The Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 cordless palm nailer kit is one of those tools you may not use every day. It could, however, prove to be a real asset when the occasion arises. We got a glimpse of this nailer at the 2010 Milwaukee Media Event where we were able to try out a few pre-production models and they did prove very promising. We were slightly surprised that they were able to drive 16d common nails flush into 2×4 studs all day long.
Finally a cordless, hand-held nailer that really drove nails. Up to now, the few battery powered nailers that we have seen, also known as auto hammers, have been more like gadgets than real working gear. The idea of being able to leave the air compressor, air hose, drop cords and nailers in the work trailer is rather compelling. Given its fairly compact size, you can drive nails in those difficult tight spots where you normally might not be able to fit a full size nailer or swing a hammer. And to make it even better there is an LED work light built in that should make it easier to see what you are doing in a dim or dark work area.
Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 Cordless Palm Nailer Features
Our test sample arrived in the standard Milwaukee style retail box. The Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 cordless palm nailer came nestled inside a soft-sided carry case along with a RedLithium 12V lithium-ion battery pack, a quick charger and a nylon web harness that fits around the nailer. The first thing that might jump out at you if you are familiar with pneumatic palm nailers is that this nailer is about twice as big as its air-powered relatives.
The good news is that it still fits in your palm. Just in case you are worried about it getting away, you can also attach the nylon harness on and strap it to your hand. It is only fitting that since we are calling this a palm nailer that we compare it to palm nailers as we know them. We felt this was far more appropriate than putting it in the same category as the 12V battery powered auto hammers that Ryobi, Craftsman, Rigid and company have come out with. If we did that, there really would be no comparison because the hands-down winner is the Milwaukee.
When holding the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 cordless palm nailer, it has a good amount of heft to it. The M12 battery loads into the back end of the grip and on the top center of that grip area is a small recessed lock on/off paddle switch. On the left side of the tool body, there is a trapezoidal shaped button switch that when depressed starts the motor. If you are right-handed, this button sits right where your thumb should be. If you are a lefty, you are on your own as to how you press it.
This switch is the fundamental difference in operation from a pneumatic palm nailer. With a battery powered tool, there has to be some way to activate the motor. The actual nail driving action does not happen until you have a nail loaded in the collet and you put pressure on the nail when you press it against the surface you are going to drive it into. A retractable metal guard surrounds the nail driving head, and a built-in magnet helps hold the nail in place.
The overall body of the nailer is made of red glass reinforced nylon material and there is plenty of thick rubber overmold on the main grip areas of the tool to help absorb shock and provide traction for you your hands. The exposed metal nozzle area with the retractable safety shroud bears striking similarities to the pneumatic variety of palm nailers. Of course, this nailer includes one of the new M12 Milwaukee RedLithium 12V lithium-ion battery packs which offers a marked improvement over the previous generation of 12V lithium batteries from Milwaukee due to its improved cell structure and heat dissipation.
Testing the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 Cordless Palm Nailer
Testing the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 Cordless Palm Nailer was the fun part. Really using a palm nailer is fun any time. Maybe I have watched too many super-hero movies with my kids but the idea of simply pushing big nails straight into a piece of wood, really fast is fun. When we first saw the M12 Palm Nailer last year, we went away pretty impressed with its nail-driving capabilities.
Maybe this is because of our dismal tryouts with the 12V auto hammers, but still, nonetheless, we liked what we saw. Now that we had one of these in our shop we were able to get a little more intimate with it. We grabbed a nail bag that contained a wide variety of both big and small nails and a piece of 4×4 pressure treated pine that was just asking to get stuck like a pin cushion.
One of the first things we caught on to with this palm nailer is that it is kind of loud (and it did not help that we were indoors for our test session). We would suggest using both ear and eye protection (this goes for any power tool). The next thing we noticed is that we did not like the nylon hand strap for the nailer because we felt it lessened our grip on the tool. We took it off and left it in the carry case. Maybe if we were working in an overhead situation or on scaffolding or a ladder, it might prove to be a better accessory.
Needless to say, we drove tons of nails including twisted deck nails, ring shank stainless steel deck nails, #8 and #10 Simpson Tie nails, and 16d common framing nails. There was not a single instance that we were not able to drive a nail until the head was flush with the wood. This is not to say that all the nails went in exactly straight or where we wanted them. Once we started to put some pressure on the nail head and the nailer started hammering, the nail had already started into the wood crooked.
In some instances, we were able to straighten up the nail by placing pressure on it in a different way, but most of the time, the nail would just go in crooked. After doing this a number of times we figured something was up and we had to get to the bottom of it. After discussing our difficulties with Corey Dickert, Associate Product Manager for Milwaukee Cordless Tools, he quickly honed in on what we were missing. Remember that trapezoidal shaped power button that your thumb rests against?
What they suggest is to have that button pressed so that the motor is running before trying to drive a nail. He went on to explain that, unlike a pneumatic nailer, which is activated by putting pressure against the internal nail anvil to start the tool, the battery-powered tool activates the motor with the push button. If you set the nail in the tool, press the nail against the wood, and then hit the power button, it causes the nailer to jump or not fully strike the nail. This occasionally leads to false starts or crooked nail starts.
We went back into the shop and tried what he described with having the power button pressed before we put a nail in and before we started pressing it against the wood. Using this method, we discovered that we had nearly the same nailing action as we would have expected from its pneumatic counterparts. While we did glance at the owners manual, we did not read it thoroughly as we should have. The manual actually tells you this is the proper procedure for using this tool. READ THE MANUAL. This is not to say that we did not have an occasional crooked nail drive but we did experience a different tool once we understood how it was designed to be used.
When we compared the size of the hole for the nail head on our Bostich and Senco pneumatic palm nailers, the hole on the Milwaukee is larger which seems to give more play but also ensured that large head nails fit into it. As far as speed, the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 cordless palm nailer is maybe only a second or less slower when compared to a pneumatic model driving the same nail. We liked the idea of being able to pound nails cord-free and we are pretty sure we can come up with a bunch of good reasons to add the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 Cordless Palm Nailer to your tool collection.
This tool especially makes sense if you already own other M12 series of tools because you will then have extra batteries to go around. We also liked that it has a Cree-style LED work light. Where this tool will likely get used most often will be in dim or dark areas like attics, crawlspaces and job sites with limited amounts of lighting. Even with its extra weight and slightly larger size, after some practice and getting used to the tool, we were actually getting good with it.
Conclusion
The compact size and the reality of no attached hoses or cords puts the Milwaukee 2458-21 M12 cordless palm nailer into a category all its own. You can really go where no nailer has gone before. With a powerful impacting mechanism you can plan on being able to drive standard construction type nails in most situations. For our Performance rating, we gave this nailer a 6/10 based on the fact that it can actually keep up with it’s pneumatic counterparts but at the expense of a little extra bulk. For our Value rating, we gave the nailer a 7/10 because it offers all the features we have come to expect from the M12 product line along with the ability to do something that has not been done at this level before.
