How Does a Palm Nailer Work (Learn with Experts)

Published on: January 5, 2022
Written by Eric Devin / Fact-checked by David Rowan

If you are a woodworker or a DIYer, you might have an idea about a palm nailer. You might have already used this mini handy palm-held power tool for your woodworking project. Palm nailer is one kind of pneumatic power tool which fits in one hand and gives you adequate leverage to run this tool to the extremely tighter spaces effortlessly as required. It’s not like a traditional nail gun to deal with your wood project. It drives the nails faster with precision.

how does a palm nailer work

Palm nailers are mainly designed to drive framing nails, fencing, pole barn construction, joist hanger nail decking, metal connector straps or similar kind of nailing works. Besides the pneumatic system, palm nailers are also available in electric power mode or battery-operated mode in the market.  

With the above note, this article is designed to inform you regarding how a palm nailer works. This article will exclusively focus exclusively on pneumatic palm nailer, its unique features for you to pick one for your nailing project to try with to achieve precise nailing results. 

As I said in the introductory part, the Palm nailer is one kind of pneumatic tool which firmly fits in one’s palm hand and allows adequate leverage to run the nailer to tighter spaces as required and prevent slipping from fingers. It’s an incredible nailing tool to efficiently deal with your carpentry project unlike the traditional ones. 

Palm nailer comes with a strip that allows you to directly fasten your hand for holding the nailer on your palm securely while driving nails. 

how does a palm nailer work

There are different types of palm nailers with different sizes and power grades available in the market. Its wide range of features cover nailing tasks efficiently from light to heavy duty. The mini palm nailer works best for 6d to 16d while the large one is a right choice for heavy duty ranging from 5d to 70d. 

One of the unique features of the palm nailer is that it can drive the nail in a faster way with precision and can access areas without any struggle unlike the traditional hammers or outdated nail guns.   

However, Pneumatic palm nailers come with more power pact options to deal with the lighter to heavy duty projects while the battery operated mini ones are mainly for the smaller nailing jobs. Palm nailers with your little skill can even give you professional performance while dealing with your carpentry project.

Here it is mentionable that the non-pneumatic palm nailers are not as potent as compressor-driven nailers. Palm nailers are good enough for general use with tremendous speed and potentially viable to access to the extremely tighter spaces. It’s also a great replacement for a traditional hammer. A standard nail may need around ten to twelve drives to completely reach into the wood in less than a second depending on the nailer’s type. 

Now let’s move to the steps to follow to successfully work with the pneumatic palm nailers.  

Read User’s Instruction Manual

Go through the user’s instruction manual and follow the operation guideline before operating your tool. It’s strongly recommended to wear earmuffs to avoid noise coming from some specific tools. However, a heavy duty compressor is assembled with an in-built noise-proof system. Also get safety gear like earbuds, helmet and side shield etc. to be protected from workplace hazards and injuries.  

Read more: Finish Nailers for Trim

Power Connection

Plug on your tool unless it is battery operated. For a battery-operated nailer, just turn the power button on. For the corded version, connect it with an air compressor through a hose. After power connection, your tool is ready to drive nails into your workpiece. 

Position Yourself  

It’s important how you position yourself while going to operate your machine. It’s recommended to maintain a safe distance from a nailer like don’t bend in a way that may cause you to have little pressure applied from your nailer. Also hold the nailer securely to control your tool for faster driving nails. 

Have Resistance over Palm Grip

You don’t need to tighten your hand or too narrow on either side as per the instruction manual. You just need enough resistance over the palm grip so that your hand remains steady to absorb all incoming vibrations.  

Position Your Nailer

The nailer is assembled with a magnetic tip where the nail’s pinhead is supposed to be placed over which holds the nail properly to feed into holes. Then position your nailer where you want to drive the nail and push it down for nailing. Read more: How to Know About Effective Ways of What Degree Framing Nailer is Best

Drive Nails

Now you can start driving your nail into the wood. You can drive with either pressure with your palm onto the back or pressing on the button depending on your nailer types. 

Final Words

I hope this simple handy mini palm nailer will speed your nailing with precision. It won’t hurt your hand with the incoming vibrations if you take little care before or during operation of your tool. This is a simplest nailer compared to other traditional or old-version models. However, a major limitation of the cordless nailers is that they are not suitable for a heavy duty nailing.

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About This Writer

author eric devin

Hi, I am Eric Devin and I am a professional interior architect. Since childhood, I've always enjoyed DIY projects! And, I have loved to solve simple household problems using essential tools and equipment. I have also acquired a lot of information about basic household tools settings by working with contractors.

Hi, I am Eric Devin and I am a professional interior architect. Since childhood, I've always enjoyed DIY projects! And, I have loved to solve simple household problems using essential tools and equipment. I have also acquired a lot of information about basic household tools settings by working with contractors.

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