Ergonomic and Electric
If you have been a regular user of Arrow staplers and nailers as I have been over the years, you would recognize that the Arrow brand is iconic. It is thoroughly American in the best way, in the sense that it is a “can do” no-nonsense, practical brand of tools that do what they ought to do – well.
But being iconic also places pressures on the brand – it cannot afford to slip behind the competition, so ongoing research and development become even more important. My guess is that the new ET501 sent for review is just such a product. It seems to be aimed at a specific niche market and therefore has specific features. Not that the ET501 wouldn’t serve as a good all-purpose stapler/nailer for general use, it is just that some jobs need certain features.
On the packaging the ET501 is declared to be “ideal for insulation and upholstery” and therefore has a set of features that are needed in those particular areas.
The first of these is the fastener depth control. Depth control is not an exact science since the hardness of the material being stapled may vary a great deal.
For example, in upholstery, of which I have done a bit, the thickness of the fabric and the hardness of the base sometimes make it quite hard to ensure that the job is done exactly. However, the 6-position knob on the turret of the ET501 makes it easier to determine the correct power of strike to select. This does take a bit of trial and error, but it really isn’t difficult to do.
Many handled tools now have these as a matter of course, but a well-designed rubbery grip can be an aid to comfort and safety for the user. The Arrow’s grip is very subtly included but feels comfortable and useful and aids the feeling of ergonomic design that has obviously been striven for in this tool.
Safety is rightly a focus these days, so I would expect that the ET501 would include a contact safety mechanism. This is a gently spring-loaded trigger mechanism on the business end (where the staples come out) that has to be fully pressed into the work before the trigger can be operated. Thus there is no danger that a staple or brad will be fired across the room by someone accidentally pulling the trigger.
Often manufacturers looking to squeeze costs will cut down a cord length to a silly degree, but Arrow has included a 1.8 metre (six foot) length of cord that is very much on the generous side in a tool of this type. In fact, it long enough to cover the usual area in which such a machine might be used –an upholster’s bench.
Finally, and I know it sounds like a trivial point, there is a small window in the side of the tool at staple magazine level that allows the user to check when the staples are running out. My experience tells me that staples always run out just as you reach a crucial point in the job, so I have often found that a visual way of checking staples is actually quite a good idea.
I have listed the features of the ET501 that make it a very suitable tool for upholsterers and insulation fitters, and while these are all useful, the things that most impressed me about the ET501 were different.
The first thing I noticed once I had removed the ET501 from the transparent plastic bubble packaging (retailers like this, it is high on security and ease of display, but also easy for a purchaser to see what he/she is buying) was that it so light and easy to handle. Many other electric staplers I have used have felt lumpy, heavy and uncomfortable in the hand – but the ET501 feels as though it just sits in your hand begging to be used. It just feels dead comfortable!
One of the reasons why it feels so light and comfortable may be that it doesn’t have a huge bias of weight towards the front where the electromagnetic mechanism fires the staples. However, it did cross my mind that its very lightness might be a disadvantage because the weight or inertia of the stapler sometimes counters the striking force of the stapler mechanism. As it turned out I needn’t have worried. I don’t know how Arrow has achieved it, but I was able to fire 12mm staples into solid oak with very little recoil or impact pressure. It helped when firing staples to put my left hand over the turret and apply some light pressure to ensure that they were fired flush with the surface, but that is true of every stapler I have ever used.
One of my pet hates on staplers and nailers is overcomplicated systems of fitting the staples or brads. This slightly relates to my previous point about staples always running out at a crucial point of the job. There is no need to add to the hassle by making it difficult to reload! Like other Arrow staplers, reloading is a doddle and accomplished in seconds. The magazine is released by squeezing the end of the slider, pulling it open, placing the staples in the slot and pushing the slider closed again. The magazine will hold two standard lengths of Arrow staples – roughly a hundred staples per charge.
I think Arrow has done a fine job in designing the ET501. It is light and modern in look and feel. I found it very easy to use because it is very light and the ergonomics make it easy to handle. The staccato bang it gives every time a staple is fired is well controlled and should ensure that a good job is done when fixing a range of materials. I believe that it is on offer at the moment at a retail price of around £25.00+vat, and at that price it offers great value for what is a dinkily efficient tool.
