Customer Reviews

Porter-Cable PN650 Palm Nailer Kit

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Since nails must be inserted one at a time, this is not the best tool for someone with thousands of a specific type of nail to drive. However, it will serve in place of an array of nail guns for those who must drive a variety of different nails. In addition, it is safer since the nails are driven by successive blows rather than shot out of a gun.

Small finishing nails go in straight and can be driven flush with the wood surface. Countersinking is not possible since the driving blade is too big and leaves a mark, but it is a simple matter to countersink them by hand. The point of each nail is placed exactly where it is supposed to go, so accuracy is very good.

The biggest nails in my shop are serrated barn nails about 8" long, and this tool drove them through a 6x6 treated beam like shoving a knitting needle through styrofoam.

The hammer tip is good for pounding anything you would normally hit with a hammer. It drives wood through my doweling plate fast and I will probably find alot of other things to bash with it.

My compressor is small and fairly old, but this tool doesn't need much air to run. Also, the case is well designed and holds all of the considerable accessory parts firmly in place when not in use.

I recently purchased, and ultimately returned this nailer after I discovered a design flaw - not a manufacturing flaw but an honest to goodness design error. Specifically, Porter-Cable's design of the nail magnet is poorly done - A real suprise in light of the marvelous adapters, integral glove and carrying case accessories, all of which are excellent. The problem is that PC chose to use a small rare earth magnet in the side wall of the nail holder. The magnet is so weak that upon placing an 8 penny nail in the tool and turning it over, the nail will fall right out. I had the tool repaired by a factory authorized repair center and when I picked the item up, I showed the technician that the unit still had the original problem even though they had replaced the magnet. His reaction was, yeah, we noticed how undermagnetized the nail holder was even when replaced. I've used other brands of palm nailers and never experienced this problem. I compared it to the Senco PC 0781 I found at the Home Depot and the Senco unit has a magnetized cylinder that firmly holds the nail in place. By comparison once the 8 penny nail was inserted into the Senco, no amount of shaking would dislodge the nail. This is an important point because when you are up on a ladder trying to hold things in place, you don't need to be worrying if the darn nail is going to fall out. When I called PC support, I had to spend 10 minutes explaining to the clueless phone person that I wasn't talking about a nailgun but a palm nailer because she kept insisting that I was loading the "nails" (plural) in the gun the wrong way. After, I cleared that hurdle, the end of her support "script" was soon reached and since PC could offer no other remedy, I decided to return the unit for a refund. This really pains me because my other PC tools are great, this item had the whole feature set, but the execution of design is lacking. My suggestion is if you don't need the ability to drive oversize nails, buy a different palm nailer - Who knows, maybe PC will fix the problem in the future.

**** Please see my follow up review titled "You're not going to believe this!" It's worth reading - You'll be surprised too.

I have always used a framing hammer to nail joist hangers and usually on every job I bang my finger once or twice while trying to hold the hanger/nail and hammer. I used this tool for the first time today and was amazed at how smooth it is. It comes with quite a few different accessories for different types of nails and it comes with an air hose connection. I had to nail one hanger with only 5 1/2" between the hanger and the adjacent wall and the palm nailer handled this easily. I was expecting this tool to be rough on the hands but was surprised at it's smoothness and tons of power. This is a tool I wish I had bought years ago.

I am in the midst of building a deck. I and my partner have used this palm nailer from day one of construction. It is easy to use, very controllable.
Without this palm nailer I would have blown my elbow out with a conventional hammer and nails. Each joist hanger took 6 nails
Two hangers per joist=12 nails. 28 joists x 12= 536 + nails in hangers and all went in straight and without hesitation.
To date, this is the best purchase I have made that saves wear and tear on my elbow.
I recommended this for anyone who needs to drive an enormous amount of nails, especially through joist hangers where aim is critical through pre made holes..
V.M.Steel, NY

Spikes, brads, coated, roofing... you name, it does it. And with ease! Depending on what you're driving, and how much of a countersink you need, it takes some toying with the air pressure. The unit comes equipped with various adaptors, which is a nice plus. HOWEVER, given the age of quick releases and snap on's, changing driving heads on this puppy takes some time. I'm disappointed P/C couldn't think of a better design. Also, I wish there was a sensitivity adjustment on this 650. When attempting to toe-nail, just when you have the nail in the precise spot and at the precise angle, the 650 doesn't kick in. There's a certain amount of pressure it's set for. You either hit it, or you don't. I'd rather have it as an option, personally.
Gave it to my nephew to use... he's not mechanically inclined. I instructed him on safety and precautions... turned my back... he went to town. After he finished fastening the panels, he wanted more. Very often I found him driving in way more fasteners than what was required. Did I say the unit's addictive? My last negative involves the magnet. WEAK!!!!
Purchase it, my friends. You won't be disappointed. It's an ASSET. Especially if you're a one-man (or one-woman) show most of the time.

I had to replace the plate/seal around the bottom of my house due to termite damage. The palm nailer made it a breeze to nail the floor joices back into the the new plate. I was working in a very tight spot with electrical wires and plumbing pipes running right in front of where I needed to nail. I would have never been able to put in those nails with a hammer. So far I've been very pleased with this product.

I formerly had a Danair palm nailer and a Senco. The Senco had a leaky gasket that I had to tighten the bejeezus out of and it still leaked a little air. The Senco also came without any accessories. The Danair had a problem with the tip always coming loose. The padded leather grip was the nicest on the Danair. The Senco came bare metal. Without the leather grip it becomes very uncomfortable to use.
I use a Porter Cable now. I like that for the price it comes with several tips for different size nails. The leather grip is also standard. I have been using the Porter Cable for about two years now without a problem. I used it to nail 20d HD galvie commons . Using a hammer for such a large nail would likely leave a mark if you missed and all the heavy pounding would have been pretty tiring. I use the palm nailer for nailing tile backer, joist hangers, nailing in tight spots and for spikes. Changing tips is easy with the wrench supplied.
I only rated it four stars because the magnetic tip lost it's magnetism early on so now I have to hold every nail to start it. This palm nailer is the best value out there. It has held up to lots of abuse so far.

My wife and I recently purchased the Victorian house of her dreams and my nightmares. The goal is to restore the house within 2 years of purchase. We are 16 months into the effort. In bad weather I work inside and when nice outside. The Porter-Cable palm nailer could be the perfect tool for me to drive roofing nails, siding nails, three sizes of finish nails, 16d sinkers, and galvanized twist nails (3 ½ to 2 inches long) along with assorted pounding tasks. The pounding tasks include chiseling wood, electric wire staples, and a copper kettle from a flat copper sheet. That's my situation.

I purchased the tool and immediately put it through a series of tests including air demand. I have a 1.5 horsepower, 3-gallon tank, $99.95 el cheapo air compressor from Walmart. My biggest concern was how it would sink finish nails because none of the reviews here covered them. My second concern was the complaints about the magnet holding the nail before you start driving it. I wasn't born with a third arm and it would be nice if I didn't have to hold the nail to get it started while trying to hold the work too. Lastly, the Victorian we are restoring was a church parsonage so when missing nails or hitting my fingers with a hammer I've really had to watch my language. In this preventive function, the nailer could have great redeeming value.

My results and comments in item format:
1. I drove 4 sizes of finish nails at various angles and straight in. No problems.
2. I drove (10) 3 ½" nails as fast as I could and the compressor kept up without a problem.
3. Other reviews expressed disappointment with the magnet holding the nails. I only had problems holding 3 ½" galvanized sinkers. I was very relieved when it did a good job of holding finish nails, siding nails, and roofing nails. Magnets do not like impact and weaken over time. When I'm done with it for the day, I'm going to stick another magnet to it to charge it, so to speak.
4. Hardi-Plank is a 100 year guaranteed concrete impregnated fiberboard replacement siding. I have several hundred square feet to put up when the weather breaks. The nailer drove a siding nail through it like butter.
5. I used the hammerhead to pound in several electric wire staples. The locations of those things never give you a clear hammer blow. The nailer put them down just fine except I'll have to make sure it does not push down too hard against the wire.
6. Using the hammerhead attachment to bend flat metal will be wonderful. I will be making a large copper bowl for a deck fire pit from a flat sheet of copper.
7. I found the unit to be of quality construction and worthy of the asking price. I'm glad I purchased it.

Disappointments:
1. I read where the distance you want the nailer to drive a finish nail is adjustable. I don't think it is. There was nothing in the manual about it nor could I figure out how to do it without modifying the tool.
2. A sleeve is shown and provided to place over the nailing ram for the hammerhead attachment. However, once in position the hammerhead could not be assembled even when the ram was in its fully extended position as required in the manual. I assembled the hammer without it and it worked fine.
3. The small dimple left by the finish nail driver is a bit larger than I would like. However, it is much smaller than the marring I leave behind every time I miss the nail.

Recommendations:
1. I can recommend this tool to people who have a need to do a lot of nailing once in awhile. I'll use it intensely for the next year and then only every once in awhile.
2. I can recommend this to people with wrist or arm injuries that find it painful to swing a hammer.
3. I can recommend this tool to people who hit their fingers as many times as they hit the nail.

I thought I would add a recent review so that folks know this little guy is still fabulous. I have real wood siding and the nails tend to back out with the hot and cold, wet and dry expanding and contracting. I had many 10's of nails backed out 1 half inch or so. So this was a lifesaver - there is no way I could have done as good a job pushing so many existing nails back in with a hammer and nail set and not make a mess. Since the nails are set just below the surface level this really helped where the nail head was tilted or warped from the original nailing - a nailset would have been impossible. It's easy to control in terms of depth and quickly and easily put my old nails back where they belong.

Using it in new construction, I find that getting nails started straight takes a little practice. If the nail is not angled right, the tool makes short work of getting it driven in at the wrong angle. For precision work, starting the nail with a small hammer would help. A glove helps a lot to steady nails at the start. If you've got a lot of repetitive work (finish or framing, etc., an conventional nailer may be a better choice. But for occasional use, you can't be the price with this one.

It's also a bit noisy - like a giant woodpecker! But it's not louder than hammering nails conventionally, it's just a lot faster.

It's easy to hold and easy on the hands. I don't do a lot of work, and when I saw this I just had to have it, considering the price of finish and framing nailers. I've been really happy with it. It's perfect for the do-it-yourselfer.

The PN650 Palm Nailer Kit comes in a plastic case that has everything you need neatly packaged for use or storage. I like tool cases. Cases keep parts from getting lost, and tools from picking up excess dust and dirt while not being used. Nailers have small, interchangable parts that need safe storage. The PN650 does its job, and does it well. My first use for it was between deck joists and stair stringers where my framing nailer would not fit. Porter-Cable has a good reputation, and you won't go wrong with this kit.