Best Electric Staple Gun For Upholstery

Once you’ve noticed that sofas in your living room are exhausting while the couch is no longer bold enough to invite you in,  you may be thinking about reupholstering them. what is the best electric staple gun for upholstery? That is the question.

That’s a good thought, but if you want to go for a DIY upholstery project, you’d need the best electric staple gun for the upholstery to help you with the jobs.

If this is your first time in upholstering, you better get familiar with the stapler, which is the primary tool in upholstery work.

Types of staple gun for upholstery

There are three major types of staples widely used in the upholstery industry, including manual staple guns, electric staple guns, and pneumatic staple guns.  The main differences between these staple guns are the power sources that drive the gun’s mechanism to insert staples to the surface.

Manual Staple Gun: It’s the manually operated staple gun that makes use of the elasticity and spring mechanism for the operation that heavily relies on your muscle strength.

Manual staple guns are pretty similar to office staplers except that it doesn’t have a base plate. When operating a manual staple gun, you’d need to use your palm for pressing down on the trigger while wrapping the stock with your fingers.

Electric Staple Gun: This kind of staple gun uses electric power to operate, whether from the primary power grid or battery. Electric staple guns have a trigger that you only need to pull to insert staples into the working surfaces, and there’s no need to put pressure.

The motorized mechanism allows the staple gun to operate at a higher yet consistent velocity when inserting staples. Electric staple guns, It’s a category of staple guns powered by compressed air that’s sent from an external compressing machine through an edge-to-edge clamped hose.

Generally, provide more consistent results and require less effort to use than manual staple guns in general.

Pneumatic Staple Gun: This setup allows pneumatic staples to insert staples into more complex working surfaces that make it ideal for heavy-duty projects like wood flooring.  It’s robust and more durable than its electric counterparts, but pneumatic staple guns are the most expensive among the others.

Electric vs. manual staple gun for upholstery

Staple guns are widely used in upholstery, but you might have wondered whether electric staple guns or manual staple guns are best for the job.  Pneumatic staple guns might be too expensive for DIY upholstery projects, so you’re left with the electric and manual options. What to choose? You better consider several factors.

Manual Staple Gun

Manual Staple Gun is the cheapest solution to insert staples in upholstery material. With a built-in spring mechanism, you can squeeze the trigger to operate a manual staple gun. You’d use your palm to apply pressure to the motivation to engage the mechanism and drive the staples into the worked surface.

Ideal Application

Manual staple guns are ideal for particular upholstery jobs. When you’re working on woodworking projects that need precise stapling, manual staple guns provide you with better control than electric staple guns.

In general upholstery jobs, you can use a manual staple gun to put up flyers and fast objects together. The staple gun is also a helpful home repair tool.

Pros

Manual staple guns have advantages for upholstery works. If you’re on a budget, they’re affordable options available in the market. It’s a straightforward tool for stapling jobs that only require a solid arm to operate.

As they have no cord, you can have more flexibility when working on your upholstery projects. Some products already have an ergonomic trigger and rubber grip for a more comfortable operation.

Cons

Some manual staple guns come with a stiff trigger that makes them so tiring and challenging to operate. The stapling consistency entirely relies on your hand power, and they would typically waste more staples during operation.

Electric Staple Guns

Electric staple guns come with an electric mechanism that does the stapling job. You only need to pull the trigger to engage the tool’s mechanism to drive the staples to the material.

This kind of staple gun is widely used in upholstery works due to its consistent and powerful performance. You can use electric staple guns for installing walls, flooring, carpet, roof insulation, and so forth.

Ideal applications

You can use electric staple guns when you’re dealing with thin and fragile materials as well as joint light-duty projects.  It’s an excellent choice for stapling upholstery works where precision isn’t the primary concern.

Electric staple guns are also ideal for light-duty work in manufacturing and home improvement projects.

Pros

The electric mechanism in the staple gun does the stapling job for you while you only need to pull the trigger. You can save time and energy to complete lengthy upholstery projects with an electric staple gun.

It delivers consistent pressure when stapling, which gives you a consistent result on the worked materials. Today, some electrical staple gun products are available at a more affordable price.

Cons

You’d need an electrical source to operate this staple gun, and the cord reduces your flexibility when working on upholstery projects.  Cordless electric staple guns could be the solution, but they’re typically more expensive and less potent than corded counterparts.

When using an electric staple gun, you don’t have much control over the stapling performance like using a manual one.

Review section: Top 5 Electric Staple gun for upholstery

1. STANLEY TRE550Z

STANLEY TRE550Z is a heavy-duty electric nail gun and stapler powered with two-power settings(high and low).  You can use the compatible Sharpshooter TRA700 staples from Stanley or Arrow T-50 heavy-duty staples.

STANLEY TRE550Z can fire 1/2, 9/16, and 5/8 inch brad nails with powerful driving performance as a nail gun.  It works perfectly on both hard and soft materials as you can only adjust the power level.

It comes with an anti-jam mechanism and low-broad indicator for efficient, hassle-free nailing and stapling operation.

Top Features

High Driving Power: Designed for heavy-duty works, STANLEY TRE550Z comes with a powerful firing mechanism.

Hi/Low Power Setting: This feature allows you to use STANLEY TRE550Z on hard and soft materials, a rare feature on comparable staple/nail gun products.

Flush-nose design: You can staple surfaces in tight spots or corners that provide more solid joints between materials.

Amenities:  Enjoy the anti-jam mechanism and low-brad indicator for an efficient operation

Pros

• Heavy duty but with two power levels
• Stapler and nail gun in one tool
• Work on hard and soft materials
• Ergonomic grip design
• Limited lifetime warranty
• Affordable

Cons

• Some issues in the driving power
• Not for rapid stapling/nailing
• No bag included

2. PORTER-CABLE Upholstery Stapler

PORTER-CABLE Upholstery Stapler is a pneumatic stapler that uses 22-gauge(US58) of Senso C. The cartridge can cater to 3/ crown staples with 1/4” – 5/8” long and load up to 185.

You can use the stapler with most air compressors as it works with 70-120 PSI air pressure. The included 1-inch nose extension allows you to reach tricky areas. You can quickly resolve jams in the open position as the drive guide is linear with the magazine. It’s an exact stapler product for upholstery work.

Top Features

1. Handy and Lightweight: With only 1.75 pounds and 14 inches in length, the PORTER-CABLE stapler allows an easy stapling operation and prevents you from fatigue for extensive uses.
2. A rear exhaust port allows you to keep the hose in the back position and prevent complications when stapling.
3. Nose extension: You can reach less accessible spots or corners with a 1” nose extension included in your PORTER-CABLE Upholstery Stapler purchases.
4. Big Bottom-Load Magazine: You can load up to 185 staples in the magazine, and it’s designed for quick to reload.  When you open the magazine, you can clear possible jams as the driver guide moves back with it.

Pros

• Solid construction for better performance and durability
• Reliable performance for upholstery jobs
• The quick jam clearing feature is super helpful
• Works on hard wooden materials
• Universal compressor compatibility
• Best value of money

Cons

• Some staple compatibility issues for standard works.
• Additional investment in the compressor isn’t optional if you currently don’t have one.

3. ROBERTS 10-600

ROBERTS 10-600 is a 20GA electric stapler that caters to 3/16 inch crown staples. It comes with a 15 Amp solenoid that delivers a powerful drive for stapling.  The manufacturer designs the stapler for home improvements and upholstering works.

Your purchase would include a spacious carrying bag so you can bring other tools along with the staple gun. ROBERTS 10-600 has a low-profile head that allows you to access narrow spots. The cartridge can load up to 85 staples with lengths up to 9/16 inches, but it’s recommended to use Surebonder or Duo-Fast staples to avoid jamming.

Top Features

Powerful Drive: 1500watt power input that drives a 15 amp firing mechanism makes ROBERTS 10-600 one of the most potent electric-powered staple guns available in the market.

Fast Reload: Even though the image is considerably small, it comes with a bottom-loading design with a quick-release feature so you can reload staples instantly.

Heat-treated hammer mechanism: It works well for stapling more expansive surfaces and for more extensive upholstery projects without heating issues.

Pros

• Works fine for upholstery and home improvements
• Powerful drive and accurate
• A carrying case is included
• Comfort use

Cons

• Pricey among comparable electric stapler products
• Durability is questionable(as reported by some customers)
• Low magazine capacity
• QC issues

4. Arrow T50ACD

Arrow T50ACD is a corded electric staple gun powered with a patent-pending motor ideal for light-duty on upholstery, crafts, decorating, and general repairs. The compact electric staple gun comes with a bottom-loading magazine and a quick-release mechanism that allows quick operation. The oversized trigger eases the operation while you can keep peace of mind with the contact safety feature.  You can use genuine Arrow T50 staples from 1/4” to 1/2” for Arrow T50ACD.

Top Features

Bottom-load, quick-release magazine: Arrow T50ACD has an excellent magazine system for an electric staple gun that allows you to load and reload staples in no time.

Oversize trigger: It’s a simple but ultimate feature where you can engage the staple gun with a squeeze. You won’t fail to staple your target in one attempt.

Contact safety: The tool won’t drive a single staple until it makes contact with the surface. This way, you can’t accidentally fire a pin to an undesirable target surrounding you.

Pros

• Safe stapling operation with the contact safety feature
• Easy stapling with oversized trigger
• Good for light-duty projects
• A diverse range of compatible, genuine staples from the manufacturer
• Electric staple gun that requires no additional compressor to operate

Cons

• Patent-pending motor for light-duty works
• Some QC issues
• Not so cheap for the functions

5. Makita XTP02Z

Makita XTP02Z is a 23GA cordless electric pin nailer powered with an 18V Li-ion battery.  The nailer drives six different lengths of 23 gauge pin nails including 5/8″, 11/16″, 3/4″, 1″, 1-3/16″,and 1-3/8” but 1-1/4” pin nails aren’t supported.  The pin nailer adopts the so-called Tool-less depth adjustment that allows countersinking and flush nailing to finish more precisely with the anti-dry fire mechanism.  Makita XTP02Z’s magazine can load up to 120 pin nails.  The cordless tool comes in units only where the battery is sold separately or at other Makita power tools in the ecosystem.

Top Features

Anti-dry firing mechanism: it’s an engineered mechanism in the pin nailer that reduces recoil and allows less force to drive the pin nails on the worked surface. The refined mechanism prevents the gun from firing blanks and delivering damages to the worked material.

Contact Trigger button with lock: This advancement delivers a more accurate and precise nailing operation.

Tool-Less Depth Adjustment: You wouldn’t need any tool to adjust the nailing depth with Makita XTP02Z.  This setup allows you to have a more precise finish with a countersink and flush.

Large Magazine Capacity: The cartridge that can load up to 120 pin nails allows you to minimize reloading when working on upholstery projects.

Built-in LED light: Help you illuminate the worked area to do precise nailing on the worked surface.

Pros

• Cordless electric upholstery pin nailer
• It needs no compressor or electric power source
• Advanced features
• Perfect for fine upholstery work

Cons

• 18v Battery isn’t included
• Expensive

What to looks at before buying an electric staple gun for Upholstery

Electric staple guns are widely available in home improvement stores or e-commerce platforms. With an extensive range of products on the table, you need to choose the best suitable electric staple gun carefully. Check our buying guide below:

Durability

When it comes to upholstery, you need a durable electric staple gun for extensive operation. These usually refer to the materials and construction of the tool. Metal-built staple guns are generally more durable, but the ones built with ABS plastics also do a great job. Some reviews may also inform you of the durability of the electric staple gun.

Weight and design

You may also consider the weight and design of the staple gun for some reasons. Lightweight guns minimize fatigue when used for larger scales of upholstery jobs. We strongly recommend getting an electric staple gun with an ergonomic design that gives you better handling and more flexibility.

Staple Size

As you’ve seen above, staple guns cater to different staple sizes. While general-purpose staple guns typically use narrow-crown 3/8” staples, you may need other staple sizes for your projects. At this point, you need to ensure whether or not the electric staple gun can load the length of staple you need.

Corded or Cordless

Electric staple guns come with a power cord that runs on AC power(corded) and the ones that run on battery(cordless). Corded electric guns provide a more constant power supply, but the cord limits your flexibility, and you need to ensure an AC power outlet in the working area.

Cordless electric staple guns offer more portability with power in the attached battery, but they’re typically less powerful and more expensive than their corded counterpart.

Safety

An electric staple gun could be a dangerous tool to now employ more safety features on their products. You better choose the staple gun with a contact safety feature that would fire the staple as it contacts the surface/material.  Reliable electric staple guns already have the bump or contact trigger for safe use.

Price & Warranty

Electric staple guns come in different price ranges that generally refer to other qualities. However, it’s great if you can find a staple gun that’s the best value for your money. Since this is about an electric staple gun, you better get the one that comes with a warranty. Price should be your last consideration when shopping around, but you must upfront technical specification and functionality of the tool.

How does an Electric Staple Gun Work

An electric staple gun works with an automatic stapling mechanism via a solenoid where you only need to pull the trigger to drive the staple into the worked surface.  This kind of staple gun can provide consistent staple firing, while some also work with brad nails.  Corded and cordless electric staple guns work in the same way, but there might be some differences among products available in the market.

1. Load/reload the staple gun magazine with the new staples. You must unplug the power cord or remove the batteries for safety reasons.
2. Newer electric staple guns typically have a quick-release mechanism where you can release the tray instantly for reloading.
3. Insert the new sets of staples to the tray at the upside-down position
4. Install the magazine tray back to the body properly and put on the safety lock whenever available.
5. Plug the power cord into the power outlet or put the battery in for cordless staple guns
6. Please turn on your staple gun and posit it correctly on the surface you want to staple. Firm your position and press the trigger to drive the staple into the material.  If your electric guns have a trigger lock, then you’d have to release it first before making another shot.
7. Once you need to make adjustments, be sure to unplug your power cord/battery.
8. If things already work well, you can now continue stapling to complete your projects.

Can I use a narrow crown stapler for upholstery?

When it comes to upholstery projects, you’d need a tool for fabric applications.  A narrow crown stapler would be too powerful for the job as it would get through the covering material.  You better use a broad crown or upholstery stapler with a 3/8 inch 22 gauge for this job. You may use a narrow crown stapler for some jobs in upholstery(like when dealing with the woods) but not for your fabric’s works.

FAQ

Is an electric staple gun better than a manual?

What you need is the best suitable staple for the job. A manual staple gun is ideal for quick repairs, crafts, and light-duty work. However, you may need an electric stapler for larger projects like installing roofing insulation, walling, flooring, carpeting, or upholstery.

Are the electric staple guns more powerful than others?

Compared to manual tools,  electric staple guns are more powerful and tend to deliver more consistent stapling power as it has a constant power supply through the power cord.  However, electric staple guns are less powerful than pneumatic staple guns that operate with an air compressor.

Can you use a regular staple gun for upholstery?

It would help if you had a staple gun for upholstery works that can load 22 GA staples in its cartridge or the broad crown. You can use narrow crown staples(18GA) for particular tasks, but the wide crown is the main staple you need for upholstery.

Are electric staplers worth it?

Electric staple guns are generally more costly than manual tools. However, it would be a worthy investment if you work on DIY upholstery and general home repairs. Some electric staple guns can also fire brad nails and tacks that make them more versatile than a manual stapler.

Final Word

In upholstery projects, electric staple guns are a beneficial tool that allows you to complete stapling tasks faster.  They’re generally more powerful than the manual stapler and deliver consistent performance.  Not all electric staplers are suitable for upholstery, but only the best electric staple gun for upholstery or wide crown staples are ideal for the job. Generally speaking, electric staple guns provide a consistent stapling result for upholstery works.