Which upholstery stapler (Porter Cable or Grex)?

[Frank Martin]

I need an upholstery stapler to re-stretch some canvas paintings we purchased. It has been a long time since I purchased any pneumatic tools. I see there is a PC and a Grex one, not sure if there are others. Prefer to stay away from PC as I am not sure of long term parts availability.

To give some context, I will use this infrequently, but still would like to get good quality without going all the way to the top.

[Tom M King]

Senco. probably better than PC, and cheaper than Grex. I've had good luck with them.

[Mike Henderson]

I have the PC. No problems with it. If you're going to use it hard, I'd suggest the Senco or Grex. My use has been light.

Mike

[Frank Martin]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did a bit more research and ended up ordering a Fasco brand. It is made in Italy and costs similar to Grex and Senco and had lots of great reviews on Amazon. Hope it turns out as good as the reviews.

[lowell holmes]

Enlighten me.

What is special about an upholstery stapler?

My pc narrow crown staple gun has an adjustment for changing the set. Won't it be ok for leather on plywood?

My PC nailers are several years old. I don't know that I would purchase any new PC tools.

I will be making a seat for a chair on my bench.

[Curt Harms]

What is special about an upholstery stapler?

The term 'upholstery stapler' seems to be applied to guns that shoot staples that look like a heavy duty version of desktop paper staples. I was looking at guns recently and find there are two sizes - T50 which look to be about .4" crown and 1/2" wide crown staples (Duo-Fast?). I think the wire is around 20 ga. Surebonder labels T50 sized staples #4, Duo Fast sized #6. If there's a gun that'll shoot both, I haven't found it.

http://www.surebonder.com/subcat.asp?prod_cat_id=21

[Rich Engelhardt]

As an FYI - Grex products, aside from their excellent line of 23 ga pin nailers, have a horrible reputation.

Edited to change the above to:: Grex products, aside from their excellent line of 23 ga pin nailers, had a horrible reputation. It seems Grex may have turned things around in the last few years and are putting out a better product.

I found that out the hard way.

I jumped all over a half price deal on a Grex 15 ga. nailer a few years back. It was one of those types of sales that if you waited more than a min or two, you got shut out.
After I bought and paid for it, I searched for information and was surprised at how much negative feedback Grex products get.

As near as I can figure, Grex only makes the 23 ga guns and they outsource everything else from China.

[lowell holmes]

Thanks Rich,

I guess my manual stapler that shoots T50 staples will do the job.

However, there will be folds of leather over foam that will be tough (I think) to penetrate and set. I expect to final seat the staples with a small hammer.

[Tom M King]

The only Fasco stapler I have is an automatic one that shoots T50s. You put three long strips of T50s in it, and it will shoot them all in about 6 seconds. It works fine.

[Jim Becker]

The term 'upholstery stapler' seems to be applied to guns that shoot staples that look like a heavy duty version of desktop paper staples.

Yes, in a sense that is correct...staples for upholstery work are wider so they provide a longer horizontal component to hold the material to the substrate. They may be as fine as typical "desk" staplers or be heavier staples similar to the narrow crown staplers we sometimes use in furniture production.

[John Gornall]

The OP is stretching art on canvas. My shop does this every day. We use Paslode staplers - cheap and light weight. Light is good when you have stretching pliers in one hand, a stapler in the other and are moving the canvas stretcher frame edge to edge. Also a very flexible and light airhose. Cheap is good - we replace the staplers about every 1000 stretches. Canvases get thinner every year and it takes care not to drive the staple through the canvas. I empty the stapler, connect the air and pull the trigger. Holding the trigger with the driver extended I grind it off flush. This usually gives me the drive I want but on some staplers I have to remove the driver and grind off a little more. Controlling depth with air pressure doesn't work because wood varies in density. You want enough pressure to drive the staple home and home to be the right depth without cutting the canvas.

[Mike Wilkins]

I got a decent stapler for upholstery work from the local Horrible Fright store. Since I do not work with upholstery often, I could justify the purchase. Worked well so far.

[Justin Coon]

I got a decent stapler for upholstery work from the local Horrible Fright store. Since I do not work with upholstery often, I could justify the purchase. Worked well so far.

My wife and her mom have an upholstery business on the side. They use the guns from HF exclusively. There are many times when it makes sense to spend extra money on a tool for added functionality, but IMO this is not one. Since you plan to use infrequently, you should be happy for a long time with this cheapy. When it does eventually wear out, buy another and you probably won't be anywhere near the cost of a higher dollar model.

[Stan Calow]

I have to do this occasionally, and hate to drag out the compressor. I use one of those electric Arrow brand staplers that shoot T-50. Works fine.