Stapler of the Week Archive- Rexel Giant

Rexel GIANT steel, rubber, and plastic

Some stapling jobs require specialty staplers.  In the binding of booklets and documents there are saddle staplers, long reach staplers, and high capacity staplers such as the Rexel GIANT. The GIANT can staple up to 100 sheets with the largest of the three staple sizes it uses.  In order to drive and close a staple through that many sheets its necessary to have leverage.  It's all-steel construction is able to complete this operation where the plastic handle construction of the ACCO 131 eventually failed.  On the base, a sliding stop controls the distance of the staple from the edge of the paper and is adjusted by a wing nut on the underside.  In fact, a great deal of the stapler is constructed not with rivets but with nuts and bolts.  All of this is evidence of quality and design of a product meant to last, no planned obsolescence here.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, June, 8, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Milwaukee M12 Crown Stapler

Milwaukee M12 Crown Stapler plastic, steel and electronic components

Perhaps the Milwaukee M12 Crown Stapler belongs more on a tool blog rather than here, but I feel it has a place.  I have owned a great many manual staple guns and used them for stretching canvases and household projects.  Three years ago I assisted in the installation of a twenty-eight foot high painting from Mexico.  In order to transport it, the canvas had to be removed from its stretcher, rolled and re-stretched upon arrival for display.  This experience proved the value of a good electric or pneumatic stapler but I could not quite justify acquiring an example of the industrial electric staplers lent to us by the textile conservation department.  Yet when I saw Milwaukee introduced a portable electric stapler, I bought one.
It is a much less strenuous experience than using the Arrow T50 stapler of my college years although it conveniently uses the same staples.  The action cycle does not allow for rapid repetition of stapling but also does not have the problem of double-stapling I have with the sensitive trigger of my pneumatic crown stapler.  It's not often when so many of my interests overlap so completely in one object that is useful, practical, aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to use.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, May 27, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Mercury Sr.

Mercury Sr. steel chrome and grey finish

The Mercury Sr. appears to be the patriarch of the Mercury stapler family.   Like the previously featured Arrow 210, the Mercury Sr. is an incredibly versatile stapler.  It's anvil rotates to provide three stapling configurations: stapling, pinning and temporary stapling.  In just moments the upper portion of the stapler can be removed from its base and used as a tacker to put up announcements on your office cork board.  I am partial to the swooped detail of the plunger cap that echoes the winged mercury emblem.  As the Roman god of shopkeepers and merchants, travelers and transporters of goods, I imagine Mercury would've appreciated a good stapler now and then.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, May, 12, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Zenith 561

Zenith 561 steel gold and beige 

The fabrication of staplers has changed throughout their history.  Early models were often made from heavy metal castings and those of today frequently feature injection molded plastics.  The Zenith 561 comes from the era when sheet metal was punched and formed by big presses and then assembled with slots, tabs and spot welds.  In my youth, my father was a punch press operator at the Tonka Toys factory and this stapler exhibits the same assembly  techniques used to make those iconic trucks.  Its interesting to ponder the order of the stapler's assembly and how each part comes together to its finished state.  

Zenith 561 stamped details

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, May 6, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Swingline 790

Swingline 790 plastic, steel, rubber

Swingline 790 plastic, steel, rubber

I have always enjoyed Swingline staplers for their sturdy metal construction much akin to the Tonka trucks of my youth.  At some point it must have become more profitable to forge the stapler of plastic rather than steel.  It was the same with Tonka trucks but the cost savings are lost in quality and longevity.  For example, here are two very nice Swingline 790 magazine staplers composed of at least 80% plastic.  Unfortunately, that plastic construction is liable to fail as is apparent on the white 790.

On the positive side, the 790 is innovative in both form and function; undoubtably, Swingline must have won some design award with it.  First off as a magazine stapler, the staples are coiled in a removable 5000 staple cartridge which is also used on several of Swingline's electric staplers.  Instead of a wire spool, the cartridge is a coil of flat glued staples from which the stapler separates the staple and forms legs to be crimped in the anvil.  On the mechanical scale of complexity, it's one step between a normal strip and a wire spool stapler.  On the Stapler of the Week scale it ranks just between nifty and very cool.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, December 19, 2010.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Novus B 7

Novus B 7 steel chrome, cream and gold finish

For your stapling pleasure, I present to you another simple yet elegant example from the Novus company.  The B 7 mirrors the design of the B 22 including the push button spring action loading.  The color scheme is a bit warmer than the blue and grey of the B 22 and coincidentally, it matches the corrosion of the steel.  Sometimes these happy accidents happen.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, July 16, 2010.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Markwell "SX" Pacemaker

Markwell "SX" Pacemaker steel and rubber

Markwell "SX" Pacemaker box cardboard and paper

Markwell produced staplers with lettered staple size classifications and the "SX" Pacemaker marks another staple size not yet featured here.  It has some great ergonomic features from back when ergonomics were just called good design.  The base is completely rubber so there's no worry about this stapler sliding anywhere.  There is a  wedge-shaped plunger that makes stapling a pleasure.  I don't know if Markwell still honors its free service claim cited on the box but this stapler promises to keep the pace for years to come.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, July 9, 2010.

Stapler of the Week Archive- ACCO 131 Frankenstapler

ACCO 131 steel, plastic

This stapler is one example of why I love my job.  On occasion, staplers get broken and they come to the workroom to be mended by the "Fiddler."  Usually it's only a staple jam or a slight adjustment, but sometimes greater measures are required as evident in the repairs needed by this patient.  Apparently, plastic was not the best design choice for the handle of a heavy duty stapler.  Maybe someone tried to staple one too many sheets of paper but in any case, this stapler was very close to making a trip to the dumpster.  With the addition of two mending plates, some machine screws, a bit of paint and some thumb tacks, this ACCO 131 was reborn as Frankenstapler.  There's no telling what's next in Frankenstapler's future, it's already mended the sandal of one research assistant.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, May 28, 2010.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Swingline 77B

Swingline 77B (without and with base) steel and plastic chrome finish

Swingline 77B steel and plastic chrome finish

Two years ago I bought a small pink and chrome Swingline 77B stapler and had a feeling it was missing something.  I had seen other 77 models with molded plastic bases which seemed to complete the picture.  Yet, the bottom of this 77 seemed too finished to be encased in plastic.  Finally I happened upon a complete red and chrome 77B and later acquired this ivory and chrome example.   One might ask who needs a stapler separate from its base.  The most obvious answer is so that the base can be fastened to an out of the way surface and house the stapler when not in use.  As the stapler slides into the base it locks in place so this mounting surface could be on a wall or even a ceiling and the stapler would hold fast.  I mean this stapler could even be used in space.  Now there are other wall-mountable staplers out there, but the 77B is by far my favorite yet.

 

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, November 8, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive-Apsco 3003 & 4004

Apsco 3003 chrome and hammered gray finish

Apsco 4004 chrome and hammered gray finish

Here are two more models from the Apsco line. Each has the same sleek design as the Apsco 2002 featured September 14, 2008.  The 3003 is a smaller version of the 2002, retaining the austere Scandinavian design of the "deluxe executive" model yet scaled to fit the proportionately smaller surface area of the non-"deluxe executive" desk.  This in contrast to the recently featured Swingline No. 3 which is really only  a shorter version of the No. 4.  The 4004 is the "dual-purpose" model, for use as a plier, tacker or desktop stapler.  Two more examples that fall under the "great things come from Sweden" category.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, November 2, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Swingline No. 3 & No. 3C

Swingline No. 3 steel & plastic gray finish

Swingline No. 3C steel, plastic, and wood black finish

Swingline No. 3C (bottom) steel & wood black finish

I have previously featured the Swingline No. 4 and the No. 3P, yet only mentioned the No. 3. Here are two examples of the more compact workhorse that was no less wide-spread. It's no rarity, but as with the No. 4, the design is among Swingline's best. At the museum where I work, there are many examples of the gray No. 4 still in use which certainly can attest to the quality of its manufacture and design. The No. 3C, above, an earlier example, has the black finish, early plastic plunger and a wood base.  Its finish is similar to another No. 4, also previously mentioned here.  When I first saw a No. 3C, I did not expect to base to be as finished as it is.  I include an image of it to show its simple yet elegant inscription and rivet attachment.  It reminds me of how Michelangelo said he freed the figures from the blocks of stone he carved.  Perhaps inside this block of wood, a streamlined Sphynx-paw base lurks...waiting for its freedom.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, October 11, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Arrow Commander

Arrow Commander steel blue and corroded finish

The Arrow Commander is by no means a remarkable stapler. Like the Markwell RX-45 and Neva Clog staplers featured March 2, 2008, the Commander components are punched and formed from sheets of steel. When I was in elementary school, my father was a punch-press operator for Tonka Toys in Mound, Minnesota. The simplicity of design and construction found in the Commander reminds me of those early Tonka trucks I played with in my youth. It's really quite interesting to wonder at all the products made of pop-rivets and sheet metal. One need only to add some real rubber wheels and my friend Gary in Duluth might add it to his annual Tonka window display.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, April 6th, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Markwell RTP

Markwell RTP steel chrome finish

Markwell RTP steel chrome finish

The Markwell RTP is remarkable for its ornate engraved decoration announcing everything you need to know about it. This engraving lets you know which and how many staples you'll use, how far you have to insert the paper to put your staple up to 4 inches from the edge, where you need to press to operate the stapler and perhaps most importantly "RTP" is the nickname you'll use for your Markwell stapler. I can't say what "RTP" is short for aside from the fact Markwell used similar model names such as the RX, RF, RB, along with many variations on these model initials by adding extra numbers or letters. In addition to these intitals, some models were also given additional nicknames, such as the Staple-Master, the Pacemaker, the Handi-Clip and the Staple-Robot to name a few. In any case, the RTP is a very memorable stapler.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, March 22, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Novus B 22

Novus B 22 steel two tone grey and chrome finish

Novus B 22 box printed cardboard

There seems to be a pattern in my stapler collecting. A lot of my favorite staplers designs come from German designers or manufacturers and Novus has been making staplers there since 1949. Along with Novus, Leitz and the previously featured Elastic are some other German stapler manufacturers of note. The Novus B22 is a straight-forward design, staples load in front by operating catch in rear, conversion to tacking means merely opening up the stapler and switching from staple to pin requires only to move the anvil in the desired direction. Nothing too fancy here, but the muted greys are soothing and very pleasing to the eye.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, January 26, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Hotchkiss 122A & 122-P

Hotchkiss 122-P steel chrome and grey finish

Hotchkiss 122-P box cardboard with printed paper label

Hotchkiss 122-A steel, pot metal, and plastic black finish

Hotchkiss 122A box printed cardboard

Here is a comparison of two different versions of the Hotchkiss 122 series manufactured in two different eras. I first consulted my wife/resident objects expert regarding the 122A and the first words out of her mouth were, "war-time relic." Rationing applied to all the essentials of life such as food, clothing and yes even stapling. I've seen Swingline staplers from the same era made from similar materials including bakelite and even wood. The 122-P by contrast has very little in variety of material. It's design is the same with the exception of it's plier stapler foot, but the construction is a bit more refined. A comparison of the box designs is also of some interest. The 122A box is simply printed cardboard box whereas the 122-P has a two part box with a printed paper label attached. Another example of this style of box can be found with the Hotchkiss No. 52, Stapler of the Week, January 19, 2008. All in all two very interesting staplers and as the nickname "Bantam" suggests, they're small yet powerful.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, January 19, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Arrow 210

Arrow 210 green and chrome finish

The Arrow 210 was introduced to me last fall by a fellow stapler enthusiast but I hadn't come across an example until recently. The 210 was most likely designed and manufactured in good old Brooklyn, NY and has a few really interesting features that sets it apart from other desktop models. The most interesting has to be the anvil plate which is triangular in shape and offers not just two but three staple settings: staple, pin and temporary staple. Staples load from the rear, the top opens with the release seen on the side and to top it all off, instead of simply hinging open for tacking, the entire top comes off. Another notable feature of this 210 is the area on top of the stapler holds a plastic plaque which could be engraved with your company name. On the whole it is quite a nice desktop stapler.

Excerpt from The Stapler of the Week, January 5, 2009.

Stapler of the Week Archive-'BABE'

Parrot Speed Fastener Corp 'BABE' chrome finish with corrosion

This little 'BABE" has, as you can see, a lot of history. I'd been on the look out for an example since seeing examples featured by the Early Office Museum and by the Stapler Exchange. The 'Babe' was manufactured in Germany and distributed in the U.S.A. by Parrot Speed Fastener Corp, which later became Swingline. The 'Babe' features a sliding paper stop allowing the user get every staple the same distance from the edge of the paper. Another notable design aspect is the way the stapler shifts from stapling to pinning. Instead of the anvil plate moving, the entire top of the stapler moves at the hinge pin between two positions. The whole process seems just a bit difficult to me, but who am I to question the stapler that started an empire.

Excerpt from The Stapler of the Week, December 19, 2008.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Apsco 2002

APSCO 2002 chrome and black finish

The APSCO 2002 is yet another interesting example of the international lines of stapler manufacture. APSCO, or the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Company, was known, as its name suggests, for its line of pencil sharpeners*. Staplers appeared to be a sideline. The brochure detail below mentions the 2002 's manufacture from "Swedish steel" and leads me to believe it was actually manufactured by Isaberg-Rapid. The Rapid Classic 2 is identical in design as I'm sure there are many others (including the Rexel No 560 Beaver, featured February 7, 2008). The 2002 also bears the inscription TORONTO, ONT, CAN. I haven't found any APSCO-Canada connection yet.

detail from 1953 "The APSCO Line" brochure
found at Leadholder, the online drafting pencil museum

* It's main sharpener competitor was the Boston Specialty Corporation. There were many manufacturers as shown in the Early Office Museum's mechanical pencil sharpener gallery, but APSCO and Boston seemed to come out on top. APSCO was first absorbed into the Berol Corporation in 1969 and Berol was in turn absorbed by the Sanford Corporation in 1995.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, September 14, 2008.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Neva Clog D-30

Neva Clog D-30 brushed metal finish

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my Neva Clog D-30. I can't tell you how long I've wanted this stapler and the sold price listed at DecoWorld.com led me to believe it was somewhat out of my reach. Fortunately, I found a much less expensive, yet less pristine example.

Patents for this stapler (2087242 and 2041523) list the inventor as Earl C. Bunnell (born c.1895, died 1958). Bunnell was an industrial designer and held a variety of patents for items such as a safety razor, an eyelash applicator, a smoking pipe and one for a machine which manufactures Q-Tips. He also holds one patent for the J-30 (2088404). One will note a variation in the plunger knob between this example and the D-30 presented by the Office Museum.

detail from Earl C. Bunnell patent 2,041,523 Stapling Device

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, July 22, 2008.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Tatum Aluminum Stapler

Tatum Aluminum Stapler aluminum and plastic

I had mentioned the Tatum Aluminum Stapler in an earlier post and provided a link to The Antique Stapler Collector's Website's (A.S.C.W.) excellent information on it, including patent drawings assigning credit for its design to Herbert W. Marano of Brooklyn, NY in 1954. It turns out, Herbert Marano was also responsible for the T-155 "Little Buddy." As indicated in my post and that of the A.S.C.W., the Tatum Aluminum Stapler is highly sought after by collectors of design objects as well as stapler enthusiasts. I acquired this Tatum after missing out on several other examples which sold for prices far beyond my stapler budget. Needless to say, it has a prominent placement in my stapler hall of fame.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, April 2, 2008.