I am about to start hardwood project and need to buy a pneumatic hardwood flooring stapler. Renting doesn’t make sense since it will be done in the evenings and on weekends. The Bostitch MFS III costs over $450 new and rarely under $300, even used, on eBay. There is an off brand which is sold in a variety of colors by different vendors, but all have the same stampings in the body, and come with a case, safety glasses and mallet, etc. They go for around $250 on eBay and Harbor freight sells theirs for $149.00. Ironically, you never see this tool used on eBay, but you see the Bostitch in varying conditions. Obviously I am not a pro and won’t need to make my living with this tool for the next year, but if it’s going to fall apart after 500 sf of flooring, then it’s not worth it. Anyone have any experience with this off-brand?
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for 500sq ft do you really need an pnumatic? I use this and have put down tons of flooring with it, nice and quiet...... but after a full day one arm is a little longer.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008CMR9/qid=1107927392/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2_etk-tools/102-3091453-8774538?v=glance&s=hi&n=228013
Actually I have more like 3000 sf to do, I just don't want a tool that will fall apart after a room or two (500sf). I have used the old Powernailer manual models and even with their ratchetting action, it's way hard work. For my last house I rented a MFS III from Home Depot to do a couple of rooms. This is the entire house and we are living in it, so I need to go room to room at a more controlled pace.