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Paslode PowerBoost Black Tip Coated Nails | Review

By Todd Fratzel on Product Reviews, Tools & Products

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Paslode PowerBoost Black Tip Coated Nails

The folks at Paslode recently sent us their new PowerBoost coated nails to use in our CF-325 Cordless Framing Nailer. The new PowerBoost Black Tip Coated Nails are designed to provide extra driving power without the need to create a heavier more powerful nail gun. These nails were designed specifically to deal with the new denser engineered lumber products on the market that put all nailers to the test.

The new PowerBoost nails can easily be identified by the black tips (as shown in the photo). The black coating is both a lubricant (for easier penetration) and an adhesive (for additional pull-out strength). The PowerBoost nails are sold exclusively in the Fuel + Nail Combo Packs which are designed to optimize the performance of the new CF-325 Cordless Framing Nailers.

PowerBoost Nail Review

We recently tested the new PowerBoost coated nails in our CF-325 nailer on a project that had multiple LVL beams. The combination of the PowerBoost coated nails with the CF-325 was quite impressive. The nailer had no problem consistently driving the full head nails flush into the LVL engineered lumber. In fact, we were able to shoot dozens of consecutive nails flush to the beams with only occasional nails that needed an extra tap from a hammer. Just as impressive was the holding power of the nails. We tried unsuccessfully to remove some of the nails from the LVL’s. All we managed to do was to completely remove the head of the nail before the shank would move.

The PowerBoost nails are definitely a welcome improvement for power nailers and certain to be noticed by both novices and seasoned contractors.

Note About Fuel + Nail Combo Packs

We’ve heard quite a bit of feedback from readers about the new Fuel + Nail Combo Packs. Most of the feedback has been quite negative, however, we feel that most of it is simply unwarranted. At first glance it may look like a marketing ploy but we feel that most people will change their minds once they start using the system and here’s why:

• From our experience the fuel cells always outlast the nails.
• Individual packages of nails can still be purchased.
• If you use the combo packages long enough you’ll end up with extra gas cartridges. When that happens you can buy individual packages of nails to use the extra gas cartridges.

The bottom line is the new CF-325 nailer combined with the fuel + nail combo packs is a great product. Even if you think the combo packs are a marketing gimmick we feel you’ll quickly get over that when you see the results. I know our crews love using this cordless nailer and we’ve long since stopped worrying about the combo pack issue.