Tackers
Impressive performance, safe operation and quick on the trigger
Electric tacker – indispensable aid for hobby and professional applications
An electric tacker is bound to be found in the basic tool kit of every do-it-yourselfer and professional craftsman, for it makes working much easier and can even partially replace hammers and nails, provided it is equipped with an additional nailing function. This way, your future renovation measures or the newly covered piece of furniture easily become reality without much effort. But what should you pay attention to when purchasing an electric tacker, and what can you do with it?
What can an electric tacker be used for?
Electric tackers and cordless tackers are mainly used for interior decoration, e.g. for stretching a canvas, fixing textiles, or covering upholstered furniture. Small-scale woodwork requiring fine nails to be driven in can also be accomplished using electric tackers.
Their advantage compared to conventional handheld tackers is obvious: On the one hand, staples and wire nails are “shot” into the material with considerably more power, thus requiring less effort. On the other hand, electric tackers can also be used to process stable materials such as plastics, artificial or genuine leather – something that would turn into extremely hard work with a handheld tacker.
How does an electric tacker work?
The principle of an electric tacker is quite simple: staples or wire nails are filled into a magazine and driven into the material one by one at high speed each time the trigger on the device is pulled. A good tacker can thus handle 20 to 30 staples per minute. It is important to make sure that the tool rests on the material completely straight to avoid oblique or uneven insertion of staples. After each shot, the next staple is automatically pushed into position in the device. Therefore, manual reloading is not required.
Electric tackers with a power cable are suitable for continuous operation and particularly powerful. If you wish to use your tacker in many different places – e.g. in the garden or garage –, purchasing a cordless tacker might be worthwhile. It has no cord and can thus be used everywhere in a particularly flexible way.
What staple size to choose?
The answer to this question depends on the purpose of application. One has to consider both the width and the length of the staples. The width is predefined by the model, i.e. the user has no choice here. Regarding the length of the staples, however, you can have your say. For simple stapling tasks with an electric tacker, for instance for paper and cardboard, a staple length of 6 mm is perfectly sufficient. If you want to use the electric tacker for wood, however, the staple should have a length of at least 14 mm to ensure stable and permanent results. The general rule is: the tougher the material, the longer the staples should be.
What is an electric tacker?
An electric tacker is used to drive staples or wire nails into wood and other materials in order to durably bond them. While each staple or wire nail had to be injected into the material separately in former times, modern electric tackers now allow for considerably faster and more reliable working. The electric motor provides the electric tacker with sufficient power to pierce even tough materials.
What is important when purchasing an electric tacker?
Not all electric tackers are the same, as you will see when taking a glance at the equipment features. This is why we would like to briefly present what to pay attention to before the purchase:
- The magazine: the larger the magazine, the more space it provides for staples and wire nails. If you want to use your electric tacker quite frequently, the magazine should therefore be generously dimensioned. Electric tackers are available as bottom, top and rear loaders. With the bottom loader mechanism, however, reloading and exchanging staples for wire nails or vice versa is more convenient.
- Size and weight: while a large magazine may be advantageous for prolonged operation, it can also make the tacker too large and too heavy so that working with it becomes an ordeal. A handy electric tacker should weigh no more than 1 kg to enable comfortable working over longer periods.
- The trigger: a distinction is made between two variants here. With the first variant, the staple is released at the push of a button, so you always have the device under full control. In case of the second variant, the staple is driven into the material as soon as the tacker guide nose is pressed down. This may be more convenient during operation, but it is also a little more dangerous since the tacker may be released accidentally, for instance when putting it down incorrectly. To prevent the latter from happening, high-quality electric tackers are fitted with a so-called “safety nose”, which only allows triggering if the nose is pressed down on the workpiece with sufficient pressure.
- Safety mechanism: an absolute must for every tacker. After all, the safety mechanism ensures that the electric tacker is not triggered inadvertently. As soon as you have finished working with the tacker, you should lock the tool to prevent injuries.
- Filling level indicator / window: this features allows you to check when the magazine needs to be refilled.
Brand quality plus cost-efficiency
DIY enthusiasts and professionals alike are thrilled by the tackers’ high-speed release and excellent wielding characteristics. When it comes to quickly and reliably attaching a number of materials to wood – whether for fastening textiles, leather, foils, cardboard or even wood – the devices defy all competition. Be it for the professional attachment of insulating foil, remodelling your attic, fastening the rear panel of your wardrobe, upholstering a chair, affixing canvas onto a frame or putting up chicken wire in your garden – tackers are an indispensable aid for various fastening applications.
Until now, however, you basically only had two options when choosing a tacker: either good but expensive, or mainly cheap. With their PTNS range Trotec provides avid do-it-yourselfers and pros with a selection of equally wieldable and quick-firing tackers for safe and professional fastening operations.
Trotec’s PowerTools now offer a smart choice: good price, good product and good design – all in one.
HighPerformance in every respect, for we do not only stand for measuring devices and air conditioners, but also for power tools of brand quality: professional Trotec solutions with an excellent value-for-money ratio!
All electric tackers in direct comparison:
To find the electric tacker which exactly meets your requirements, please consult the concise overview of all electric tackers from Trotec, which we're providing to you here so that you can compare them directly to each other.
Models which you do not wish to include in your comparison can be easily dismissed with only one click.
