I'm doing my first hardwood floor; 1400 sq ft. I'm getting coflicting advice when trying to find a nail/staple gun for the installation of this 5/8 in thick stranded bamboo. Some say use a nail gun with the 5/8 in adapter. No rental place here has the 5/8 in adapter and they don't think I need it. Others say professional installers all use 18 gauge staples. Someone suggested the HighPro AS-4090 but this seems to only be good to 1/2 inch. Any suggestions from the experts?

All the 5/8" bamboo I've installed has been with my Bostitch MIII FS using 1&1/2" long staples. I used the 1/2" "foot" on the stapler and shimmed it with a piece of cardboard to get an exact fit in the tongue pocket. I've had no problems.

Because of it's tendency to pimple the surface, (not always, and I have no idea about stranded bamboo) but the HighPro AS-4090 was made just for the 5/8 bamboo and unfinished engineered(Owens and Real Wood), although it will handle from 5/16 all the way to 5/8, thick flooring. Shoots a 1½" 18 gauge staple, for the 5/8" thick stuff.

All around, need and very useful little tool.

Wow, this forum is great! Just joined yesterday. Thanks for your replys! Now to find out where I can rent or buy one of the staplers you have recommended.

Any idea where I can get splines? The place I bought the wood from does not sell splines and did not know where I could get them. I'm not skilled to make my own.
Thanks!

Gary, I searched Google for the Bostitch MIII FS and found a 5/8 inch shim for this machine on eBay for $7 that you may like to replace your cardboard with. Not sure if you can put links in here but here it is:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BOSTITCH-MIII-FS-FN ... dZViewItem

Thanks but my cardboard one cost $00.00 and works quite well. You can post links but not to other online flooring sellers.