I’m installing a field of 3/4" Bloodwood at 45 degrees using a Central Pneumatic stapler. The bloodwood was acclimated for 4 months in the room it’s being installed in. The humidity in the house was 37-40 RH for at least the last 2 of the 4 months. It was a little lower for the first 2 months. Many of the tongues are splitting. Can anyone tell me if this is typical for a very dense wood like bloodwood? Are there any tricks to help with this situation?

Thanks

Staplers can often split tongues on harder woods; more so than cleat nailers. One trick I've heard was to soak the staples in 3 in 1 oil prior to using. I can't say if that will help. It's worth a try. Also, try lowering the air pressure a bit at a time so it's just enough to set the staple properly. Too much air pressure is known to split tongues. Try these suggestions out before trying another tool.

I installed quite a bit of Jatoba about two months ago. Mine was very, very acclimated (bought and sat for a long while and we keep the house at a constant humidity). The install was done with a Bostitch M111 and a Central Pneumatic cleat/stapler combo a buddy brought over (thing was heavy).

My M111 worked well at about 88 psi and hitting the stapler with a light rub of carnuba wax by dipping them in a tin of paste to about 1/2" deep. Wish I learned the trick before I got the floor 1/3 door with some random splits (now squeak a bit at them). Live and learn!

For the Central Pneumatic, it actually cleated the Jatoba well, but he only had a couple of sleeves that we tried as we were finding the best combo. The wax and pressure at 95 psi did the trick for that gun.

Thanks to the both of you. I'll try the lubrication technique and see what happens. I did try dropping the pressure until it wouldn't seat the staple, and then brought the pressure back up a little. It was at about 80psi but was still splitting. Some tongues split worse than others.