Replies

1. 
   BenA | May 16, 2005 02:18pm | #1

   What is your definition of good?   Service life of  tool, weight, ease of use, getting parts and service, doing a good job vs. a great job, Cost???  Be a little more specific. How big of a job are you doing, Private work?. commercial work?

1. 
   Fonzie | May 17, 2005 02:48am | #2

   Durable, user friendly, cleats better than staples? (this is cleats obviously), cost is close with PC and Bostitch. I didn't want to divert the other thread on nailers - they had not mentioned the Powernailer 445, and I notice that ALL the nailers are around the 500 mark, so I wanted to get a good one. Powernail has been around a long time so that probably says something. I have a Powernail manual, but I have never used a air assisted nailer. Thanks for input from anybody that has.

2. 
   Fonzie | May 18, 2005 05:49am | #3

   Not much interest in this hardwood floor nailer out there it seems. It just came today. I'll give a review on it later myself.

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   Fonzie | May 27, 2005 04:31am | #4

   I have to tell you this POWERNAIL 445 is really great! It DOES pull the boards together I think just as good as the manual nailer with less violence and less chance of driving the course off line when starting. It was much easier on the start and finish. I can "left hand" it/ "back hand" it, reach under the table and nail, avoid hitting the wall with the big roundhouse swing needed for the manual. It has a great "user friendly" nail cleat magazine. Ok, the only negatives I found with it are correctable. There were some milled edges on the foot that ordinarily don't touch the hardwood unless you are moving it and it touches "edge to edge" with the hardwood. We covered these shiny new edges with duct tape - that solved that. The only other negative is correctable too: I don't like how the air input comes out of the tool - down and to the left or the right. This makes it hard to connect/disconnect (to use air for finish nailer) and puts the hose down kinda in the way. I plan to elbow up. I couldn't be happier with the 445 - Those guys really know what they're doing. I'm glad I paid a little bit more rather than risk the Bostitch or PC.

1. 
   Fonzie | Jun 08, 2005 05:05am | #5

   I'm using the Powernailer 445 again today in another room of the house. You guys that are like I was a couple of weeks ago that have never used a air assist cleat nailer like this don't know what you're missing, which is why I mention it. I was really worried about "pull in" with the "air shot". It does pull in good. This tool (by the way I'm not selling these) has a really well thought out system for filling the cleat magazine - nothing to pull out, easy to read the time to add more. It's user friendly.Today, it really impressed me how easy it is to start straight with this tool. We first screwed down straight edges about 16 inches away. Then we made a 3/4 by 3/4 gauge that notched up over the tongue of the starting hardwood run. We backed this run with plywood squares using the gauge to set. There was no "drive back" with the first run, or any succeeding runs. Another great advantage is close to the wall - left handed, back handed - it's easy. The only negative is where the air feeds. I bought another brass 45 elbow, but the air is still not coming to the right place - very fixable.