Expert: Dan Griffin - 1/26/2008

Question
I have bloodwood flooring to install.  I was told to drill every hole in the tongues before I nailed the boards. The bloodwood is so hard it will split if I don't. Do I have to do this all by hand or can I use a pnematic nailer.  How will I do this?

Answer
I almost said that I cannot help you, but I went ahead and looked up bloodwood.  I found this:

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Like most dense tropical hardwoods, Bloodwood can be somewhat difficult to work with in many important respects. Though there is no silica in the wood to make it abrasive, the extreme density makes it hard on cutting tool edges, carbide cutters are recommended for sawing and routing. Machined surfaces are very smooth, and edges are sharp. THE DENSITY OF THE WOOD REQUIRES PRE-DRILLING BEFORE NAILING OR SCREWING. Unlike the Rosewoods, gluing is not a problem because of oiliness, however, because of the tight grain and density, good glue surfaces are required with a lightly sanded surface recommend. I have used yellow glue, CA glue, epoxy, and hot hide glue with success.
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It sounds like you will be hand drilling and driving a floor.  I am not aware of a flooring gun that lets you see the tip of the nail, so I see no way to use it on predrilled holes.  I would certainly try a few on something small, but it doesn't sound good.  Is it being supplied by a flooring manufacturer and what do they say?

There are a few nail guns that are made for shooting hanger nails so you can see the end of the nail.  I don't know if anyone makes a finish type nail for it.  You will need to find out if a usable nail can be found, here are some of the guns I'm  talking about:
<http://www.nailgundepot.com/shop/catalog/Nailers_Metal_Connector_Nailers-p-1-c-544.html>