I saw a demo on this tool at Surfaces today, and had a chance to use it myself, pretty cool.
Crain calls it #559 Close to Wall Staple Tool.
It gets pretty darn tight up to the wall. Shoots cleats, or staples. You just load um in and strike the plunger a few times. Strictly for 3/4".
They say it will be available in 1 month for 85 bucks. HOT TOOL

( You will also see the " Hinge Board Pusher ". That thing was a crackup watching guys trying to get it to work )

http://www.craintools.com/pages/plankfloortools.html

Hey Tucson , on a side note, checked out your new Skill saw. It's really rinky dink
Treat yourself to something else.

I'm jealous your at surfaces......so does that Crain tool get in the T&G I take it? Yes I know the Skil is small, I watched the video. But does it cut well is the question. Duct? Is there dust and did they have it hooked up to a vac?

Ya, the Crain sets on the tongue. Works great for staples.
Cleats are pretty time consuming... You take 1 cleat and a hammer ,and start the cleat into the crease, then slide the Crain over the top of it , and pound it in. But this Crain lets you fasten like 2 inches from the wall, shouldn't have to mess with PL, ( depending on layout ).

Ya, they had the Skill hooked up to a vacume. It really still was making a pretty big mess.They were dusting the booth . I really do wish I can say some good about it. It just really didn feel quality built. I think they were more concerned with the price point. Definetely a DIY deal, and very limited applications

Man, Hardwood really took over the convention. I walked till I dropped. China was there in big time force. But pretty interesting, people were really staying away from them.
I did see one new product that's pretty cool. Unfortunately , He's manuf. in China. Company is owned by John Frisch, a surfer dude in L.A., ( he was giving out little surf board key chains, attached to coconut palm hardwood ) It's called Frisch Coconut Palm . Damn good looking wood, he'll send you a free display, product stocked in Long Beach.
http://bestcoconut.com

Saw a demo at Taylor, on their Wood Doctor, really impressive. And there's all kinds of little tricks to add grain, etc. Going to pick one up this week. I just repaired a bunch of dings, caused by a door company, really wasnt happy with the result.
http://www.taylortools.com/wooddoctor.html

Dang, Floorologist, you had me wetting my pants about that Crain near wall nailer when you first said it could handle staples AND cleats.
Theres no info that I could find on their site that said that, sheesh.
Nevertheless, I have emailed them a request for one unit for evaluation, to be followed up with a 20 unit further order if it passes field testing by my service department. I guess I will have to use the staple system, for those final boards, or wait untill they develop a modified unit to hold cleats properly.

Ya, I had chills when I saw that thing . Then kind of nerve racking... There was a big crowd around it, and my buddy was doing the demo, the sucker saw me, and called me over to give it a try
Actually I was being pretty critical on the cleat application. Really not that big of a deal. You just barely tap the cleat in place, at a guestamated angle, slide the Crain over the top of the cleat. The cleat's then adjusted to the perfect angle. 2-3 strikes with mallet, and she's in.
The striking plunger on the Crain is slightly angled toward the wall, so the hot tip is to use the type of mallet that has the angled steel head at one end. The result is the angle of the mallet head is opposite the angle of the Crain. So when striking the Crain, your striking straight down on the plunger, ( instead of at an angle, toward the wall ).

I was thinking about going back over to Surfaces today... But monday kicked my butt, then I went to the convention, so Im pretty wasted.
But definetely going back tomorrow, so any requests you guys, speak up !

Thanx Floorologist. Ya if you can ask the Crain peeps if they are planning a dedicated cleat version of the tool, I would appreciate it.
My problem is this: I am responsible for 18 production installation crews and they would all be resistant to anything I introduce that would slow them down. On top of this is a corporate aversion to staples. (instituted by me, lol)

You got it Dennis. I'd also like to know it they're going to develop the tool for use on different thickness's

Still if upstairs or in a large house it would make the job faster and those saws are not as bad as a table saw on dust. A little is reasonable in a house. I could cut and rip small pieces......I'm in da nile. With the box warranty for 30 or 90 days I could just go back and get another

Man, you are in denile ! That's good...you can take it back, and buy a REAL tool

Yer being a meanie again

I just want to know if it cut well and what wood did they demo cutting?

They were cutting a piece of 3/4" x 4". It was a clean cut, and took about the same time as a mitre saw. It's pretty small and light weight, which is nice. We know it's a sliding set up, but I'm not sure the measurement on the travel for ripping. I'll look at it again tomorrow. As far as ripping, I dont know how the heck you would safely hold the wood. For mitres, the table pivots,( I want to see how that works ). Like I said they had a vacume hooked up to it, but it really sucked up mimimal dust , when the blade is being pushed through the wood, the dust is shooting out from behind the blade, instead of up and into the vacume port.
I'll be nice to them , and really check it out some more. Hey you never know, they're giving a discount at the convention, wouldnt it be funny if MR. Devils Advocate bought one!

Yea, and one for me and Gary too!

I think you should buy at least one for the shop and see how the guys like it. I bet they fight over it.

Had the big operation.
Now... Most of the time, I am the shop !

Oh confused you with Dennis.

Dennis,

When you get the tool and test it let me know what you think of it. Looks like something I would like to use.

Are you going to resale them if they meet your expectations?

Keith