At under $22 this Chinese-made stapler costs less than some boxes of staples. It arrived promptly and in good condition.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
In addition to the stapler you get a plastic case, a small cheap bottle of air tool oil, two hex keys, and a booklet of operating instructions. It includes no staples, which you'll have to buy separately.
THE CASE
The plastic case is better than I had been expecting for the price of this tool. The tool sort-of fits in the case, but not well. It's as if Wen decided to stop refining the case's design too soon, to save costs.
THE OIL
You get a small unmarked bottle of what should be pneumatic oil. It has a spout that you'd need to remove from the bottle, reverse so the pointy end is out, and puncture with a pin to use. I already had an open bottle of pneumatic oil, so I didn't use the one supplied, but even so I credit Wen for including it.
THE HEX KEYS
I haven't had to use the two supplied hex keys yet, which are held within the case. The operating instructions call them an "S3 Hex Key" and an "S4 Hex Key". I'm not sure what is meant by the "S" prefix, but they appear to be ordinary 3 mm and 4 mm hex keys. The body of the stapler has several 4 mm socket screws, and the magazine assembly uses 3 mm socket screws.
THE INSTRUCTIONS
The operating instructions aren't bad. They are written in American English, and consist of two 8.5" x 11" sheets folded in half and staple bound, to produce an 8-page 8.5" x 5.5" booklet. By my count it has a total of 5 tables and 4 figures, including an exploded view drawing and a parts list. There is an insert with a one year limited warranty for non-commercial use against defects, with proof of purchase. But, there's only a 30-day limited warranty for commercial or rental use. There is also a sticker on the front of the manual giving the phone number for Wen's customer service department, and an admonition not to return the unit to the store. This sticker and warranty insert are the only parts of the operating instructions that mention Wen; the rest is written anonymously for a generic air stapler model 61710.
THE STAPLER
The tool comes assembled -- ready to load staples, add a few drops of oil, connect to an air supply, and drive staples.
The tool's body, painted blue, is die-cast aluminum, and the Wen logos are part of it. Other parts are made of various materials including steel and plastic. The handle has a rubber "soft-grip sleeve" wrapped around it with some raised dots for texture. (Those dots remind me of pips-out rubber on a ping-pong paddle.) It fits well in the hand and has good heft, weighing a few ounces less than 3 lbs. For what it's worth, it has a CE-mark label on it, meaning that Wen declares this tool meets EU safety, health and environmental requirements.
Three additional features are:
1. A window with a scale on the side of the fixed magazine that lets you see how many staples are left until it is time to reload.
2. An adjustable exhaust deflector, consisting of a black plastic cap (exhaust cover) on top of the tool. There are two holes in the side of the cap that normally aim the exhaust towards the front of the tool, which should be away from the operator. But, the exhaust cover is mounted by a socket screw in its center, and with some force it can be rotated 360 degrees.
3. The tool's nose has a latch designed to make it easy to clear staple jams. I haven't had to use it yet.
A feature that I had hoped for, but this unit lacks, is an adjustment controlling the driving depth. Contrary to the Amazon product description, there is no "variable depth control for quick countersinking adjustment". *** THE ONLY WAY TO CONTROL THE DRIVING DEPTH IS BY ADJUSTING THE REGULATOR'S AIR PRESSURE. ***
There also seems to be some confusion in the operating instructions about the depth adjustment. The twenty-first safety caution says, "THIS TOOL IS EQUIPPED WITH SAFE BRACKET THAT CAN ADJUST THE DEPTH OF THE DRIVER. When adjusting the depth of the driver, first disconnect the tool from the air and rotate nut by thumb to satisfactory position." But, I think these safety cautions were just boiler-plate copied over from some other tool's manual. The safe bracket has no adjustment nut. None is shown in the exploded view drawing or parts list. And the section of the instructions called "operating the tool" says, "Test the driving depth in a sample piece of wood before using. If the fasteners are being driven too far or not far enough, adjust the regulator to provide less air pressure or more air pressure."
There is no serial number on the product, and the model number is only on a sticker.
THE STAPLES
As I mentioned previously, the tool comes with no staples, so you'll have to buy those separately. The tool uses 3/8" to 1" long, 18-gauge staples with a 1/4" crown. I bought a box of 5,000 5/8" x 1/4" (15 mm x 6 mm) Fas'ners-Unlimited-brand galvanized staples at a local Lowe's home-center store for about $18. They fit and worked fine. I was using about 72 PSI from a small DeWalt compressor, and the staples were sunk just below the surface of 1/4" lauan over 3/4" birch plywood.
My first use for these staples was to snug-up the back of a bookcase that had come loose in a few places. It had previously been attached with brads. I've discovered that for this use staples do a much better job than brads.
OPERATION
So far my stapler seems to be working well. All of my test shots were OK, and there have been no jams.
While stapling into the back of a bookcase, there were some misfirings, but perhaps the safety in the tool's nose wasn't always getting fully depressed. Also, I found one staple I needed to tap in further. I'm not sure what caused that one to be higher; it may have been caused by a drop in air pressure during rapid use.
DURABILITY
I still don't know how well it will hold up long term, but this Wen stapler seems to be made well-enough that it should last a long time. At first I was concerned when I saw some brown marks on the yellow-painted nose of the tool that looked like rusted scratches in the paint. But, they wiped off, revealing pristine yellow paint underneath, so those marks were probably just grease. If I were planning to use this tool commercially, I'd also be concerned about the 30-day limit on the commercial-use warranty.
CONCLUSIONS
My previous experience with pneumatic tools was with a more-expensive Hitachi brad nailer, which exudes quality. On a 0 to 10 scale, I'd rate this Wen stapler at 7 for features, 8 for build quality, and 8 for value. I don't have enough experience with it to judge long-term reliability, but it seems well made. I have no problem recommending it for occasional non-commercial use. For extended use, I'd suggest getting a stapler with a depth adjustment. WEN 61710 3/8-Inch to 1-Inch 18 Gauge Narrow Crown Stapler - Pneumatic Stapler - Staple Gun - Staplers - Wen'
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