Rating  - ETFX 50 - Love/Hate Relationship
I'm an avid diy'er and purchased one these at the local home center about one year ago. I have primarily used this for insulation and cathedral ceiling baffles. When it decides to work...there is no finer tool for the job. The trigger pull is awesome and there is absolutely no hand fatigue after hours of use. BUT...lately it only fires when it feels like it. It may shoot five staples perfectly, and then die for the next 20 trigger pulls -- extremely frustrating, especially when standing on a 12' ladder. Unfortunately the warranty is only 90 days; I think for the price they charge it should be at least a year.
Some other notes...
You'll need a decent extension cord (12gauge or better); it doesn't run so well on light-gauge cords -- the staples will not sink flush. I also wish the magazine/clip that holds the staples was longer; it goes empty real quick -- at least it use to...when it fired properly...
Now I'm using the Arrow staple hammer, which I love. It is very fast and holds twice the staples, but it's not nearly as precise as the FX50 and often tears the vapor barrier...
Rating  - Lying manufacturer
On the box there's a big 14amp sign, but when you look closer, the stapler itself is actually 10amps. Why the trickery? It seems to function alright, but the concept of truth in advertising demands a spanking here.
There are other staplers out there that are electric and are much more capable, albeit more expensive, but this one already comes at a premium based on false advertising, so why bother?
An update: I've put in over twenty thousand staples for a radiant heat project recently, most with a pneumatic stapler, perhaps 100 with this Arrow stapler. The recoil is annoying, and it lacks power. If I had to have an electric stapler, I'd spend $200 for the Duofast, or some other high end stapler with enough mass to kill the recoil.
Rating  - Great easy to use staple gun that also drives 5/6" nails
I recently bought this staple/nail gun for my wife. It has the ability to drive BN1810 nails (5/8" 18 gauge brad nails) and 6 sizes of T50 staples (1/4", 5/16", 3/8", 1/2", 9/16", 17/32"). We have used it as a stapler to reupholster chairs. For this purpose, this tool is wonderful. It effortlessly staples through the thick vinyl fabric and into the wood of the seat. This tool saves a lot of time and effort. You do need to hold the unit firmly against the chair for the staples to properly penetrate the chair; otherwise you get a little kickback resulting in imperfect results. This is to be expected because of the light weight nature of this tool. A much heavier air based gun wouldn't have as much of a kickback problem, simply because it weighs so much more. So keep this in mind. Hold the tool firmly, and you should be very happy with the results.
Because the storage case is designed to be light weight, it is not as tough as I would like, but everything fits nicely into the storage case and there is room for plenty of nails and staples. The cord is long enough for most jobs. The tool fits nicely in the hand. It works great. We haven't had any problems with it.
There is one negative to this tool. No where on this tool is there information about the sizes of staples it can use. It just says it takes T50 staples. This means if you lose the instructions, and forget what sizes to use, you will simply have to guess. Another tool we looked at buying had this information printed right on the tool. However, it didn't come with a storage case, and wasn't as well built.
As a nailer that accepts only 5/8" brad nails, it is not that useful. There is a nail set attachment (ETF50XP) which I don't have that you can get for this tool that makes it more useful as a nailer. I tested it stand alone on tough oak. It will drive the 5/8" brad nails perfectly into tough oak without a problem. Again, follow the instructions and put force on the unit as shown and you won't have any problems. This is quite a powerful tool if used right. Many of the complaints in other reviews are caused by kickback, which is from people misusing the tool. If you don't hold it right, you will get kickback and bad results. Like any other tool, take the time to learn to use it properly.
Like many other tool users, I've found that cordless tools are more of a pain then they are worth. The batteries get bad fast. You end up buying batteries all the time. Without new freshly charged batteries, most cordless tools become very unreliable. Nothing is worse than using a cordless tool only to find that the batteries are drained 5 minutes after you just started your project! I am glad Arrow made this a corded unit and put a long cord on it so you'll pretty much never need an extension cord for it.
I highly recommend this product. It is very light weight, easy to use, has a long cord, fits nicely in the hands, is well built, very powerful, and doesn't require an inconvenient air compressor.
Rating - Probably a good item but a bad price!!
Not necessarily a review of the product because I ordered it for a Christmas gift for my husband but I am terribly disappointed in the price. I just found the exact item from another on line store $34.00 cheaper. Quite a difference. My mistake. I just assumed getting through Amazon would be the cheapest.
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Customer Reviews for Arrow Fastening,ETFX50,079055001553,0079055001553,B00020JOEG, |
