This testament to the quality of this tool may be how many times I've either had it stolen. For under 20 bucks you get a stapler that will work perfectly -- not a single jam -- until you 'lose it'. Great for stapling screen, fabric or any material into wood as well as other light surfaces. I've used it for a variety for household repair project and I suspect it is great for craft things as well.One note: if you are going to use this to tack telephone cable or electrical wire I would highly recommend buying the T-25 instead (it wasn't on Amazon at the time of this review, but I suspect it will be here soon.) That model has curved staples and a guide to feed the wire, resulting in a much lower chance of puncturing through the insulation. It is very good for hiding all the assorted self-installed 'networks' and 'audio systems' in your house.Though I see other ergodynamic versions are available, I truly don't believe that there's much to improve on -- this tool is pretty much perfect. Arrow Fastener T50 Heavy Duty Staple Gun
The Arrow T50 staple gun used to be a simple, dependable tool. I had one for 20 years and never had a problem with it. My staple gun disappeared from the job site, now I know why -- the old ones worked, the new ones are junk! After 2 hours of frustration trying to tack insulation, jams every few minutes with Arrow brand staples -- I took a hammer to it! Save your money and buy something else!
In response to previous reviewers' observations that this tool jams frequently, it is a fairly cheap tool. For the money, I find it to be a value. Although advertised as "Heavy-Duty" this tool is not for contractors requiring a heavy use stapler. But for small jobs, it fits the bill nicely.
I used my Arrow T50 today to secure some indoor/outdoor carpeting to a flight of porch stairs. Throughout the more than 120 9/16" staples (the tool's maximum allowable size), I experienced zero jams.
So get this stapler if you're a homeowner or occational user. Contractors needing a heavy-duty tool for roofing, vapor barrier, or similar applications where many fasteners are needed quickly, get a hammer-stapler or "slap-tacker" like the Arrow HT50PBL. Happy fastening.
I understand this product is cheap, but for me, it's just too shoddy to justify purchasing at any price. It's frustrating to use and it's just plain stupid that Arrow would tell anyone this thing is "Heavy Duty". Compared to WHAT? A Swingline desk stapler? At least the Swingline does what you expect it to do. The Arrow does NOT. It bothers me to see "Made in America" on a shoddy product.
What's OK: This stapler is OK for extremely light use. How light? Think of the easiest thing you could ask a staple gun to do. That's what this thing can do, no more. For example, I had a very cheap wooden folding screen (made in China of soft pine) that had gotten scratched up by the cat, and I was able to attach nice looking upholstery to it with the Arrow stapler. In that application, with the soft pine wooden frame flat on a table in front of me and the stapler pointing straight down through one or two layers of thin material, I got only occasional jams. The 1/4" staples generally did penetrate the wood enough. I was also able to re-affix some torn couch upholstery in a very similar manner - more or less pointing straight down, into soft pine, through one or two layers of cloth. That was the one application that this thing worked for. It still jammed sometimes, but not too bad. That earns it one star.
The other star is because this stapler soldiers on. You can pry staples out of it (and you will be prying, believe me) and though time consuming and annoying, it won't break the gun. I've pried probably hundreds of staples out of this thing and it doesn't seem to be getting any worse than it was when it was new. So at least its reliably sucky.
BAD SIDE: The above example is honestly the only thing I've figured out that this stapler can do. It is terribly jam-prone when used at any angle other than straight down, and its extremely weak, regardless. What in the world does "Heavy Duty" mean to the marketers at Arrow?
Attaching insulation to new white pine wall studs: C-. Lots of jams, especially at the beginning of every strip of staples. I had to split every strip in two to prevent constant jams at the beginning of the strips. Staples could be driven about 1/4" reliably, but if you need any more penetration than that, you'll need to do constant touch ups with a hammer.
Attaching insulation to older red pine studs: D-. Good luck! Old red pine is a definite notch harder than plantation grown white pine from Home Depot, but its softer than hardwoods or plywood. In any case, it's too hard for this stapler. 80% of the staples either jam right in the mechanism or barely go into the wood, so that you have to bang them with a hammer just to get them properly seated in the wood. Even 1/4" penetration was a challenge for this thing.
Plywood: F. My girlfriend tried to use this thing to staple a carpet sample to a piece of plywood to make a scratching post for the aforementioned feline. No go. The staple gun was hard for her to operate due to the high squeezing force needed, and it was too weak to get the staples into the plywood anyway.
Diagonal/ceiling rafters/overhead work: F. No only is the staple gun quite weak, but any angle seems to multiply the chance that the pusher slips off the top of the staple. It works on occasion, but you get about ten to one screwing around time vs stapling time. That isn't good enough for a "D".
Ergonomics: C. The way the tool is shaped, you hold it so your fingers grip the flat inner portion and your palm sits about halfway up the handle, parallel to the grip, but obviously not parallel to the angled handle. So as you squeeze down, not only is it harder then necessary because you're squeezing the middle of the lever instead of the end, but it also sort of forces your hand forward on the slick chromed surface of the handle. It's especially noticeable with work gloves. It takes more power then it should and it causes rubbing on your hand, resulting in sore hands and even blisters after extended use (I got blisters from the upholstery project, though it did take about 2000 staples). It's not super hard, but it could easily be better.
Overall, I don't care how cheap it is. Who wants a staple gun that only works in super light duty applications and that jams up extremely often? Manual tools like this are thick solid steel, with only very simple moving parts, so they're going to last. You don't buy one and then toss it a year later. You ought to keep it forever, more or less. You might as well get one that will work nicely on a variety of jobs right off the bat so you don't have to either buy another one or struggle with a frustrating one for years until you give in an buy another one anyway. I give it two stars because there might be someone who honestly only needs a few dozen staples at a time in soft materials, and for that, this tool is fine. But "Heavy Duty" is just wrong.'
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