Is the HF flooring nailer a jewel or a dud?

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have a small - as in 100 sq ft small hardwood flooring repair co,omg up in the next month.
I have a HF coupom for one of their 2 in 1 flooring nailers for $99.00.
I've read a lot of good things about them, but, my own experience with HF nailers & their pneumatic tools in general has been bad.

I'm leaning heavily towards buying one despite my previous bad experiences.
A $400 Bostitch just isn't going to happen. Maybe if I had more uses for it, but, as it is now I can't see anything down the road.
HD used to rent the Bostitch, but, they now offer some no name Chinese thing.
I figure why rent a no name Chinese thing when for a little more, I can buy a no name Chinese thing and not have to wrooy about a return deadline.
Or sell it once I'm done with it and recoup most of my $$$.

Anyone had good or bad luck with the HF one?

[Dan Friedrichs]

Rich, I haven't used the HF one, but when I had a small flooring job, I bought a used Bostitch on eBay (or maybe it was craigslist...), used it heavily, loaned it to a friend who used it heavily, and then 6 months later I sold it on craigslist (for a profit, no less). So maybe see if you can find one used. Just an idea...

[Rich Engelhardt]

Dan,
I've been watching CL for a Bostitch for a little over two years.
So far, nada. If one crops up in the next couple of weeks, I'll be sure to give it a look-see.
Odds are heavily against it though.
In my area, used tools are priced as some sort of vintage wines. People seem to feel they improve with age and they tack on 20 to 30% above retail, then barter down from there.

In the two years I've beeen looking, all that's come up so far have been the HF nailers & those were all priced well above the coupon price of a new one.

Thanks for the suggestion though - I'll keep an eye peeled.

[mickey cassiba]

Rich, if this is a one time job...renting is an option. My local HD has flooring cleat, and staple type flooring guns for rent. Haven't checked the price, but for other 'one time' jobs, this has been an inexpensive option for me.

[Dan Friedrichs]

You might want to check eBay - I think that's where I got mine. I see several Bostitch MIII's for $200-$300 buy-it-now.

[William Burgess]

I have no idea on the HF one, but a couple year ago, I was thinking about doing some hardwood flooring in my house and had looked at the Ramsond RMM4 on amazon, its for sale for 170 dollars, not quite as cheap as the HF, but it does have 130 reviews and 4 1/2 stars. Might be an option you can look at.

[Ben Yurly]

I've heard that HF has a pretty generous return policy. You could buy the nailer and see if it works. If it doesn't, then return it. At that point you could rent one to get the job finished.

I bought a framing nailer from HF to build my shed. It would jam very often when shooting 2 1/2 inch nails but didn't jam once when shooting 3 1/2 inch nails. Go figure.

[David Epperson]

I've heard that HF has a pretty generous return policy. You could buy the nailer and see if it works. If it doesn't, then return it. At that point you could rent one to get the job finished.

I bought a framing nailer from HF to build my shed. It would jam very often when shooting 2 1/2 inch nails but didn't jam once when shooting 3 1/2 inch nails. Go figure.

I've got one of the HF 16p nailers. It's very sensitive to making sure the nails are set at the right angle. I can't remember if it's 29° or 30°

[Rob Sack]

I bought a combination brad nailer/narrow crown stapler from HF. For $16.00, I thought I would take a gamble. I lost. The thing can't seem to fire 3 pins or staples in a row.

[David Epperson]

I bought a combination brad nailer/narrow crown stapler from HF. For $16.00, I thought I would take a gamble. I lost. The thing can't seem to fire 3 pins or staples in a row.

I guess it's a crap shoot. I've been using the same 3 brad nailers from HF for 4 years building beehives with no issues at all. Other than running out of nails and staples.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I've heard that HF has a pretty generous return policy. You could buy the nailer and see if it works. If it doesn't, then return it.

That's pretty much my plan.

The biggest drawback to renting one is the location. The jobsite is an hour and a half away. The nearest HD is about a 20/25 min drive from the jobsite.
Even though it's a small job, I don't think I can pick up the nailer, drive to the jobsite, use the nailer and return it within the 4 hour time.
That means I have to rent it for the whole day. The whole day price is pushing the price of the HF nailer.

I had a HF framing nailer that quit on me after about a half dozen nails.
I made the mistake of not using it/trying it out as soon as I bought it.
I bought it when it was on sale, and didn't have an immediate use for it.
It sat in my tool room for about a year and a half before I had a use for it. I set aside a three day weekend to frame out a basement project and about six nails into it, the nailer quit on me.
Thankfully, I had a plan "B" - which was to buy the Bostitch Lowes had on sale.

OTOH, I bought one of the HF super cheapie air hammers that worked it's little heart out for like three straight days before it died.
I returned it for another to finish the job and that one only ran about 10 min before it died.

Also, just about every air fitting I've bought from HF leaks.
'course, so do the ones I bought from Lowes for like 4 times more, so, I guess I can't knock them too bad.

[Jarod Michaels]

There is a manufacturer refurbished one on ebay with free shipping / buy it now for 279.99 or best offer.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSTITCH-FLO...item56488dcf3d

[David Larsen]

Just buy a reconditioned bostich manual nailer. Price is around $115. For such a small job it will work fine and you won't have a bunch of money tied up in a nailer. Your arm won't get tired for a small job.

[Paul Steiner]

I have the ramsond and it has functioned for 20,000+ square feet.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I bought a combination brad nailer/narrow crown stapler from HF. For $16.00, I thought I would take a gamble. I lost. The thing can't seem to fire 3 pins or staples in a row.

Exactly the opposite of my experience. My combo (only used with staples) has performed flawlessly on several floor jobs shooting down LUAN.