Manual (or?) stapler that doesn't jam all the time?

[Paul F Franklin]

I'm lining the elevated garden beds I made last fall with geotextile fabric to keep the dirt in but let water drain.

I have an Arrow T50P "Heavy Duty" manual stapler and I'm using branded arrow T50 stainless staples (1/4 leg). The thing is frustrating beyond belief. I can't count the number of times I almost hurled it into the woods. At least 4 or 5 times per "stick" of staples, it misfeeds or something and jams on a mangled staple that has to be pried out. If I don't then release the magazine and dump out the staples and replace them, it will just jam on the next staple. When I dump the staples, there is always a short group of them that has broken off which now has to be tossed. I am only putting full sticks in the stapler. I'm just stapling the fabric to the cedar wood I built the beds out of; it's not like it's oak or Ipe.

I have a pneumatic narrow crown stapler that never jams, but narrow crown staples don't work well with the geotextile.

So, if anyone can recommend a manual (or pneumatic, or cordless, but medium or wide crown) stapler that is reliably jam free, I'd love to hear about it.

[Adam Herman]

have this one, never a jam. the grex is supposed to be the best though.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200328526_200328526?cm_mmc=Google-pla&utm_source=Google_PLA&utm_medium=Air%20Tools%20%2B%20Compressors%20%3E%2 0Air%20Tools%20%2B%20Accessories%20%3E%20Air%20Nai lers&utm_campaign=Surebonder&utm_content=259600&&lid=92700049133393914&ds_s_kwgid=58700000666743339&ds_e_product_group_id=785434129816&ds_e_product_store_id=&ds_e_ad_type=pla&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000001662305&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmpb0BRCBARIsAG7y4zat0Agk-2w_ZfYAbQvBpFsanF3CfgILoBR5DVWYT7QeYVx7ZyyOd-YaArFiEALw_wcB

[Joe Hollis]

I have an Arrow electric staple gun that I bought about 6 or 7 years ago that has worked perfectly and never jammed. I just looked at it, and there doesn't appear to have a model number on it, which is kind of odd. It might be an ETFX50, based on images on the internet. I can't comment on the merits of the newer/replacement models though. It certainly beats using a manual staple gun if you have more than a few staples to install.

Regards,
Joe H.

[Bruce Page]

I had one of those and hated it. I did a landscape project needing Lots of staples and bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Arrow-Fastener-HT50P-Hammer-Tacker/dp/B00004Z2K0
I put a couple thousand stapled through it and it never jammed once. Very easy to use, like swinging a hammer.

[roger wiegand]

I bought this one (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WSI7IY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) a while ago. It was relatively cheap, but has worked flawlessly for both my piano/organ work and some reupholstering projects. I'd never go back to a manual one, my hands can't stand it any more.

[Paul F Franklin]

I had one of those and hated it. I did a landscape project needing Lots of staples and bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Arrow-Fastener-HT50P-Hammer-Tacker/dp/B00004Z2K0
I put a couple thousand stapled through it and it never jammed once. Very easy to use, like swinging a hammer.

Bruce, I do have a hammer tacker similar to that one. In this case I'm stapling to the edge of the boards in a tight area without room to swing it.

[Bruce Page]

The T50 wouldn’t be practical in that case. I’m not a fan of HF but I have a couple of their nail guns that I bought for some fence work. They were cheap enough, I figured I’d just toss them if they died. They’re still working, although the 16 gage does jam occasionally. Might be something to consider.

[Curt Harms]

The T50 wouldn’t be practical in that case. I’m not a fan of HF but I have a couple of their nail guns that I bought for some fence work. They were cheap enough, I figured I’d just toss them if they died. They’re still working, although the 16 gage does jam occasionally. Might be something to consider.

I have a Harbor Freight T50 pneumatic stapler. I haven't used it much but no jams and it'll drive a 1/2" staple flush into an oak board. There's no safety like there are on nail guns but that seems to be common on the wire staplers.

[Ole Anderson]

I have the HF pneumatic version as well. I used it to staple pool table felt. Worked like a champ, but I had to run the compressor at about 50 psi or it would overdrive the staple in poplar. Not a bad thing.

[Geoff Crimmins]

May dad has a Porter-Cable pneumatic stapler that I've borrowed several times. It's always worked great for me. I'm not sure if they still sell it or if the quality may have changed since Black & Decker bought P-C. I've also used an electric stapler, maybe an Arrow? In any case, it was awful, and frequently didn't put the staples in tightly.

[Adam Herman]

May dad has a Porter-Cable pneumatic stapler that I've borrowed several times. It's always worked great for me. I'm not sure if they still sell it or if the quality may have changed since Black & Decker bought P-C. I've also used an electric stapler, maybe an Arrow? In any case, it was awful, and frequently didn't put the staples in tightly.

we have an electric one as well, it's terrible.

[Tom M King]

I took back the last couple of Arrow guns that I bought. I have a very old Craftsman, that is still completely reliable, but even with any kind of lubrication, it's still a Beast to squeeze the handle on. It has two settings, but only the stronger one is consistant.

The last one I bought that works okay, is a Stanley. Stanley TR150HL SharpShooter


I have pneumatic ones too, including one fully automatic one (yes, full auto) that holds four strips of staples, but sometimes, you need the manual one.

I will say that I still have a couple of old Arrow hammer staplers that still work fine.

[Dan Rude]

I have issues with my Arrow T50 too, it didn't jam but just hard to use. I am using a manual Dewalt is easy to use, I like it. https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-Heavy-Duty-Compact-Staple-Gun-DWHTTR130LH/204269388 I have a cheap Surbonder pneumatic stapler. https://www.amazon.com/Surebonder-9600B-Pneumatic-compressor-needed-not/dp/B000EOJPC6 I haven't used much but worked well when I used it. it was only about $40. Dan

[Pete Staehling]

I have had decent luck with various HF pneunatic staplers and nailers as long as I avoided their staples and nails and always figured that the ammo was usually the biggest cause of problems so the fact that the Arrow T50 had problems with it's own brand of ammo is kind of a surprise to me.

I have a Power Shot Pro that uses Arrow T50 staples that has worked flawlessly for me. It has the backwards action that puts the pressure all on the staple. I find that works well once you get used to it and makes some sense. Mine was bought quite a few years ago and doesn't have the Arrow brand anywhere on it or the case. I see that the ones on sale now are labeled Arrow Power Shot Pro. i am guessing they bought out Power Shot Tool. Not sure what that means for the quality of the current models.

My recollection of an old Arrow T50 that I used to own before the Power Shot is that the Power Shot is much nicer, but that is a LONG time ago so my memory is hazy.

[Derek Arita]

I have that same Northern Tool Pneumatic Stapler and love it. I've always been frustrated by my T50 staplers and finally found the answer in that pneumatic stapler.

[Paul F Franklin]

Circling back with an update: Fellow creeker David Burda suggested I try longer staples (I was using 1/4"). He explained that the short staples have a tendency to flip upside down as they tear off the strip because the short legs aren't enough to keep them in alignment in the nose. And I did notice when the gun jammed the jammed staple was usually upside down, so his explanation made sense. The only other size of stainless staples I had was 5/16, only a bit longer, but I tried them and it did reduce the frequency of jams quite a bit. I'll bet a 3/8 or 1/2 would eliminate the issue completely.

The story doesn't quite end there, because before I heard from David I had picked up a Milwaukee M12 system cordless staple gun. I already have some M12 tools so it was attractive and reviews were good. A stapler is one of those tools that I tend to use in multiple locations, some far from the shop, so I was attracted to cordless vs. pneumatic.

Well, it's a wonderful tool if you have a lot of stapling to do. A bit on the heavy side (although I had one of the bigger M12 batteries in it), but worked like a charm, even on the 1/4" staples. Not a single jam after a few hundred staples. It has driving force adjustment and dry fire lockout (which is really nice to have). Single shot or bump feed. I finished up my garden project and now I won't be dreading the next time I have to run a bunch of staples.

Thanks to David and to all who had suggestions for good tools.

[Jim Barstow]

This is timely

I just finished building a large 18’ x 12’ walk-in cage for our blueberries. It had a pressure treated frame with wire mesh stapled all around. I started using my Arrow corded stapler. Complete junk. I ended up buying a Makita cordless stapler. (It drives T50 staples.) I drove about 3000 1/2” stainless staples. The only ones that failed did so because a leg hit the mesh. It was a joy to use. Highly recommended