on the nail and press gently but steady. It will bend the cleat if not done properly, it is sensitive but works like a charm, great design. Keep your fingers away from the tip of cleat. Would recommend this tool if you do hardwood floors.

Works great, can recommend any improvements. Price is high for a simple mini palmnailer used to be other products available on the market that used t cleats for less than half the money.

Used to install 3/4” hardwood flooring