Milwaukee M12 Palm Nailer

[Buckaroo5]

I am repairing cedar shingle house siding, removing bad shingles and reinstalling new ones. Was considering buying an M12 Palm Nailer. I don't want to spend the money on a pneumatic coil siding gun as I don't think I would get that much use out of it. Nail size spec on the Milwaukee is 6d -16d so was thinking I would use a 2" siding nail, likely a hot dipped galvanized as I don't think the magnetic collet will secure a stainless steel nail. Will this work? Does anybody have thoughts or watch-outs?

 

[The Cobbler]

for a bunch of nails I think a palm nailer would be a major pain . I would rather just use a good old fashioned hammer .

 

[Buckaroo5]

for a bunch of nails I think a palm nailer would be a major pain . I would rather just use a good old fashioned hammer .

Will be up on an extension ladder and stretching many times to place the nail so one handed palm nailer approach could help. Plus, there aren't that many nails - I am replacing maybe 100 shingles over the gable end of a two story house. Vast majority of the time is measuring/cutting the shingles to fit. My real question is will that M12 palm nailer handle a 2" hot dipped siding nail? I guess I know it will handle the length as that is the length of a 6d nail. I think the head will be smaller than a 16d nail so that should fit. Is that the way you see it?

 

[mike93lx]

Palm nailers are for tight access, not this. It will be slow and awkward

Get a pneumatic or hand nail.

 

[dnschmidt]

Rent the nailer you need. Cheaper than buying a one time use tool.

 

[tjansson]

You can use wide crown, i.e. 7/16 or larger, staples for cedar shakes. You can get them in stainless. If you already have air compressor, a wide crown stapler is only $35 from Harbor Freight.
I would sooner hand nail them for that number of shakes than use a palm nailer. Cutting and trimming the angled shingles on the ladder is gonna be more difficult than hand nailing. Or are you cutting them on the ground, which would take forever? Not sure I would attempt this job without scaffolding, seems incredibly slow / almost impossible.

 

[seber]

There are hammers made for this purpose. I don't know what it is called but the hammer head has a groove to hold the nail for the first strike. It will be much easier to use than a palm nailer.

 

[Buckaroo5]

You can use wide crown, i.e. 7/16 or larger, staples for cedar shakes. You can get them in stainless. If you already have air compressor, a wide crown stapler is only $35 from Harbor Freight.
I would sooner hand nail them for that number of shakes than use a palm nailer. Cutting and trimming the angled shingles on the ladder is gonna be more difficult than hand nailing. Or are you cutting them on the ground, which would take forever? Not sure I would attempt this job without scaffolding, seems incredibly slow / almost impossible.

Yes - cutting them on the ground. Not impossible but a lot of up and down the ladder. I do have some scaffolding that I use one section high. I have already completed 3 of the 4 sides on the house - one side per summer. I was trying to find something that would move the job along easier than just using a hammer but it sounds like folks think the palm nailer isn't the answer. I have a narrow crown stapler that I have used in some places but will look at the wide crown.

 

[Buckaroo5]

I am going to invest in a Bostitch 651S5 Medium Crown (7/16") stapler. I can get it at Menards for $195 with the 11% rebate. Planning to use stainless staples.

 

[Old tool guy]

Palm nailers are great for joist hanger nails.

 

[NORDFORD]

Wrong tool for the job. What you’re looking for is called a hammer.

 

[RTM]

There are hammers made for this purpose. I don't know what it is called but the hammer head has a groove to hold the nail for the first strike. It will be much easier to use than a palm nailer.

Cheney nail holding is the vintage tool

Henry Cheney Hammer Company — The Cheney Nailer

Some on eBay, but make sure they have the ball bearing.

 

[mike93lx]

Palm nailers are great for joist hanger nails.

And pretty much only that

 

[seber]

Cheney nail holding is the vintage tool

Henry Cheney Hammer Company — The Cheney Nailer

Some on eBay, but make sure they have the ball bearing.

I was thinking of this style https://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-Fr...-Absorbing/dp/B092J9LRBG?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[RTM]

I was thinking of this style https://www.amazon.com/Hurricane-Fr...-Absorbing/dp/B092J9LRBG?tag=atomicindus08-20

That would be a lot more reasonably priced than a decent used Cheney

 

[tak1313]

I have the M12 palm and use it for hangers, etc. I also have a Bostitch siding nailer that I got used for a project when I worked on the front of the house that is shingled.

You do NOT want to use any type of palm nailer on shingles. Palm nailers, M12 or otherwise will overdrive the nails and you'll likely split a lot of them (let alone the fact that you actually shouldn't be nailing the shingles tight to allow for movement).

A palm nailer will not allow you to see the head of the nail and how tight/close it is to the shingle.