# Palm Nailer? Opinions Please



## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

Had a few that did not last there is a gun that will do 95% of the nails in tight places.
https://www.nailgundepot.com/stanley-bostitch-mcn250-metal-connector-nailer-112-to-212-details.html


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

If you get one, invest in a good pair of work gloves with a padded palm.

I own two. They work great. |One is smaller than the other and weighs slightly less but still hammers them home.


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## CrazyGuy (Nov 18, 2017)

I have one and it is an awesome tool. It's a Bostitch. 
I say go ahead and buy one, you shouldn't have any regrets.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)




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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Great F'n tool for repitition work........ and they are not expensive,relative to a Tico,,, great for hangers and a-35's and tight places.


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## XSleeper (Sep 23, 2007)

Yep, love it. Mine is a GripRite, they are one of the smallest ones out there which is important to get in tight spaces.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Bought my son one for a bunch of deck hangers and he liked it. 

One of the issues with hangers is getting them tight in two different directions, tight against the end of the joist and tight flush against the rim. I use a pair of c-clamp vice grips with swivel pads to secure the hanger tight to the end of the joist while I nail it to the rim. Then nail the hanger to the joist. Makes for a tight install all the way around.

Bud


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Neal, that is a nice gun but I will never have a use for it after I finish this job. When I say a ton of hangers, it is a ton to me, but to you younger fellows it would be nothing.

JL, thanks for the advice on the palm padded work gloves, I am sure I will need them.

I really do appreciate all of your help, I will be getting a palm nailer tomorrow. I did go to youtube and watch a palm nailer in action, I can't believe I have never had one before now, that is a handy little nailer. Thanks again.


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## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

I paid about $50 CDN for the small one. That should price it around $40 USD for you.

Bostich. I don't know the model number.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

jlhaslip said:


> I paid about $50 CDN for the small one. That should price it around $40 USD for you.
> 
> Bostich. I don't know the model number.


Thanks JL, I have several other Bostich guns and like them.


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## Nealtw (Jun 22, 2017)

BigJim said:


> Thanks JL, I have several other Bostich guns and like them.


 Take care of them, the new ones are made off shore, I think.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

The only down side of a palm nailer is it eats air like crazy. I have a Strap Shot, and won't do a deck without it. Used to pay a helper to hand nail joist hangers........1 minute each on average. Strap shot.......10 seconds. Labor savings. Mine shoots both 1 1/2" and 2 1/2". We built a deck behind our local college a couple of years ago. 8' wide and 350' long with a 100' wing and deck......in a swamp........in the winter. Strap shot came in handy for sure.


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## BIG Johnson (Apr 9, 2017)

BigJim said:


> Neal, that is a nice gun but I will never have a use for it after I finish this job. When I say a ton of hangers, it is a ton to me, but to you younger fellows it would be nothing.
> 
> JL, thanks for the advice on the palm padded work gloves, I am sure I will need them.
> 
> I really do appreciate all of your help, I will be getting a palm nailer tomorrow. I did go to youtube and watch a palm nailer in action, I can't believe I have never had one before now, that is a handy little nailer. Thanks again.


https://www.harborfreight.com/compact-air-hand-nailer-99555.html

$20

Or cordless 


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwauk...attery-Charger-and-Tool-Bag-2458-21/202531124


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Nealtw said:


> Take care of them, the new ones are made off shore, I think.


Thanks Neal, I didn't know that, I may look at a different nailer then. I guess like most others, they went the cheap way.

Chandler, that is one beautiful deck, I bet you were one happy camper when you finished that job, especially in the winter. I always hated being in one place too long.

Thanks BJ, I am still a little leery of Harbor Freight tools, I had a bad experience with one or two and am a little gun shy. 
I would have never guessed they make a battery powered one. So many new things and materials since I got out of business, it is hard to keep up.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Thanks, Jim. Yes, walking in mud boots for 2 months in a swamp is not a good thing. When temps dropped enough we could walk on the frozen mess, which was some consolation. We had to precast 52 each 3' pylons and sink them with a track hoe after drilling the holes. Naturally the holes filled with water.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

chandler48 said:


> Thanks, Jim. Yes, walking in mud boots for 2 months in a swamp is not a good thing. When temps dropped enough we could walk on the frozen mess, which was some consolation. We had to precast 52 each 3' pylons and sink them with a track hoe after drilling the holes. Naturally the holes filled with water.


Man I know you were glad to get away from that one, I always hated working in mud, which was a lot back when building houses.

I went to Home Depot and got a Porter Cable palm nailer. I haven't tried it yet though. The instructions say 100 psi, I have my compressor set at 120 for my other guns, recon it will hurt the palm nailer? I would hate to switch back and forth with the air pressure.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

I bought one last year to re-side a shed. I have a bum shoulder and didn't want it to get any bum-er. I don't recall the make but it wasn't expensive. I was using siding nails that have a slightly domed head and found that control was a little difficult to master and sometimes they would get away from me. Also, the head was too small to accept framing nails. I didn't end up using it a whole lot but it proved to be handy in some situations such as awkward locations and reaching from a ladder where committing two hands was tricky. They are fast, I'll give them that. it was worth the little bit I paid for it and now it will probably just sit in my tool box.


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## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Nice looking deck and walk Larry. Swamps and colleges must go together, this link was a project including the university of Maine (not me). No nice hand rails but 1 mile through that bog must have worn out some volunteers.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B30jPrzAjE1qcVlxY2U1NHpwQm8/edit

Bud


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Thanks, Bud. Wow, that is some walkway. I like the little rest areas, too. Nice. We had to build ours to ADA specs, but follow the terrain and miss trees rather than cutting them down. That is why it wiggles.

Jim, you'll be OK with the PC nailer. Just make sure you have enough make up air to power it. It takes a lot of cfm, but does the job.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

I have one....used the dog crap out of it while building my addition. Doubt I'll ever use it again

For $25, the HF should last long enough for your project.

I kept mine lubed with ATF....a couple drops each day

https://www.harborfreight.com/palm-air-nailer-68027.html


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

Bud9051 said:


> Nice looking deck and walk Larry. Swamps and colleges must go together, this link was a project including the university of Maine (not me). No nice hand rails but 1 mile through that bog must have worn out some volunteers.
> https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B30jPrzAjE1qcVlxY2U1NHpwQm8/edit
> 
> Bud


Good grief, that is one heck of a walk way. That would have worn me out, I hate repetition.

I tried the little nailer out and love it, how did I ever get along without one. Just a word of caution though, when they say don't put a nail in the nailer then plug it up, they aren't kidding, there is no telling where that nail went. 
One more thing, when you put the nail in the nailer, *don't push the nail down even a little bit*, I got a hole in my finger to prove that you don't want to. :whistling2: Other than that I love it.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

BigJim said:


> Good grief, that is one heck of a walk way. That would have worn me out, I hate repetition.
> 
> I tried the little nailer out and love it, how did I ever get along without one. Just a word of caution though, when they say don't put a nail in the nailer then plug it up, they aren't kidding, there is no telling where that nail went.
> One more thing, when you put the nail in the nailer, *don't push the nail down even a little bit*, I got a hole in my finger to prove that you don't want to. :whistling2: Other than that I love it.


He ^^ speak'th the truth...............


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I got finished with the joist hangers and corner brackets on the deck part of the porch. I love that little palm nailer, it really came in handy. After I learned how to load the nails without shooting myself again. LOL seems the older I get, the more careless I get. I also used it to get in tight places I couldn't get to with my framing gun. 

I still have the roof to build yet so I still have several hangers and straps to install. I recommend anyone using nail guns to get one of these little nailers.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

BigJim said:


> I have never used a palm nailer or actually seen one in use. I have a ton of joist hangers to nail and my hands are not what they use to be. Using a hammer that long will make my hands cramp like crazy, have any of you fellows used a palm nailer and if so how did you like it?


Rent a framing gun with a joist hanger attachable tip.

The difference is like night and day, and so much faster and easier


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

ron45 said:


> Rent a framing gun with a joist hanger attachable tip.
> 
> The difference is like night and day, and so much faster and easier


Thanks Ron, the hangers are history now. After installing a bunch of hangers I finally figured out how to use the nailer where it was pretty fast. If I had many more hangers to install I would for sure rent one of the guns, those things are really nice.


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## Bent Nail (Mar 22, 2017)

Palm nailers are handy to have for more than just joist hangers.

I've used a palm nailer to sink nails where not even a hand swung hammer could fit, never mind a positive placement nailer or a PP attachment to a regular nailer.

In fact, I've used a palm nailer to sink nails where not even a palm nailer would fit.

Huh?

Here's how: I took a solid steel rod, about a foot long, and of the largest diameter that would fit inside the tool end of the palm nailer. To the other end of this rod, I pressed an old 3/8" drive socket, that was the diameter of the full round head nails (16d sinkers) that I wanted to drive.

I put the head of the nail into the socket (which is now attached to the rod), and put the rod in the palm nailer, as if the end of the rod was the head of the nail. Then, I can thread this rod through any type of obstruction imaginable, and fire the palm nailer at the end of the rod, which in turn transfers the staccato force through the rod, through the socket, and to the head of the actual nail... which is driven home, even in places where the width of the palm nailer itself would otherwise have prevented access.

They don't call me Bent Nail for nothing. I've corrected a lot of mistakes with a palm nailer.

My brand of choice is Hitachi, same company as makes my framing nailer of choice.

But be warned... Hitachi is no longer Hitachi. Hitachi just sold their tool division a couple of months ago to an investment group who also bought Metabo. I guess part of the deal is that Hitachi doesn't want another company using (and bringing down) their good name, so the investment group is planning on renaming all Hitachi tools to Metabo HPT in September 2018.

Whenever an investment group does a leveraged buyout or some other type of white collar deal with an established brand, I get kind of leary. History is littered with good brands that disappeared after being dined upon by "investment groups", whose immediate motives are often short term profit, not long term product oriented. So if you are into Hitachi nailers, get yours now, before the good stuff gets thrifted out of them in the years to come under the new ownership.


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