Arrow Fastener ETFX50 Heavy Duty Professional Electric Staple and Nail Gun
by Arrow Fastening
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List Price: Our Price: $42.99 You Save: $17.01 (28%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Arrow Fastener ETFX50 Heavy Duty Professional Electric Staple and Nail Gun
Customer Review: Look Elsewhere, Arrow ETFX50 Electric Stapler Too Finicky
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this stapler b/c driving a lot of staples at once by hand can be tiring. Included with the Arrow ETFX50 Stapler: the electric stapler with attached 10' grounded NEMA 15-5 grounded power cable, black plastic carry case, instruction manual, warranty card. The stapler is solidly constructed of high impact plastic. The design is very simple, there are no power adjustments or depth settings, and staples are loaded from the rear with a familiar spring loaded staple pusher. The ETFX50 drives BN1810 5/8" brad nails and six sizes of T50 staples (1/4" - 9/16"), resupply is easy due to the popularity of the T50 staples, found virtually anywhere.
I have used this stapler mostly on wood to secure insulation backing, fabric, and plastic vapor barrier. My experience has been the stapler is very finicky. It is underpowered when driving larger staple sizes into 2x4 wooden studs or plywood, leaving staples proud. The manual states one should use smaller staples if the staples stand proud, however the frequency of jamming increases substantially when using the smaller staple sizes. Further, you must hold the stapler completely flat and level against the work surface or it will not drive the staples correctly, either crushing them or jamming, not always easy to do on vertical surfaces or in tight spaces. While the carrying case is nice, it needs to be slightly larger; the case leaves barely room to hold the cord, and no room to store extra staples. Note, I have not used the stapler to drive brad nails, so I cannot comment on this feature.
Clearing jams is a slow and tedious process. The staple magazine must be fully removed to clear jams. The magazine is held in place at the rear of the stapler with a pin secured with a nut, and in the front there are two male nipples which engage with female holes. The retaining nut is constructed of nylon surround by an aluminum shell, presumable to prevent it vibrating loose. The design makes it difficult to remove the guide rail as you must secure the nut with one hand/tool while attempting to unscrew the holding pin with the other hand/tool. Also both pin head and nut are prone to damage/stripping due to the soft materials they are constructed of. Once open jams are easy enough to clear, however replacing the guide rail is fraught with the same annoyances as opening it.
Perhaps the most annoying feature is the small black safety switch located just above the trigger. The safety switch is there to prevent accidental misfires, however the switch is very sensitive and must be completely moved to the "on" position which is not marked on the product. Further due to the poor placement of the safety switch, you often bump it with your hand preventing you from being able to fire the stapler at just moment when you planned to.
In conclusion; I would say this stapler has done an adequate job, but its finicky design makes me unable recommend it to a friend. Look elsewhere for better designed product.
Pros:
Solidly Built
Easier on the hands than a manual stapler
Supplies are easy to find
Included plastic carry case (could be larger)
Cons:
Finicky design features
Annoying safety switch placement
Prone to jamming with smaller staple sizes
Jams slow and tedious to clear b/c of staple magazine retaining pin design
Under powered with larger staples
Must be held very flat/level to work surface
Summary: Quality construction but finicky design oversights prevent recommending this product to a friend.
Customer Review: Great easy to use staple gun that also drives 5/6" nails
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Case Study in Bad Design
Summary: 1 Stars
This machine is a case study in bad design. I wonder once again, if tool designers ever actually try using what they sell.
1. The gun jammed very frequently, particularly when new. Some WD40 and wear eventually helped, but I'd still get a jam about every other stick of staples.
2. To clear a jam required a screwdriver, wrench or nutdriver, and often a pliers. You have to remove a small bolt and nut - why they couldn't have just threaded the slide I have no idea. So don't try it up on a ladder or such where you can drop those pieces and lose them.
3. You can't see how many staples are left in the gun. A simple window in the side of the magazine would be great. A real PITA when going working on a ladder, holding something above your head and ... damn, out of staples.
4. To add staples you have to completely remove the slide mechanism from the machine, find someplace to put it, then slide the staples in. Note point above - if there are two many staples left in the machine (which you can't see), you won't be able to close the slide and will have to remove some.
5. It frequently overdrove 3/8" staples when hanging insulation. Punched them right through the paper. No reason or pattern apparent and no adjustment possible.
6. It outright died after hanging only about 300 ft^2 of insulation. Just stopped working. And I was glad to see it go so I could return the carcass and get something better.
I replaced this with the Powershot Pro from Home Depot for about $15 less. It is much better on all of the above counts - well, can't comment on longevity yet, it's done about 300 ft^2 so far also. Only 1 jam in that time - popped the slide with one hand, and it cleared.
Customer Review: ETFX 50 - Love/Hate Relationship
Summary: 2 Stars
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...
Customer Review: Broke after 200 staples
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this stapler based on the brand. I have had good experiences with Arrow in the past and my current manual stapler is very solid. I have a bunch of stapling to do, installing insulation in my attic. The stapler worked quite well for the first 200 or so staples, but then quit working. It would actuate, but the hammer wouldn't move. Turns out, the part that connects the electric plunger to the hammer broke. Upon inspection, it doesn't look like a particularly good design (I'm a mechanical engineer). Other users don't seem to have the problem, and I was very impressed with the stapler prior to its demise. Perhaps this was an anomaly.
When I called Arrow, I thought they would send out a replacement part and I'd be on my way again fairly quickly. Instead, they told me to contact the seller. I did, and Amazon very quickly sent me an RMA and mailing label. I'm returning the tool and am not going to replace it.