Morning,
We are preparing to install a T&G Purple Heart floor in our new addition. Any one out there have any experience with nailing this kind of floor? Looking for any recommendations on any specific air nailer. Thanks.
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I don't have any information to give you but I do have to ask. How much per square foot was that floor?
$4.50 SF for 3" prefinished T&G 3/4" thick.
Thanks, much less than I thought it would be.
I am getting ready to lay some 2-1/4 strip oak prefinished. I don't have any specific info on purpleheart, but I would think any flooring nailer will probably work. Some shoot staples and cleats, some just cleats, some just staples. Some installers prefer cleats and some prefer staples.
You didnt say what thickness of flooring you have. If it is not 3/4 some nailers can be adjusted but it malkes the rental nailers a hassle.
I bought a middle of the road import nailer and it seems to work okay. I couldn't justify the expense of a bostitch or porter cable however I suspect the PC is an import to.
If you have trouble with stress cracks on the edge of the flooring you can get a prefinished foot for some nailers but it is quite a bit larger than the foot on the nailer itself. It takes some getting used to.
I bought one for my nailer because using rental nailers in the past I have experienced some splintering on the edge of the flooring surface.
Oh and I wouldn't get anything but a pneumatic floor nailer. Pros may debate that you get a better product with a hand nailer but you really have to be careful with prefinished product. Plus they wear your @#$ out.
Hope this helps.
http://www.nailershoe.com
Webby
Edited 1/15/2009 10:49 am ET by webby
Edited 1/15/2009 10:49 am ET by webby
Thanks. the flooring is 3/4 inch thick. Since i am only installing 500 SF, I may be able to get away with an import.
Yeah, I was thinking the same. I am putting down about 400 at my parents house and another 150 at a friends.
I haven't really started yet so I don't have a lot of time in with the nailer but this is the one I bought and reveiwed.
I did nail a test patch down and it seems to work pretty well.
I took a chance, I could always rent one or borrow my bosses.
http://www.amazon.com/RAMSOND-RMM4-HARDWOOD-FLOORING-PNEUMATIC/dp/B001JT64U6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1232035885&sr=8-6
The downside is they are strict with returns you have to deal with the company itself.
I took a chance based on looking at the PC and hardcore tools and this nailer and the Akuzuki which is identical to this nailer and got good reveiws and noticed obvious similarities I suspect they are all made in the same plant somewhere in china.
I used buyer feed back on ebay and a favorable reveiw I googled and took a chance.
Webby
Edited 1/15/2009 11:15 am ET by webby
Edited 1/15/2009 11:16 am ET by webby
Edited 1/15/2009 11:20 am ET by webby
Edited 1/15/2009 11:20 am ET by webby
Edited 1/15/2009 11:23 am ET by webby
Purple heart is very hard and has some silica in it which will dull blades a bit faster. Sanding is going to be a pain. The faster you seal it the longer the purple color will last but it will likely turn brown after a few years.
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/purpleheart.htm
the flooring is being delivered with 7 coat Aluminum Oxide Polyurethane that is supposed to by UV stabalize. Hopefully, it will keep its color for a while.
Update on the nailer I bought. I have run over a thousand cleats thru it. No Jamming No misfires etc. It's working good.Webby
Wow..purple heart! That's gotta look awesome!
Y-e-a-r-s ago, when I worked in a shop, we made all the park benches for Baltimore City out of Purple Heart. We had extra material, so made some benches for ourselves. I still have it on my front porch!
We got the Purple heart from Guyana, South America, shipped in containers.
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I had a guy who used to come into the tool store. He got a huge deal on an entire rail car of Purple Heart, and built his deck out of it. I think the rail car had "been abandoned" and all he did was bid on it. It was a pretty deck. (He brought in pictures when it was done.)
You'll love purple heart! I made inlays for my floor with it many years ago and it still looks great.
Only thing I can recommend is if you have to cut any of it WATCH OUT! Its the most "splintery" wood I have ever seen. I think I must have pulled 50 out of them out of my fingers by the time I was done!