Staple Gun to Install New Seat Skins

[jgutzy]

Hello,

I have a new set of seat skins on order from Chee and need some suggestions from tose of you who have done this job before. I will be replacing all the plywood bases with the HDPE plastic (star-board) material. I have been told that a hand stapler and an electric stapler will not work to drive staples into the plastic seat bases. I was told only a pnuematic stapler will work for this job. IS this true ?

What staple gun did you use ?

What size/guage staples ?

What length staples ?

Any suggestions to help with the installation process would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your input,

Jgutzy

[Pistol Pete]

I really think you should have a professional MARINE upholstery person do the job. There's more to it than just 'remove and replace'. You have to stretch the material a certain way to have it come out right. Also, you'll want the nice finished trim over the staples which you probably didn't get.

[SmoothWaterMan]

Duo-Fast - Stainless staples - check your upholstery supply houses in the area.

[Madmanacrossthewater]

Duo-Fast - Stainless staples - check your upholstery supply houses in the area.

What Peter said.

It isn't very hard, we do them here on a weekly basis. SS Staples are a must.

Edited March 4, 2006 by Madmanacrossthewater

[BBeakley]

I just did this on my rear center seat that was separating at the seam. I have a plain ol' Arrow T-50 style hand stapler and it worked just fine (although I got a blister...). I searched a while to find SS staples and came up empty but Home Depot carried an Arrow brand staple made of Monel (alloy of Nickel and Copper) that they claim is rustproof, we'll see. Anyway, I got the 3/8" length staples and they matched what I pulled out. The new staples sunk right in. I only had to tap a few of them flush with a small hammer where they were over a seam in the vinyl. I suspect if you had the new ergo hand stapler where the force to squeeze the handle also pushes on the stapler head it would go even easier. I see no reason to buy a power stapler unless you'll be doing a bunch of pieces. For 1-2 cushions though the hand stapler is fine.

If you have the patience to remove all the old staples, installing the new cover isn't that hard. I had a heat gun to help stretch the material on but only used it on one corner. I still need to trim off the excess and install the beauty strap but that won't be hard.

[wienrdog]

I was able to find SS Staples in a few lengths at our local Sears hardware store. They had various lengths, I bought several and used those closest to the staples I took out - (3/8" I think).

I can't remember which staple gun I used, but it did require a hammer to seat many of the staples flush.

[mrothwell]

slight hi-jack, but along the same lines:

For re-carpeting the bunks of the trailer, is a T-50 staple long enough to hold the carpet on well?

[BBeakley]

In the Arrow brand staplers the T-50 designation indicates the width and type of crown on the staple. A T-50 staple can come in various lengths. I've seen 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" at the local stores here. I would think the 3/8" would be the bare minimum for a trailer bunk. Probably want a 1/2" for added hold although if you might have to tap them in with a hammer if you use a standard staple gun. The new backwards handle guns might sink them all the way in.