Porta-Nails 40225 Face Nail Shoe (404 Porta-Nailer)

the face nailer works great - you have to be extremely commited to flooring to use the porta nailer 404 in the first place - changing tha face nailer back and forth to the tongue nailer is a bit cumbersome - but well worth tha effort - i say you have to be commited to flooring install with that tool because it is a manual tool which requires a great deal of effort using , unlike the air tool models , but air tool models mainly use staples , i like this tool because it uses serrated nails , which hold the floor in place much better than staples , over time staples can loosen and the boards become warped , not with serrated nails , they hold forever - well worth the price , effort and the ever lasting result is the best - i highley recommend this product the 404 nailer and the face nailer shoe is a must for those tight spots - if you purchase a 404 porta nailer flooring nailer , be sure to get the face nailer - also i'd like to make a note that on occasion the nailer itself got a couple of nails caught up inside - not to worry - theres only about 6 moving parts to the whole thing and can be easily disassembled for repairs and reassembled with little to no effort that you can do yourself

Product was fairly simple to install and worked fine. The only issue that I have is that there is no marking or guage on the shoe to aid as a guide for the placement to do the face nailing. One other thing that was a bit frustrating was that I had to use 1 1/2 inch nails for the face nailing instead of the 2 inch that I was using for the regular nail down....I just assumed that I could still use the 2 inch but had to order the 1 1/2 which wasn't readily available at Lowes, Home Depot or any stores near by.

The face nailer did not work well with Brazillian cherry 3/4 inch hardwood. I ws installing the wood on an old floor that had some "bounce" so nailing near the wall proved impractical. The unit gave too much bounce and marred the surface. I resorted to pre-drililng these courses (or strips) and face nailing with finishing nails. Slow and painful but a nice result.

Good sturdy item that converts the porta-nailer from 45 to 90 degrees for face nailing easily through 3/4 inch and all other thicknesses of flooriing. The porta-nailer is quickly converted by removing 4 allen head bolts and the 45 degree shoe and installing the face nail shoe with the same 4 allen head bolts. The shoe has a non-marring plate installed on the bottom to protect pre-finished flooring.The only problem I had with the porta-nailer system is on pre-finished flooring. Face nailing with the tool is not very forgiving. A good tip is to hold the nailer perfectly still between your knees and not allow it to slip at all as you hit the plunger. This could take up to 4 blows to seat the nail. If you let the nailer slip (only slightly), you can marr the flooring. If the nailer does slip at all discontinue nailing that particular nail and finish it up with a hammer and then a nail set. I have installed flooring without the face nailer. It is much more difficult to do and in spite of the problem with holding the nailer perfectly still, the face nailer will save you a lot of grief. This is a well made and high quality tool that will last a long time. I can give it a good recomendation. John WilsonPorta-Nails 40225 Face Nail Shoe (404 Porta-Nailer)

I only used this a little as the flooring I am installing is going down on the diagonal and I am hand nailing each end to save time from changing the tool out on each board. It works well and I bought it because I plan to use it in the future on other flooring.