Harbor Freight Reviews

Link: http://HarborFreightReviews.com/HFRreviews.html

Item: Three-Way Tacker Staple Gun Kit
Item number: 96755
Retail price: $9.99
Frequent sale price: $6.99
Best price: $5.99 (with coupon)
Target price: $6.99
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A good price for a decent quality tool. The stapler is pretty much the same as other heavy-duty industrial-type staplers with a spring-loaded slide strip magazine. It shoots standard and U-shaped staples and 3/8" brads. The depth is adjustable by a knob located on the top of the stapler. The spring action is very stiff when set to the maximum depth, but then the staples are driven very hard into the material. In fact, it can drive the staples into the material considerably harder than most similarly appearing and comparably priced staplers. Pressing the handle sets a strong internal spring which releases when the handle has reached the end of its cycle -- boom, the staple has landed.

If you are doing a lot of stapling, you may want to invest in an electric or air stapler because this manual stapler can fatigue your hand pretty quickly on a large project that requires maximum stapling pressure. For the young, macho type or for the slow, methodical type, this stapler may get you through the day. But for us older folks tackling a big project, the pressure required to operate this stapler becomes very tiring after awhile.

Hint: If you are doing a lot of light stapling, it would save considerable hand fatigue if you adjust the depth setting appropriately. More stapling pressure equals more depth but produces more hand fatigue. Those of us who like to always run every tool at its maximum are well advised to remember this hint. Even staplers costing two to three-times this much do not usually have a pressure adjustment, and thus many of us are likely to ignore this important feature.

The kit includes 1000 standard and round staples and 500 brads. The information available online at HarborFreight.com indicates that this tool is covered by their lifetime warranty; there is no warranty information in the product manual. However, watch for a warranty sheet inserted into the box and be advised that the printed warranty on some similar tools has been limited to 90 days, conflicting with Harbor Freight's online information for the same product.

Bottom line: A good price on a heavy-duty stapler which is flexible enough to shoot two types of staples and even brads. Watch for it to go on sale at our target price.