Electric Staple gun for furniture upholstery?

[tiffanefields]

Will the Salco F15/7116 Electric Tacker #7 3/8" Crown work for furniture upholstery? I owned the Maestri ME 3G, but it no longer works. I'm trying to decide which one would be the best, I prefer electric staple guns. Both of these staple guns are available on this forum. Thanks in advance for any helpful advice.

[sofadoc]

Don't know much about either brand. Most of us around here are air gun people. I've had a few electric guns over the years (for doing in-home service calls). I don't remember any of them lasting very long.
I had one that would kick the circuit breaker in most homes if I used it with an extension cord.
The owner's manual clearly said "DO NOT USE WITH AN EXTENSION CORD".
The cord on the gun was shorter than the average sofa. So I'm supposed to plug it into the wall, and move the couch back and forth? And the product was labeled as an  "Electric Upholstery Stapler".

Some electric guns just don't have enough drive power for harder wood frames.
The Duo-Fast brand electric stapler is probably the best on the market, but it cost over $400.

What are your reasons for preferring electric?  Portability? Less noise? No space for a compressor?
If you can work around these reasons, I think you'd be happier with pneumatic.

But if you must have electric, these sub-$100 guns will probably have to be replaced periodically.

[Mojo]

Like Dennis mentioned I tried an electric staple gun and it didn't drive the staples worth a dang into wood. I went to an air stapler and that did the trick. Much better set on the staples versus the electric ones.

If your going to be using a staple gun in upholstery work I suggest an air operated one and not an electric one. You can pick up a 1/2 crown air stapler at harbor Freight for less then $ 20.

Chris

[gene]

I was a bit intimidated by an air compressor when I first got one, years ago. It looked and sounded like it could blow up and kill me.

When I bought my first compressor I always wanted people standing around talking to me when I used it so if it blew up it would kill them and not me.

In terms of cost, a compressor and pneumatic staple gun are way to go.
In terms of staple gun performance, ditto.
In terms of ease of use, ditto.
In terms of looking kool like you know what you are doing, ditto.

Whatever you buy, I think you are on the right track by buying from the folks on this forum.

gene

[baileyuph]

Duo-Fast electric is a good gun.  The current version, I understand is very good.  I have the previous version, used it regularly for many years and it works fine without ever a breakdown.  Don't question the reliability of the gun if it meets your purpose.  It is expensive because of its quality. 

It is essential for me when I do mobil work. 

It will do the job on furniture made today, wood isn't hard as it was years ago.  Since it is more wood sensitive, I try to have all sizes of staples in stock.  That way, a shorter staple is easier to drive home when the issue is hard wood.

Which is better for a shop, air systems of course, but for mobile work, the electric gets the job done.  Better than wagging a small air system around and creating all the noise.

I never use the electric in the shop, more efficient and adaptable for complete reupholstery work, irrespective of the wood the stape is driven into.

More specific to your question regarding the other brands, no experience with those.

Doyle

 

[kodydog]

The first question I would ask is are you a do it yourselfer or a professional.

If your doing it yourself and only planing to do one or two jobs then the electric stapler is probably the way to go.

If your in the trade or planing on starting a business then I would take the money your going to spend on the electric stapler and put it toward a pneumatic system. And if your just starting out the new equipment doesn't have to be the biggest or the best, just something to get you going. You could get a small compressor and upholstery type gun for under $400. This topic was brought up before on the forum,

http://get-up-and-go.com/upholstery-forum/index.php?topic=11009.0

My electric stapler is made by Meastri model ME and cost near $300. Its made for upholstery work. The cord is 10' long. I only use it for remote jobs because it is much slower than my air gun and not as powerful. And when I use an extension cord it gets worse. It takes a lot of power, all at once to drive a staple. And an extension cord (even a heavy gauge one) robs some of that power.

Good luck.

[sofadoc]

This looks like the one that my Grandmother had when I was a kid:

  http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUO-FAST-ELECTRIC-CARPET-STAPLER-TACKER-ENC-5418-USED-TOOLS-UPHOLSTERY-/260988090130?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc41a3712

I've told this story before. She saved up for years to buy this gun. In the mid-60's, 200 bucks was a ton of money to pay for a tool like that. Once she did, she had no further use for my Grandfather. His tack-spitting ability was the only reason she kept him around, because when his mouth wasn't full of tacks, it was full of whiskey.

She divorced him shortly after acquiring that stapler. At the divorce hearing, it was the only thing they fought over. She hid the gun under her dress as she walked home every evening. It was easily her most prized possesion in the world.

She gave me that old stapler when she retired. She made a big deal about it, as if it was her legacy to me. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I had little or no use for it. I already had a slew of air guns by then.

Like Kody said, it had less power on an extension cord.

[Bob T]

I do have an air stapler, but I'm most fond of my Makita battery powered stapler.  It is surprisingly capable and it can do quite a few staples on a single charge.  I use the air stapler when I have lots of work, but when I can, I much prefer the Makita.  No cord and no hose make it really convenient.  Like almost all Makita tools, it's built to last.

[sofadoc]

I do have an air stapler, but I'm most fond of my Makita battery powered stapler.  It is surprisingly capable and it can do quite a few staples on a single charge.  I use the air stapler when I have lots of work, but when I can, I much prefer the Makita.  No cord and no hose make it really convenient.  Like almost all Makita tools, it's built to last.

My experience with most battery powered tools is that when the battery needs replacing, the new ones cost almost as much as the whole rig.
Like with cordless drill/driver sets. A new battery cost $40. For $70, you can get a new gun, charger, and battery.
I used to carry a battery powered stapler on service calls. I also carried a hand stapler as a "backup" in case the battery stapler crapped out on me. I almost always ended up relying on the hand stapler to finish the job.
I realize that battery powered tools perform better if you use them regularly, instead of maybe 10 minutes a week, and then plug them back into the charger. It's best to exhaust them completely before recharging.
I have several Makita tools. They ARE very good.

[byhammerandhand]

Just a couple of odd observations by an odd person:

When I was starting out, I looked seriously at that Duo-Fast electric stapler, even haunted eBay for a while.   It appeared the most common user was carpet installers who stapled down the padding.   I ended up going with an $90 pneumatic gun and a cheap (free) compressor.

Shortly thereafter, I hired an upholsterer to go with me on a hotel job.  We had a bunch of rooms to fix up their newly installed furniture and it pretty much had to be done between 11 am and 5 pm between when guests were checking out and new ones checking in.    My buddy had a cordless stapler.  On his first chair, the battery died.   He swapped in a new battery and it only lasted for the rest of the chair.   It was also slow -- instead of a bang-bang-bang, it was a bang, whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, bang, whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, etc.    I  ran out to the van to get my portable compressor and gun.   The next day, he had gone out and bought a portable compressor.  Shortly thereafter, I was working at a house where there were some trim carpenters with Paslode cordless finish nailers.  My same thought -- a 50' hose and you could reach anywhere in the house and work much faster.

I agree on the battery issues -- it's just nuts, why should two batteries cost 50% more than a new tool, new case, new charger and two new batteries?   Even to have them rebuilt at Batteries+Plus or the like is about half the cost of the tool with two new batteries. The last cordless drill I bought is a Ridgid that I bought solely because  it has a lifetime service agreement on batteries and other expendable parts (brushes, etc.)

[sofadoc]

I was working at a house where there were some trim carpenters with Paslode cordless finish nailers.  My same thought -- a 50' hose and you could reach anywhere in the house and work much faster.

Don't those cordless Paslode nailers have a propane cylinder?

I tried a Co2 cylinder with my upholstery stapler on a job site once. The kit came with a regulator, and coil hose that attached to your belt. The box said you could drive about 700 nails on one cylinder.
NAILS, mind you! Not little 22 ga. 3/8" staples. So I figured that I'd get a 1000 shots on one cylinder. I got abot a 100. Took it back to Lowes the next day for a refund.

Yup, I remember that old "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,bang" all too well. Only with mine, it was more of a "Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,thump" (a very subdued thump).

[MinUph]

This looks like the one that my Grandmother had when I was a kid:

  http://www.ebay.com/itm/DUO-FAST-ELECTRIC-CARPET-STAPLER-TACKER-ENC-5418-USED-TOOLS-UPHOLSTERY-/260988090130?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc41a3712

This is a great gun. I've had mine for 30 years and only replaced the cord a couple of times. I bought it before going to air and used it thereafter for repairs onsite. It is heavy but solid. For $40.00 it is a steal. If the auction is still going on. There is also a narrow crown version that wouldn't be good for upholstery unless you needed the narrow crown at times.

[bobbin]

I own a DuoFast electric staple gun.  It's great but it's heavy!  I now use it only when I really have to. 

I recently added a pneumatic gun to my "aresenal".  The long nose one sold at the top of the page!  NO contest when it comes to "choice".  I'll go for pneumatic over electric any time I can.  The pneumatic gun is so much lighter that fatigue over the course of day is virtually nil. 

I already had a compressor (pancake by Porter Cable) and my brother and I recently installed PVC piping to bring compressed air into my shop.  The compressor powers the pneumatically driven functions of my Juki walking foot machine (automatic trim/presser foot lift/touch back reverse) so it was a no-brainer to tie into it and add a pneumatic stapler.