staple gun from butt caps

S

seb23

Rookie
I know this has been discussed a lot but I just wanted to get some clarity.

Would I be correct in saying their are two options.

1) get a heavy duty manual staple gun to go through the butt cap and pallet

2) get a high powered electric or air staple gun to go through the butt cap, pallet and graphite handle

I have had a look at some electric ones on amazon and judging from the reviews it seems like the lower powered one would not have the power to go through the graphite.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
seb23 said:
I know this has been discussed a lot but I just wanted to get some clarity.

Would I be correct in saying their are two options.

1) get a heavy duty manual staple gun to go through the butt cap and pallet

2) get a high powered electric or air staple gun to go through the butt cap, pallet and graphite handle

I have had a look at some electric ones on amazon and judging from the reviews it seems like the lower powered one would not have the power to go through the graphite.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have tried both options.

Option #1 did not work for me. The Hansen tacker failed miserably.

But the 9.8V Craftsman cordless (old and no longer made but still pops up sometimes on the auction site) works beautifully. Any electric or pneumatic that is as powerful should work just fine.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
seb23 said:
I know this has been discussed a lot but I just wanted to get some clarity.

Would I be correct in saying their are two options.

1) get a heavy duty manual staple gun to go through the butt cap and pallet

2) get a high powered electric or air staple gun to go through the butt cap, pallet and graphite handle

I have had a look at some electric ones on amazon and judging from the reviews it seems like the lower powered one would not have the power to go through the graphite.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

I invested in a pneumatic stapler. They can vary in price but I am happy I made the investment. It is the best way to secure the butt cap through the pallet to the hairpin in my experience. I have had the occasional problem of very strong players having butt caps come loose when not secured with a 1/2 inch staple. A manual stapler is extremely difficult to go through the hairpin. A 1/4 inch staple mostly goes through the pallet only. Most manufacturers appear to secure butt caps with a pneumatic stapler going by the difficulty in removing staples!
 
lwto

lwto

Hall of Fame
When stapling a butt cap, don't you have to go through the soft pallet and through the graphite?

I have seen where if you don't go through the graphite, or frame it self, and only into the pallet mold, the staples just tear up the pallet from the pressure that a player uses when swinging the racquet.

That said, I have always been worried about going through the frame with a stapler as I thought there would be a chance that the frame could be cracked.
 
Last edited:
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
lwto said:
When stapling a butt cap, don't you have to go through the soft pallet and through the graphite?

I have seen where if you don't go through the graphite, or frame it self, and only into the pallet mold, the staples just tear up the pallet from the pressure that a player uses when swinging the racquet.

That said, I have always been worried about going through the frame with a stapler as I thought there would be a chance that the frame could be cracked.
Click to expand...

Hello Iwto!

The racquet manufacturers use the staple size that I mentioned. It is also a 18 gauge staple. When stapling grips the 1/4" is most common and more than adequate. UK Skippy said that the Babolat string team uses a similar staple for butt caps that I use. I have seen a cordless Kyobi stapler that can accommodate the narrow head staples but am not sure how strong it is to drive the staple into the hairpin.
 
o0lunatik

o0lunatik

Professional
The only tools I need are: needle awl, heavy duty staples, and small mallet. Poke holes in the position of the staples through the buttcap sides and through the graphite (but not too far in). Then tap in the staples with mallet. Save yourself from a lot of hassle with stubborn staples bending when it hits thicker and harder graphite material.
 
S

seb23

Rookie
scotus said:
I have tried both options.

Option #1 did not work for me. The Hansen tacker failed miserably.

But the 9.8V Craftsman cordless (old and no longer made but still pops up sometimes on the auction site) works beautifully. Any electric or pneumatic that is as powerful should work just fine.
Click to expand...

The only problem is staple guns that powerful tend to be expensive and I was hoping to avoid paying a lot just for a staple gun. I have enough rackets to staple to warrant buying one but id rather not spend too much.

lwto said:
When stapling a butt cap, don't you have to go through the soft pallet and through the graphite?

I have seen where if you don't go through the graphite, or frame it self, and only into the pallet mold, the staples just tear up the pallet from the pressure that a player uses when swinging the racquet.

That said, I have always been worried about going through the frame with a stapler as I thought there would be a chance that the frame could be cracked.
Click to expand...

Thats my fear, i don't want to mess up a pallet or a foam handle.
 
S

Say Chi Sin Lo

G.O.A.T.
I got it done with the lightest duty staple gun from Office Depot, bought it for $10.

The hardest part is holding the gun firmly while you staple it. Even my $10 light duty gun went through the plastic buttcap and the pallet.

Was it pretty? No, so I took a hammer and hammered it flush. Done.
 
JohnBPittsburgh

JohnBPittsburgh

Hall of Fame
I literally just got a staple gun from Lowes home improvement. Electric, $30, and stapled pallets to hairpin, and buttcap on my Vantage and Angell frames. Worth it! The smallest staples it takes are 6mm, 1/4 in, and they worked fine.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
lwto said:
Hi Geoff!

Some new stuff here, but what is the "hairpin"?
thanks.
Click to expand...

Hi Iwto

I am probably using the term wrong but am referring to the graphite underneath the moulded pallet on frames that have a moulded pallet or that use a 2 piece pallet system (Head and Volk).

Hope that makes sense!
 
Bartelby

Bartelby

Bionic Poster
I got a slightly more expensive Arrow model from a hardware store and yes it was hard to hold the gun in place while it stapled but one needed no hammer.

Office staplers curl the staple, whereas hardware tools plunge it straight in - or so I believe - so hardware store models are preferable.


Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I got it done with the lightest duty staple gun from Office Depot, bought it for $10.

The hardest part is holding the gun firmly while you staple it. Even my $10 light duty gun went through the plastic buttcap and the pallet.

Was it pretty? No, so I took a hammer and hammered it flush. Done.
Click to expand...
 
lwto

lwto

Hall of Fame
Geoff said:
Hi Iwto

I am probably using the term wrong but am referring to the graphite underneath the moulded pallet on frames that have a moulded pallet or that use a 2 piece pallet system (Head and Volk).

Hope that makes sense!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I kinda thought, thats what you meant, but wanted to be sure.

cheers!
 
R

Rob_C

Hall of Fame
Geoff said:
I invested in a pneumatic stapler. They can vary in price but I am happy I made the investment. It is the best way to secure the butt cap through the pallet to the hairpin in my experience. I have had the occasional problem of very strong players having butt caps come loose when not secured with a 1/2 inch staple. A manual stapler is extremely difficult to go through the hairpin. A 1/4 inch staple mostly goes through the pallet only. Most manufacturers appear to secure butt caps with a pneumatic stapler going by the difficulty in removing staples!
Click to expand...
What size air compressor did you buy?? Or did you already have one?? After trying a couple different staplers, I finally got a pneumatic staple gun. Now I just need to either get an air compressor, or find an adapter to work with the portable tire inflator I have.
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
seb23 said:
The only problem is staple guns that powerful tend to be expensive and I was hoping to avoid paying a lot just for a staple gun. I have enough rackets to staple to warrant buying one but id rather not spend too much.
Click to expand...

I bought my Craftsman 9.6V staplers on the bay for about $30 each. They are used but they are the right size for tennis racquets. 3/16-inch narrow crown.

That's not too expensive, is it?
 
D

DevilDog

Rookie
My problem has been the staples are not long enough to penetrate the pallet and the hairpin on a L5 pallet.
How long are the Craftsman staples? The Arrow staples are too short.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
Rob_C said:
What size air compressor did you buy?? Or did you already have one?? After trying a couple different staplers, I finally got a pneumatic staple gun. Now I just need to either get an air compressor, or find an adapter to work with the portable tire inflator I have.
Click to expand...
I bought a DeWalt Air Compressor, 0.3 HP, 120V, 135 psi. Basically the smallest one in their lineup. I have a DeWalt stapler so just stayed within the same family for no other reason. I am OCD and like things to match!
 
zalive

zalive

Hall of Fame
My experience is that restapling is not necessary - wrapping the basic grip firmly is enough to hold the butt cap from falling off. So I didn't bother with restapling or even glueing.
But whoever wish to be certain I guess that applying of few drops of glue on the handle before reinserting a butt cap would do the trick. No need for a lot of glue if you'd like to reopen it easily in the future.
 
Last edited:
D

DevilDog

Rookie
My experience has been, if it is not stapled through the hairpin the butt cap will slowly start working loose.
Are the Dewalt staples longer than 3/8"? All the Arrow staples are 3/8" length and that is not long enough to penetrate an L5 pallet and the hairpin.
 
wsk429

wsk429

Semi-Pro
Although securing the butt cap properly is important, I don't want to solve a $2 problem with a $200 solution.

So how did I do it?
1. Drill two small holes with the tiniest drill bit.
2. Tap a staple into holes with butt of flat head

I spent $2 because I could not buy a single staple from a box of 200.
 
moon shot

moon shot

Hall of Fame
DevilDog said:
My experience has been, if it is not stapled through the hairpin the butt cap will slowly start working loose.
Are the Dewalt staples longer than 3/8"? All the Arrow staples are 3/8" length and that is not long enough to penetrate an L5 pallet and the hairpin.
Click to expand...

I use the Arrow T50 Heavy-Duty that has a all chrome finish. I use a long bessy clamp from the top of the racquet to the butt cap to make sure it is firmly flush. I staple on bevel 2, 4, 6, and 8 at a diagonal angle and tap them flush with a tack hammer.

Commonly available staples have a variety of crown widths, but are typically 3/8ths legs. The ones I pulled from my wilson racquets look to be 1/2 in. legs. As I recall when I measured it the size was a 'finishing' staple that I'd need a airgun to drive. Depot has 9/16 x 3/8 crown and 1/2 x 3/8 crown. They are hard to find in the store but are listed online.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
DevilDog said:
My experience has been, if it is not stapled through the hairpin the butt cap will slowly start working loose.
Are the Dewalt staples longer than 3/8"? All the Arrow staples are 3/8" length and that is not long enough to penetrate an L5 pallet and the hairpin.
Click to expand...
The DeWalt staples are available in various lengths. I use the 1/2" staples which are what is used by most manufacturers.
 
Christian Olsson

Christian Olsson

Professional
zalive said:
My experience is that restapling is not necessary - wrapping the basic grip firmly is enough to hold the butt cap from falling off. So I didn't bother with restapling or even glueing.
But whoever wish to be certain I guess that applying of few drops of glue on the handle before reinserting a butt cap would do the trick. No need for a lot of glue if you'd like to reopen it easily in the future.
Click to expand...
Double adhesive tape under the butt cap helps as well.


Völkl super g 10 295 (now 330 g with og and dampener) in search for string..
 
R

Rob_C

Hall of Fame
zalive said:
My experience is that restapling is not necessary - wrapping the basic grip firmly is enough to hold the butt cap from falling off. So I didn't bother with restapling or even glueing.
But whoever wish to be certain I guess that applying of few drops of glue on the handle before reinserting a butt cap would do the trick. No need for a lot of glue if you'd like to reopen it easily in the future.
Click to expand...

DevilDog said:
My experience has been, if it is not stapled through the hairpin the butt cap will slowly start working loose.
Are the Dewalt staples longer than 3/8"? All the Arrow staples are 3/8" length and that is not long enough to penetrate an L5 pallet and the hairpin.
Click to expand...
I actually lost a match once where the butt cap came loose, I had glued it lightly. Since I onviously didn't have time to deal with it during the match, I had to finish with another racket which hadnt been restrung in months.
 
R

Rob_C

Hall of Fame
I bought a Campbell Hausfeld staple gun from Walmart, for about $30-35, also got the air compressor from Walmart for about $60. I ordered the staples from either Lowes or Home Depot for $5, free shipping to the store. Works perfectly. The reason I needed it is cause I was gonna be switching pallets on my Head rackets and wanted to make sure they were secure.
 
zalive

zalive

Hall of Fame
Rob_C said:
I actually lost a match once where the butt cap came loose, I had glued it lightly. Since I onviously didn't have time to deal with it during the match, I had to finish with another racket which hadnt been restrung in months.
Click to expand...

So it seems that they have to be restapled, or at least heavily glued...
I realize now I'm specific, since I was brought to attention these days that players usually hold their sticks much more by holding it by the butt cap than I do. I guess I don't create such pressure by holding the stick not at the very end.
 
D

DevilDog

Rookie
Geoff said:
The DeWalt staples are available in various lengths. I use the 1/2" staples which are what is used by most manufacturers.
Click to expand...
Thank you!
I ended up with a Ryobi 18v Narrow crown stapler(Not cheap). I used the Dewalt 1/2" length staples, they are basically OEM staples from the racquet manufacturers.
Took a little bit of time to get the power on the Ryobi correct. But, it put the staple in through the fat part of the butt cap, easily through the hairpin where you can see each leg or the staple inside the hairpin.
 
S

SkeeterSCU

New User
scotus said:
I bought my Craftsman 9.6V staplers on the bay for about $30 each. They are used but they are the right size for tennis racquets. 3/16-inch narrow crown.

That's not too expensive, is it?
Click to expand...
We've run out of the Craftsman staples for our 9.6V Craftsman staple gun. Craftsman has discontinued this gun and staples. Any idea where to get the same size staples that will work in this gun?
 
S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
SkeeterSCU said:
We've run out of the Craftsman staples for our 9.6V Craftsman staple gun. Craftsman has discontinued this gun and staples. Any idea where to get the same size staples that will work in this gun?
Click to expand...

You need to go to the carpeting area of Home Depot and pick up the staples for Duo Fast.
 
S

SkeeterSCU

New User
I did go there a while back, but I think the Duofast they had were 3/16" x 9/16" long (longer than we want, as we're looking for 3/16" x 5/16", which is apparently an odd size. I could be wrong, and will check
again. Thanks.
 
C

ccjta

Rookie
I don't use staple gun anymore, use a hot glue gun. It keeps the butt cap in place very well and won't come loose.
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
DevilDog said:
Thank you!
I ended up with a Ryobi 18v Narrow crown stapler(Not cheap). I used the Dewalt 1/2" length staples, they are basically OEM staples from the racquet manufacturers.
Took a little bit of time to get the power on the Ryobi correct. But, it put the staple in through the fat part of the butt cap, easily through the hairpin where you can see each leg or the staple inside the hairpin.
Click to expand...
Hello @Devil_dog
Is the Ryobi stapler cordless or do you need a compressor?
 
topspn

topspn

Legend
Geoff said:
I invested in a pneumatic stapler. They can vary in price but I am happy I made the investment. It is the best way to secure the butt cap through the pallet to the hairpin in my experience. I have had the occasional problem of very strong players having butt caps come loose when not secured with a 1/2 inch staple. A manual stapler is extremely difficult to go through the hairpin. A 1/4 inch staple mostly goes through the pallet only. Most manufacturers appear to secure butt caps with a pneumatic stapler going by the difficulty in removing staples!
Click to expand...
I used a manual staple but i tried to find long staples. What was difficult is finding a staple gun that fits staples that are narrow but long. Narrow enough to fit the width of the bevels on the butt cap. Yet long enough to go through cap, pallet and graphite. Please share the professional wisdom
 
Geoff

Geoff

Hall of Fame
topspn said:
I used a manual staple but i tried to find long staples. What was difficult is finding a staple gun that fits staples that are narrow but long. Narrow enough to fit the width of the bevels on the butt cap. Yet long enough to go through cap, pallet and graphite. Please share the professional wisdom
Click to expand...
I have some Hansen staples that are long enough but the Hansen tacker is not strong enough to drive the staples into the hairpin to secure a butt cap. Also the staples used for the pneumatic stapler are a thicker gauge.
 
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