Long arm stapelers

[Amy]

I got a $25 amazon gift card for christmas, and was thinking about getting a long arm stapeler. This one (http://www.amazon.com/Stapler-Standard-Staples-SPR01316-Category/dp...) popped up, but according to the reviews it's not good for anything over, say, fifteen pages.

How many pages would you guys recommend? Most of my zines are about 24 pages (12 sheets) but I don't want to buy one that I will just need to upgrade in a few months.

[St. Joshua Norton Press]

I got the Stanly Bostich back in 2005. It works mostly reliably --- once or twice a year I have to make a slight adjustment to the little springy metal bit that pushes down the staples, but other than that works just fine.

[Jechoniah]

I've used this booklet stapler and never had any problems. I like that I don't have to fuss with lining the staples up with the spine. http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Bostitch-Standard-Capacity-B440SB/dp/...

[Amy]

*thinks a minute* The excange rate is... $1.6 Euro/USD? Ugh we're so sunk. Anyway. Do you know if they ship to the US?

Catherine Elms said:

Long-arm staplers are the shit, I love mine. Definitely a good investment. I've got a 20-sheet one, which is probably more than I'll ever need for zines, but I know you can get 25 ones for roughly the same price. Here's mine (Amazon.co.uk, sorry): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Long-Arm-Stapler-Sheet/dp/B000I6PNMG/....

The way it works is this: imagine a regular stapler with the top half (where the staples lie) mounted on a long flat arm of metal, which then connects to the base at the other end, and the base stretches to meet the underneath of the stapler's teeth (the base on mine is around 16 inches long). So you can fit A4 pages under the stapler easily (say for example, you wanted to staple a halved piece of A3 paper together like a magazine, this would be handy) because the pages fit under the metal arm and don't interfere with the stapler bit at the other end. Does that make sense?

If you're after a cheaper effective way of assembling zines, my friend sews hers together using black thread and a needle. As long as you sew it from top to bottom and tie a knot at each end, then it'll hold everything together beautifully. :)

[Amy]

I've seen that one. THat one gets good reviews too. I like the ridge- it's always exactly on the spine. :)

Jechoniah said:

I've used this booklet stapler and never had any problems. I like that I don't have to fuss with lining the staples up with the spine. http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Bostitch-Standard-Capacity-B440SB/dp/...

[Elaine]

I've got that one. It can go through 10 pages plus a card stock cover ok, but yeah, going thicker than that you don't have much control.

[thugs of the heart]

i have the one you linked to, and i've never had a problem with it. it does just what it's supposed to. i've kind of lusted over those saddle-shaped booklet staplers, but i actually don't have a good reason to get a fancier one.

having the right equipment just makes everything much more fun!