Have to agree with Howard, saw the bump on one but dialed up the pressure a tad. It's gotta be perfect.

It is not the groove side riding up on the staple head not seated that creates the bulge.

It is that big beefy staple pushing fibers upward as the staple goes in.
Your picture already shows the bump, as the split reveals. That had to go upward.

If you look at most all milled wood or bamboo flooring, the top lip of the groove side is chamfered on the bottom.

The staple is not to be seated into the wood flush, it is to be proud, as thick as the gauge of the staple.

I'm familiar with what creates the type of fastener dimple your referring too.

Bostitch came out with this "Shoe" for 5/8", that I use on 5/8" Bamboo. I don't like the feel of a 5/8 " floor being fastened with an 18 or 20 ga. staple. This is why I use this setup with 15ga. IMO it's more of a solid feeling floor, and haven't run into a dimple problem yet.

http://www.coastaltool.com/bostitch/miiifs.htm

Thats odd cus I can feel the top of the groove hitting the staple if it's not flush on some bamboo. Kinda mkes it hard to knock in tight with my mallet.

Yikes, a lot of heat in here.

Anyways sorry I didnt come back, this is the stuff: Engineered.

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stor ... PartNumber


I had to play with pressures a lot. I didnt get penetration with the 15.5 Gauge 1.5" staple unless I was dialed in to about 90PSI. I also had to take a scrap peice of flooring and put it under the front toe? peice to make the gun level. This helped make sure the staples fully seated, otherwise when I would strike the nailer would actually push away from the flooring slightly, leaving a bump. It took some learning, and I have a few dimples here or there but I am happy with the results so far, so thats what counts.

I still get a small split tounge here or there, but not very often and most of the dimples were at the beggining.

Yea, who was to know such a simple question would stir up such passion ?

It IS very touchy using the 15 gauge on 5/8". But it sounds like you got it dialed in. You will be much happier with the firmness of the installation over a lessor gauge fastener.

I knew that was horrizontal

According to Quality Craft:


Minimum 1-1/4”, 18 gauge crown staple with appropriate stapler
(or equivalent equipment recommended by your flooring retailer) or
Power Nailer – 50C nailer using 1 1/2” power cleats (use the 3/8”
or 1/2” adapter as appropriate) (or equivalent equipment recommended
by your flooring retailer), compressor, inline regulator.

Caution: Improper use of a power nailer can mark the surface of
the flooring.


http://www.qualitycraft.com/files/engin ... ctions.pdf


Just sayin...

Why not use what the manufacture suggests???

Anyone can pick that apart.....Just sayin. Grey area. If I feel comfortable adding to "minimums" to achieve a more solid installation, I'm gonna go that route. It's another issue cutting corners, that's not my bag.

How much is a 1 1/4 fastener going to penetrate the underlayment on a 5/8 inch bamboo? Seems a tad weak to me.

Howard, I lovesis yer website design.

Thanks for the compliment! Iv'e been sending it to old customers, they all seam to like it, or just being nice

Yea, IMO 1 1/4 fastener is weak , although rule of thumb is fastener is suppose to be minimum of twice the thickness of the wood. But when your talking a bare minimum, and then throwing an 18 gauge on top of it That type of installation feeling solid is questionable.

So what kinda penetration are ya getting at 1 1/4 on a 5/8...bout 1/4 or 3/16 in the underlayment/subfloor? In a perfect world with a perfect new underlayment that is still iffy. Throw in a worn old OSB and ...welll ferget it.

No more than 1" staples in ½", which hold really well.(Senco SL-20-F

Your not stapling to the full 5/8 thickness. The tongue does sit down from the top.

1¼ would be the minimum length. They say they make them, but all I see are 1½" 18g

I use my HighPro gun and 1½ 18g staples all the time, when installing Teragren in the upstairs of homes.(not stranded)