pneumatic stapler for canvas

[mstevensphoto]

Heya all,
   I've been shopping lately for a pneumatic wide crown stapler for my canvas work. Found a company called Surebonder on amazon for fractions of the price of others, seems like the options range from under $500 to over $600...does anyone have a favorite? Ever used one of the cheapie surebonders? At this point I'm really only looking at pneumatic - seems like a lot of my strainers just maul the staplers from the hand gun and then laugh at my attempt to get them driven in. local hardware stores only have the narrow crown staplers which don't grab a lot of canvas and frequently tear right through.
Mark

p.s. I would be interested to know if anyone is successfully using a narrow crown stapler on canvas as I already have all that's needed for that.

[neile]

I use a narrow-crown stapler occasionally, it seems to work fine.

Neil

[Shawn]

Word of warning to those buying a stapler..make sure the staples are standard size and easy to find.(get at least two suppliers) I initially spent $200 or so on a Sears brand wide-crown pneumatic stapler,( thinking a large retialer would be a safe bet) and was told the staples are availble anywhere..a standard. 6 months later Sears stopped carring the product and the staples and when I found other brands they would not fit the Sears gun. Returned to Sears and was told sorry they no longer carry the staples..after talkng to the manger I got no further. I now have a Sears brand paper weight.

Of course I ran out just as I had an order for 75 canvas wraps come in.....not doing those by hand!

I have tried the narrow crown staples, in another gun, and found them to be inadequate.

I bought an pneumatic upholstery stapler, Performance Plus by King Canada, at a local contractor supply store. It has standard wide crown staples and seems to work fine..much smaller and lighter than the other pnuematic guns I have. I bought 40 thousand staples to make sure I had a supply for a while...and made sure they kept them in stock.

I have had the gun for a year or so now and have been quite happy with it..not as many adjustments as other for depth etc but works great.

Hope this helps out.

Shawn

[neile]

If I were buying again, I would definitely get a wide-crown. But I don't do enough volume and narrow crown is what I had handy, so it's what I use.

Neil

[framah]

Mine is a Porter Cable upholstery stapler. One of the best investments I've made. It paid for itself with the first  large canvas I had to stretch.

Around $100 at alot of places.

[dgberg]

Senco SFW-10XP just under $200.00
1/2" Crown staples X 3/8" 22 gauge
They sell staples by boxes of 5000.
Senco will last you a lifetime.

[John Nollendorfs]

http://www.harborfreight.com/20-gauge-wide-crown-air-stapler-68029.html

Only $20, and I've had mine for over two years, and gone through half dozen boxes of 5k staples, which are only $8/5k.

[robertDthomas]

I have a Fasco F1B 7C-16 Stapler that I have used for 3 years with no problems.  No goes for $189 at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037UZOK6/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i01 .  I don't do high volume but have probably done 30 canvas/year.  Pneumatic stapler with a small compressor is a real saver on the hands, time and really can drive the staple into even hard sections of stretcher bars.  The spring operated staplers or electric ones I had used sometimes needed a hammer to drive one or two home/canvas and after a few canvas I had a sore hand from thej manula stapling job.

Staples are stainless so cost a bit more ($40 for 10,000)but no later complaints about rusted staples.  I got them from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OAS648/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?ie=UTF8&m=A21P5132B9FJFP

[Peter McLennan]

Mine is a Porter Cable upholstery stapler. One of the best investments I've made.

I have one too.  I'd never stretched canvas before and this stapler worked perfectly the first time.  Superb tool for not much investment.

4" wide (or so) rubber coated canvas-stretching pliers were my other good investment.  Other than my corners ( )  my canvases all look great.

[Luca Ragogna]

I bought a narrow crown stapler from Busy Bee and it works ok. I have to be careful to adjust the pressure properly before I start but other than that it's ok.  I'll be looking for a new 1/2" crown stapler soon though.

[DotCom Editor]

Is a pneumatic stapler really necessary? An electric is not robust enough?

Air power is not a problem; I have a 150 PSI pancake compressor that I use for varnishing my canvas prints. But, an electric stapler would mean no compressor noise.

[dgberg]

Pneumatic for speed and power.
Use them side by side then decide.

[John Nollendorfs]

electric is slower, lacks the power to fully drive staples in. With a 6 gallon compressor, you can use for stapling, and then use with HVLP spray gun. Buy all three at Harbor Freight for under $100!

[Ken Doo]

My limited experience (I went through two) with an electric staple gun:  Constantly jamming. Limited power to drive the staples in, often not "smooth" to the face of the canvas.  Good riddance!  Pneumatic staple gun is smooth, quick and easy.  Not a single jam to date.  Consistent power and staples are uniformly driven and smooth to the surface of the canvas.