I’ve got some really heavy, I think Oak, flooring from a gymnasium floor to lay in my homespun gallery. I’m finding myself in a bidding war for this. Which is a semi pneumatic version. Is it worth paying more on this used model than….

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310793939669&ssPageName=ADME:B:ONA:GB:3160

….a new non pneumatic version? Are there alternatives I should look at?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BOSTITCH-MFN-201-Wood-Floor-Flooring-Ratchet-Nailer-/290396435115?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item439cf9f2ab

I may have a fair bit of flooring in my future so it would be a worthwhile investment.

Suppose I’d better post before I’m tannoyed and caught out the back having a fag. 🙂

I’m a long term fan of Portanailers – they’re the original and IMO, the best. However, there are plenty of others out there which seem to be doing the job just as well these days – Powernailer and Bostitch are the two I’m most familiar with. Portanailers have the better mallet – much less recoil from the grey rubber than the white rubber in the Bostitch and Powernailer.

Personally, I wouldn’t bother with the pneumatic – I don’t know anyone who uses it. And you still have to hit it anyway (AFAIK). The nailer serves two purposes – firstly, and most obviously, to put a nail through at 45 degrees and sink it below the surface. Secondly, the force of you hitting it pulls the floor together and closes up gaps. If you’re laying solid boards, this is important as they won’t always be dead straight. If you’re laying reclaimed boards, then you’ll find this feature more important than the nailing itself. With the pneumatic version, you won’t have this feature.

Thanks for that DD.

I’ll be using the reclaimed boards initially but thereafter I’ll need to buy new stuff.

There’s a couple of Portanailers on ebay just now. Any idea of what a realistic price for one should be?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/portanailer-402-secret-floor-nailer-/251381426803?pt=UK_Baby_BabyFeedingUtensils_EH&hash=item3a87802a73

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Porta-nailer-floor-board-nailer-/190973632676?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2c76ea60a4

I’ve got to lay this area first with the reclaimed boards.

I would have thought the one for £120 would be a reasonable price. I think they can be had brand new for £200. Are you nailing into joists or ply/chipboard?

Oh, crossed posts with your added picture.

50mm nails with nailer set at 45 degrees will be fine.

Great, thanks for that, I’ll get on to it.

FFX have the Bostitch for £179 which is a good price mcmoonter. The reason I’m recommending you buy something new, is that there are one or two bits of the ratchet mechanism which either cause the nailer to jam or to release early. They work by belting the the ram driver and a ratchet mechanism not allowing it to spring back up until the nail is punched home. On well-used ones, this whole mechanism gets a bit baggy or worn down – just pre-empting a “Where to buy Powernailer/Portanailer/Bostitch spares” thread. 🙂

So, you’d get a perfectly working nailer which you’d sell on once you’re done with it and re-coup quite a bit of those ££.

Portanailer is the dog’s danglies; use the nails made for the nailer and not cheap copies (expect to pay £15 a box) as they seem to jam IME.

I’m about five feet from finishing the gallery floor with a borrowed Primatech floor nailer. I’ve really enjoyed working with it and felt confident I could justify investing in one of my own. This popped up on ebay, I paid £100 for it delivered. It arrived this morning looking barely used. I’ll test it tomorrow 😀

That floor does look lovely!