I've found that thefpiercinf frometts don't seld pierce so I preppy chrhe holes what I really hate is usenc my bench mound press to put them in I always give it that extra umf to set them but I hate it I had to come on a take a. Rake before I Finnish a t top.
I have a Stimpson 489-S that I picked up off Craigslist for a couple hundred bucks but Stimpson doesn't make a self-piercing/spur washer grommet so I have to punch holes first. However, the 489S using foot power has plenty of uumph to set a grommet really well. Dang thing weighs a ton and in spite of it's age (I'm guessing maybe 30 to 40 years old), it operates really smoothly.
I looks very similar to the current 479 model
http://www.stimpson.com/model479_machinery.htm?col9=open
June
The shop at one time made tons of net panels for a playground company and all the panels were ziptied to posts through grommets. That contract made it possible to buy a pneumatic grommeter. So nice. Press the pedal once and it punches the hole. Load the die with a grommet and press again to set it. I'm spoiled, and I love it. We do far less panel jobs than we did but it still punches out a quarter every time the hammer drops. Or 50cents for a large spur grommet. Makes putting in a vent in a cushion a no-brainer. And making the flaps for an awning a 10 minute job.
It doesn't look like any of those, much bigger. Like 300lbs. Almost the footprint of a phone booth and only a little shorter.