Bostitch PN50 Mini Impact Nailer

Bought this in the middle of March 2021 for an upcoming project. First indication of a problem was that the package was very dusty, must have been on the shelf for some time. Now it is the middle of May, opened the package, set the pressure on the air, connected, then, it would only discharge air. Tried to attempt to nail, only discharged air. Lost the receipt. Lesson... test directly after purchase. The 7 year warranty only good if you keep your receipt. So, I used my old beat up HF palm nailer, it still works, got the job done. Just because something is new and bright and shiny doesn't mean that it works.

I have no idea why this is listed as a no-brand item. It's Bostitch's popular PN50 mini palm nailer.All right, let's explain what this is for:If you are building any sort of dramed structure out of 2 x4 dimensional lumber, building codes typically dictate that you use very large nails such as 16-penny, or 16D 3.5-inch nails to put together key structural elements. Extra-careful pros will typically advocate overbuilding and using the same big nails throughout your structure. But these nails are very difficult to drive manually into kiln-dried dimensional lumber with the kind of undersized hammers the average homeowner or amateur woodworker has in her/his toolbox, as well as the minimal hammer skills most of us, amateurs or professionals, have in our driving arms. ... MoreI have no idea why this is listed as a no-brand item. It's Bostitch's popular PN50 mini palm nailer.All right, let's explain what this is for:If you are building any sort of dramed structure out of 2 x4 dimensional lumber, building codes typically dictate that you use very large nails such as 16-penny, or 16D 3.5-inch nails to put together key structural elements. Extra-careful pros will typically advocate overbuilding and using the same big nails throughout your structure. But these nails are very difficult to drive manually into kiln-dried dimensional lumber with the kind of undersized hammers the average homeowner or amateur woodworker has in her/his toolbox, as well as the minimal hammer skills most of us, amateurs or professionals, have in our driving arms. Deck screws are, for most amateurs, a non-code-compliant and occasionally unsafe solution.There are two professional solutions to the nailing problem: the first is to use a framing nailer to drive these large nails, an extremely large and heavy tool connected to a large air compressor that fires nails into wood using air pressure at the push of a trigger. For structural nails that are driven into concrete, there are powder-actuated tools that use gunpowder in a cartridge to literally fire nails into the most difficult building materials.Even with those professional solutions, you will often need to drive nails into difficult-to reach areas that the nailer won't fit into. And toenailing, driving nails into dimension lumber at an angle to join two perpendicular pieces together, is often impossible and hard to control with the larger nailers, let alone with a big framing hammer in an inexperienced hand, as most are these days.Enter the palm nailer. Especially if you are only going to do minimal building in 2 x 4 lumber, or if most of your dimensional-lumber nailing is going to involve working in small-scale renovations, this is one of the first nailers you should buy. What this does is put the power of a framing hammer in an inexperienced hand in a pocket-sized package. You can drive practically any nail with this tool, but you will find it most useful for big nails (8D-16D) being driven into dimensional lumber. It will fit a 16D nail and drive it straight or at a precise angle. It can be run slowly and carefully off a small 3-gallon compressor, as long as you don't overburden the compressor by trying to drive too many nails to quickly. Do yourself a favor and go check out some amateur videos on how these palm nailers work before you buy one.Eventually, you might trade up to the larger framing nailers and larger compressors (and buy a powder-actuated nailer for special applications), but you'll always keep this around for toenailing and driving nails in tight areas.One of the weaknesses of these mini palm nailers is that occasionally, the magnetic heads are just too small to fit 16D nails. This nailer doesn't have that problem. It does not work very fast to drive lots of nails. Again, if you need that speed or if that speed makes money for you and if you have the space and will to lug it around from job to job, buy a framing nailer. But most of the guys who work on my renovation team tend to go with palm nailers for almost all our admittedly minimal framing work. It's just wonderfully small and convenient for the odd angles and tight spaces we typically encounter, and it also offers a lot of control in driving these nails that is sometimes lacking in the larger frame nailers.

The pneumatic (hand) nailer is a excellent product for driving nails in tight spaces. However it needs to be coupled with the proper size compressor. I used a 3 gallon, 135 psi compressor and although it drove 3-12" nails just fine, I had to wait for the compressor to catch up while driving every nail (Not just between nails). Since this was a home project and I needed to drive only 100 or so 3-1/2" nails, it was not a problem but things went slowly. For smaller 2" nails, the compressor worked great and I could drive 4-6 nails before having to wait for the compressor to catch up. Although things went slowly, there was no need to follow up with a hand hammer to set any nails. (Good thing, because I couldn't use a hammer in the available space.)The product itself is ... MoreThe pneumatic (hand) nailer is a excellent product for driving nails in tight spaces. However it needs to be coupled with the proper size compressor. I used a 3 gallon, 135 psi compressor and although it drove 3-12" nails just fine, I had to wait for the compressor to catch up while driving every nail (Not just between nails). Since this was a home project and I needed to drive only 100 or so 3-1/2" nails, it was not a problem but things went slowly. For smaller 2" nails, the compressor worked great and I could drive 4-6 nails before having to wait for the compressor to catch up. Although things went slowly, there was no need to follow up with a hand hammer to set any nails. (Good thing, because I couldn't use a hammer in the available space.)The product itself is excellent! I was expecting to have a sore hand at the end of the day, but not at all. The lack of vibration and recoil/reaction (bounce-back) is amazing. The nailer has a comfortable grip and I'm very glad I bought it. I recommend using both eye and hearing protection when using the tool.A suggestion for improvement would be to add information on the product packaging about compressor requirements. The statement of required SCFM at a particular PSI should be supplemented with recommended reservoir size of the compressor for various nail sizes. A 3 gallon compressor is too small for driving 3-1/2" nails for even a medium size home project. I realize on a construction project the compressors that drive the framing guns are more than large enough in SCFM, psi, and tank size to run a hand nailer, but home owners running a DIY project would benefit with more info about the needed compressor. I don't want this review to be about compressors so I repeat: the nailer itself is excellent. I recommend it and would replace it if it went missing.