Ridgid - R150FSA (Rating: 4)

I just bought this tool the other day specifically for one project, used it today for the first time, so this is an intial impression review and time will tell how it holds up or what other uses I may find for it.

LOML asked me early in the week if I was working this weekend, and when I told her no I was off I stepped into the SWMBO trap!! Good she says, I ordered oriental carpet for a stair runners and you can help me install it this weekend.

After reviewing her video on stair runner installation it was obvious our little electric staple gun was not going to be up to the task, so went by the BORG one evening after work and looked at 1/4" narrow crown staplers, and though this one was more than the PC 18 gauge model they could not find the PC, so after reviewing for about 2 minutes the Ridgid came off the shelf and into the cart.

That's the background for this purchase and a good one it was.

Details-
Comes with a molded plastic case, safety glasses, 1,000 1" staples, extra nose guard tip, and two allen wrenches for adjustments.

This unit really covers a wide range of staples from 3/8- 1 1/2". I bought a small assorted pack of Porta nail staples that had 1/2,3/4, and 1" staples.

Like an 18 gauge brad nailer this unit runs from 70- 100 PSI and has a nifty dial in front of the trigger for depth of drive. Just rotate the dial till your happy with the seating of the staple.

Trigger comes in sequential mode but also has a dial for switching to bump mode. I never use bump mode on nailers, so I left it alone.

The stapler also is oiless and has a built in filter to keep the tool clean. Exhaust is somewhere out of the rear or in the handle, but wherever it is it does not blow back in your face. The nailer also comes with a handy swiveling male hose fitting, which is a nice touch.

So set my compressor to 80 PSI put in a load of 3/4 staples and off we went to put the runner in.

The stapler misfired a couple of times at first and I thought it did not like brand of staples, but now I think that maybe the action or the magazine feed was stiff, because after about 25-50 staples it settled down and did its job very well.

Worked incredible for this task and I was a hero with the wife for the way this thing fastened the carpet to the stairs.
Brown Stairs Wood Floor Flooring

So bottom line is I paid $109 for this tool just for this one project, but that was cheaper than hiring a installer I would think and the wife and I had fun doing this afternoon project together and we were both pleased with the results and just have to put those brass runner rods in as an accent to the project to finish it off.

I don't know why you would install crown with a staples instead of 18 gauge brads or 15-16 gauge nails, but then I don't want to know that anyway. For me I can see that this unit will come in handy for drawers using the smaller staples, and also for case backs and probably be very handy for shop furniture projects with ply.

I gave it 4 stars for the misfiring, but otherwise this tool did very well on its initial outing and even though I never thought I needed one, it was the tool to have for this particular job so if any of you LJ's ever step into the stair runner trap that I did go get this thing and you will get big brownie points with the wife!!

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