Bostitch PN100 Impact Nailer
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br /Operation:
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br /This tool will drive virtually any bulk nail, the kind sold by the pound. The smallest nail Bostitch recommends is a 5d (d=penny, a term that refers to nail size). Bostitch claims the maximum size is 75d, but the head on those huge nails won't fit in any of the nose-pieces that Bostitch offers. However, I've used it on 6d to 20d nails with great success.
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br /Insert the nail into the PN100's "nose", where a built-in magnet holds it. Hold the nailer with either hand, press the point of the nail into the material; when the tool senses the pressure, a fast-acting piston cycles the hammer which drives the nail. It sounds like a Tommy Gun. You can drive a 20d nail in about one second, depending on wood hardness. You can also start the nail with a hammer then put the PN100 on that nail, or, hold the nail with your fingers (risky), or hold the nail with another tool (e.g., pliers).
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br /The tool is sold by itself with the standard nose only, or in kit form. The kit includes a wrench to change from the standard nose to the included finishing nail nose or an oversized nose for nails with large heads, spare O rings, a spare magnet, oil, a leather tool cover (improves grip and comfort), and a custom case to protect the tool and accessories.
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br /Pros:
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br /- Particularly useful in confined spaces, such as between joists, hard to reach nails, odd angles, overhead, etc. You only need space for the tool and nail, plus room for your hand on the tool. Except for a small pin nailer, most nail guns take more space to operate than this palm nailer. Swinging a hammer takes even more space.
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br /- For applications such as installing lots of joist hangers, this tool is ideal. If you're building a deck for example, this tool could "pay" for itself on that one job.
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br /- The tool is not heavy and it is comfortable to hold in your hand, especially with the leather cover attached (which comes with the kit).
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br /- Works on things other than driving new nails. E.g., to drive in the built-in spike on joist hangers, nail heads that aren't in all the way, pointed ends of nails that are poking out in the wrong place, etc.
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br /- Substantially quicker and easier than swinging a hammer, improving productivity. Drives large nails flush in less than a second, in a machine-gun burst of energy. Depending on the job, nailing could be four or five times faster than with a hammer.
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br /- This tool shines when nailing into engineered lumber (e.g., laminated beams) or lumber in old houses, which is frequently denser than new construction lumber. The first few times I used the PN100, WOW was the word that came to mind.
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br /- For us older guys, swinging a hammer for hours one end is murder on your muscles. With the PN100, your hand might tingle after extensive use, but that's about it.
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br /- Tool appears to be excellent quality, but it will be years before I could attest to longevity.
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br /- Simple to operate. There are no buttons or switches. There is no depth control either; when the nail is flush, it stops banging.
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br /- Should be safer than a nail gun that is connected to an air hose, since YOU insert the nails one at a time; i.e., there is no supply of nails in the gun to have an accident with. In any case, it's probably best to not leave a nail in an unattended gun with an air hose connected.
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br /- Can change nail size/type immediately, since there is no magazine; e.g., any nail with a head up to .42" (+/-) will fit in the standard nose.
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br /- The standard nose seems to fit most bulk nails.
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br /Cons:
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br /- This tool is VERY loud, especially in a confined space. Wear hearing protection, even if driving only one nail.
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br /- Of course, you will need an air compressor, as for any air nailer. Any size tank compressor should work. I mostly use a 3/4 HP Thomas portable air compressor with an operating air pressure between 100 and 125 psi. When driving lots of large nails, I frequently have to wait for that small compressor to catch up. With a larger compressor, waiting would be less of an issue.
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br /Other:
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br /- This tool is most practical for projects where "hammer" dimples won't be an issue; i.e., rough work such as house framing. It can be used for interior work, as long as you can deal with hammer dents, sometimes several dents per nail. (Dents are 3/16" in diameter, the size of the PN100 "hammer".) One way to avoid the dents is to pull back on the tool before the nail is driven home. You need lightning fast reflexes to do this, as the PN100 drives a nail very quickly. Personally, I use finish nailers or other methods whenever dents would be a problem.
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br /- For professionals or anyone that drives thousands of nails, this tool will not replace speciality nail guns. Roofing nailers, pin nailers, framing nailers, trim nailers, etc., are still best for their intended application, most of the time.
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br /- Some nails will bend, but not nearly as often as with a hammer, in my experience. Bends occur most often on smaller nails in hard wood, or if the tool isn't straight-on with the nail.
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br /- Good value on Amazon, as our local Home Depot charges $80 for the non-kit version.
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br /- Before using, you need to install a 1/4" quick disconnect fitting and lightly oil the tool. The only maintenance is an occasional oiling.
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br /- If you jar the tool, the hammer could stop in mid-stroke, making the tool inoperable. All you have to do is whack the back of the tool with the palm of your hand to un-stick it. My PN100 was stuck when I first tried to use it, but hasn't stuck since.
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br /- The fitting that holds the nose on my tool was so tight, I had to put the tool in a wood vise and use a very large Crescent wrench to loosen it the first time.
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br /Anyone planning a large construction project (new house, renovation, addition, deck, etc.) should consider buying this tool.

I bought one of these because I dread hand nailing all the nails on a joist hanger. This little palm nailer does the trick!pIt's quick, drives all the little hanger nails and the 10 penny ones too. It can even be used to drive that little spike on the hanger to hold the hanger in place before nailing. The unit is fairly light and fits comfortably in the hand. I'll bet I cut the time down to 1/5th verses hand nailing.pThe only disadvantage to this tool is the noise. It is loud so you may want to have some hearing protection available.pWell worth the $$$...enjoy!

Bought a N88RH-2MCN and the PN100 came with it (for free).pWorks really really well EXCEPT - the manual says it will brdrive a 70d nail but nothing close to that size nail will brfit in the tip...called Bostitch a few times - first they brsaid that tip only comes in a kit (PN100K) and cannot bebrpurchased separately, then called back and talked to someonebrthat knew the product - he said that the nose piece for the brlarger nails does not exist anywhere and that the engineeringbrdept was notified and knows of the situation.pThis thing will drive any nail that you can get in the nosebrpiece REALLY REALLY well.pI have driven true 16d (3 1/2 inch long, 0.162" diameter)brall the way into 2x6's and it really works well and is very brquick.

I had a Porter Cable Framing Nailer to build my shop but gave it to Habitat For Humanity when done since I would hardly ever use it in the future. I recently have some little odd jobs to do so thought about a palm nailer. The price on the Bostich is even lower than Harbor Freight's "import". I've only tried it with 6d nails but it works great. You do have to add a 1/4"npt fitting ($0.99). I'm too old to pound nails with a hammer all day so this tool is a great help to me.

Unless you drive a lot of nails, this may be the only pneumatic nailer you will need, and if you drive nails and have a compressor, you need it. I own a framing nail gun, and it's great to have, but it's bulky, heavy, and can't fit into some areas. The PN100 will work in places you can't swing a hammer, and it's fast and easy to use. A nail gun is necessary only if you drive a lot of nails routinely. Otherwise, the PN100 should serve you quite nicely.
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br /It works like this. You insert a nail in the nose, where it's held by a magnet. Then you press the nail point against the material. When pressure is applied, a rapid-fire piston drives the nail, stopping automatically when the head is flush with the surface. It takes less than a second to sink a 12d nail, so it's almost certainly faster than the average Joe using a hammer. There's plenty of mass, so it doesn't shake your hand as you'd expect. I haven't spent long periods of time nailing with it, so I can't comment on long-term fatigue, but in the short term, fatigue is negligible.
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br /Unlike a nail gun, this thing will drive any nail that will fit in the nipple (which has an opening about .43" in diameter) without adjustment. The largest nail I've tried is a 16d, and it worked fine. Because there's no magazine to load or unload, it's easy to switch nail sizes, and you can use bulk carpenter's nails, instead of more-expensive collated nails.
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br /The PN100 should be less hazardous in use than a nail gun. Since nails are inserted individually, the PN100 is usually empty when it isn't in active use. It won't operate unless the loaded nail is pressed firmly against a firm surface (I doubt that I'd press a nail against my body hard enough to activate the mechanism before pain made me withdraw it), so there's almost no chance that you'll nail yourself by accident, as can easily happen with a nail gun.
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br /BTW, I've seen similar nailers selling for $80-100. When I bought mine from Amazon, it was $39.95. At that price it's a steal, and you really ought to get one and retire your hammer. It only needs 2-4 cubic feet of air at 80-125 p.s.i.g., so it will work with a small, affordable compressor.

This is an excellent palm nailer. The Standard nose is probably the nose you'd want 95% of the time. If you think you'll need a different size nose buy the Bostitch PN100K - it has one smaller and one larger, a case and replacement O rings. Both nailers are well worth the money.
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br /The instructions indicate this nailer will handle 5D - 75D nails. The "d" stands for penny, so 8d refers to an 8-penny nail, 16d to a 16-penny nail and so on. It's a way to indicate nail length, not head. Nail heads vary in form and function - example casing, siding, sinker, common, duplex, roofing, etc. and can be the same "D" or penny.
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br /Size...Length (in inches)
br /4d.....1-1/2
br /6d.....2
br /8d.....2-1/2
br /10d....3
br /12d....3-1/4
br /16d....3-1/2
br /20d....4
br /30d....4-1/2
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I originally thought palm nailers would be pretty useless tools. Boy was I mistaken. This tool drives nails in a few seconds and is so easy to use. The chuck holds the nail magnetically and pressure from your palm activates it. It manages to drives the nails straight in.
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br /I used this tool on Simpson Stong Ties on a decking project where each Strong Ties takes numerous nails. It was a lifesaver. (or an arm saver!!)
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br /At the price and free freight this tool is excellent value.
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br /It comes no frills. (just the nailer and instruction book). If you want a fancy case and accessories like a leather cover you'll pay much more.
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br /In summary this tool is excellent quality and value.

This is the one air nailer that you should always have available! It saves time like no other tool when nailing joist hangers.

I built a shadow box fence using this palm nailer to drive all of my 16d 20d nails around 600 of them without any major malfunctions.The only problem I had was sometimes the hammer would not retract fully and air would leak out.Which was an easy fix just needed a drop of oil.At under $35.00 free shipping it was a great buy.I received this tool from Amazon in less than a week.

I got this nailer about 8 years ago. It came free with my framing gun. At first, I didn't know what I would do with it. After I tried it, I haven't stopped using it.
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br /The two places I use it the most is joist hangers and windows.
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br /On joist hangers, even if I have room for a hammer, I still pull this out because it is so much faster and eaiser.
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br /Some windows have a channel around them for siding. They don't leave a lot of room to drive a nail. With this nailer it is not a problem.
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br /Speed: It takes about a second to drive a nail with this thing. I raced another carpenter hanging joist hangers. Hammer against Palm nailer. I was on my third hanger and he was still on his first :)
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br /I was recently helping Habitat for Humanity and the volunteers were having problems putting in the windows with out hitting them. I pulled my palm nailer out and let them use it. The one group was going so fast that the other two groups stopped putting in windows and started do other things.
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br /Great tool!!!!!!!!

This is a second unit for me. My first unit worked wonderfully during my house residing project. When a nail from my nail gun still projected above the surface I used this palm impact nailer to finish it off. Also used it to drive additonal 3-1/2' 16d ring shank nails. A great product at a very resonable price.

I have never used palm nailer, even 20 years of carpentry works. I bought it from Amazon. It works very good and is handy for small areas and joist hangers. Very,very, useful tool.

This is a great little tool for those "in-between" jobs. Not as handy as a framing nailer for a big job, and it won't drive really small nails. However, for smaller jobs and jobs where you need more control (hangers, tight spaces), this does the trick. Doesn't draw a huge amount of air - I use it with a DeWalt/Emglo 4 cubic foot compressor rated at 4 cfm at 90 psi. No problems. Drives nails very quickly and doesn't beat up your hands.

I have a full size framing nailer and bought this just for the tight spots. A lifesaver for those hard to reach nails that I couldn't have gotten with the larger gun or a hammer.

Once the project is set up, this nailer makes easy to get finished. Haven't tried any others, but it sure beats the traditional hammer - and no chance to MISS the nail and HIT the hand.

Especially great in areas where you don't have any swing room for using a hammer. It literally makes you feel like you are pushing the nails through butter. At 40 duckets you can't go wrong, go for it!!

I bought this nailer for my husband thinking it might be helpful with all the home improvements we do. Let me tell you, this nailer is awesome! We used it for everything from framing walls to the rails on our deck. It definitely beats having to hammer all those nails! This is one of the best home improvement tools we have ever bought.

I am a carpenter and many of the projects that I do require joist hangers to be up to code. It can be a real pain to hand nail joist hangers by hand, there is not a lot of space between joists and it very easy to slip up and hit your fingers. When you use the palm nailer it makes the job five times faster and easier. For fourty bucks its so worth it. I don't think that the case is neccesary at all, I just put it in the bostitch bag with the framer and the finish gun and that works fine for me.

This is a good product but the PN100 does not come with the necessary accessories to do all it says it can do. If you want to drive anything bigger than 16d you need a large bore nose, which is only available if you buy the PN100K. I think this is a bit lame on Bostich's part. I even called customer service to buy the nose seperately, but it is only available with the kit. What a drag.

It's loud. Really loud. It sounds like an impact driver in an auto shop when they are putting on your wheels.
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br /I found it takes a little practice to drive the nails on an angle. Straight nailing is easy. Angle nailing seems to bend longer nails (at least it did for me.) Also, make sure your compressor can push a lot of air. This tool is small but needs a good amount of CFM.
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br /For general framing, I would use a regular framing nailer. For tight spots you can't swing a hammer, this tool is nice.

This tool is a great value and works extremely well in tight places. I also used it to nail all the nails in my joist hangers for my deck. Would definitely recommend.

If you get one of these for [...], you win. Amazon.com was not going to let me post anymore tool reviews until I bought something from them. So, now I own one of these. Now that I see what it can do, I will not be without a palm nailer again. Buy every kind of nailer there is and you still can find a use for this tool. Mine threw out a little greese at first(a good thing) and then started to leak air. A little twist of a hex-key and fixed.

I received my Bostitch PN100 Palm Nailer last month and just used it to install 86 joist hangers on a deck project. I can't believe how fast and accurately this little guy can drive a nail. I finished the project in about a quarter of the time I would have projected if I had used my hammer. There is no vibration or stress on your wrist when using the nailer and it really saved my right arm from swinging a hammer. I only wish I had purchased this tool years ago.

I bought this to compliment my Bostitch F21PL framing nailer, which is incapable of shooting nails shorter than 2" in length. Simpson Strong Ties and similar connectors use 1 1/2" galvanized nails (usually 8d) that do not penetrate a 2x piece of lumber when nailed through the broad side. Even though the F21PL has a metal connector attachment for shooting nails through the pre-drilled holes in metal connectors, this only works if your substrate is thicker than 2" or if you don't mind having nail tips extending beyond the backside.
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br /After hand nailing about 50 tie plates to the trusses in my garage, I got fed up and went searching through the hardware store for an alternative. Bostitch makes a metal connector nailer and it sells for over $200, OR, you can buy this handy $80 item and shoot whatever nail you want at your heart's content. It can handle a wide range of nails, has a magnetic stabilizer, that holds the nail in place for you while you set up the shot, and you can use it right or left handed. Once you put a little pressure on the nail, the impactor lets off a machine-gun ratatattat and drives that sucker right into the wood. It's a bit loud, but no more annoying than banging away with a hammer. This is a genius invention and it is disappointing to me that I didn't invent this and make millions.

bought this nail gun for installing hurricane straps on a large home on the coast. works great, nice and small for hard to get to places.

This is my second palm nailer. This one cost less than half what I paid for the other and is far superior. I plan never to swing a hammer again.

What can I say: it drives pretty much any nail I need it to. Perfect for tight spaces when framing and you can't get the big framing gun in. Great for driving home otherwise misfired or incompletely driven nails. VERY fast too. For the price there's no reason not to have one around. When you need it you'll be very glad it's available.
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Ive only used this nailer for teco brakets, but have to say, for the money, its well worth it and beats using a hammer, in a recent non double blind non calibrated test, I was able to nail off 4 brackets for every one that my friend hammered by hand

I got this tool off amazon. When I got it the Nailer, it wouldn't work and was leaking air. I took the whole unit apart and found that one of the gaskets was loose (i.e. wasn't sitting properly in its groove). These kinds of high pressure tools depend on having all the gaskets setting in their grooves just right or you end up with an air leak that disables the entire unit. After I readjusted the gasket, oiled the insides, and carefully repositioned the piston in its hole (this time with the gasket properly in place), the unit worked flawlessly.
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br /I have since used this unit to frame a couple of non-supporting walls and drive nails in other random projects. I have completely stopped using my hammers to do any major nailing. All I do now is use the hammer to position and start the nails, then use this unit to drive the nails home.
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br /I never saw a unit like this before, and wasn't sure how it worked and how much power it packs. However, I have been blown away by how useful, powerful, and easy to use it is. I only gave it 4 stars because of the initial assembly/gasket problem.

Good tool for the money, have used it several times and it works well.
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Fell in love with the Bostitch Palm nailer the first time I used one. While it is not something you will use every day, they are extremely versatile and will allow you to do a good job in situations where a regular hammer or impact nailer can't be used. I now have two:-)

This product meets all of my needs and the price is just great compared to the price in all of the major stores. The service was just great. I did not expect to receive the product that quick.

Bostitch PN100 Palm Impact Nailer
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br /very good, purchased when I was building a deck. Did tingle the hand after being used a long time but got the job done quik and easy

I have 3 pistol-type pneumatic nailers, and all of them neatly place one nail, with one shot, with the head just below the surface. I didn't expect that kind of performance with a one-nail-at-a-time palm nailer, but also didn't expect the multiple-whack bam! smack! bam! smack! bam! smack! bam! bam! bam! smack! that this nailer goes through to make sure that one nail is actually nailed. I found it to be too uncontrollable, and found it almost impossible to drive a nail without damaging what it was being driven into.
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br /On the other hand, this is a pretty versatile tool, and for the price is worth having in your tool collection. Just make sure you have some patching material available before you start nailing.

this arrived today, way faster than I expected, good job guys. Bought this because it is reportly a great unit at a very good price. Just bought it to have and because reports were so good on it. well write opinion if I every use it..........

Great price, haven't used it yet therefore I gave it only 3 stars.

Have yet to actually use this tool (10/28/03). Documentation is extremely poor. Kit came with 3 noses, but there is no info on which one is for which sized nails. No maintainance info, no oiling instructions/frequency. No assembly/disassembly instructions - only parts blow-up. Stanley/Bostitch website only offers identical documentation. Will submit more after some use.