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Pax deck assembly staple problem
When attaching the kingplanks to the decks, the manual's suggestion is: "to protect the deck from being marred by the temporary staples, staple through bits of plastic cut from milk jugs or similar." I used 3/8" T50 staples in my manual Dewalt stapler, through bits of white plastic milk jug plastic. Disaster! The decks are, indeed, marred with indentations from the staples, and the occasional dent caused by the difficulty of prying the staples up with a screwdriver to allow enough purchase to pull with pliers. This is probably going to prevent a bright finish on my deck, since all of those dents are going to have to be filled. Staples through something other than thin plastic would be preferable. Scraps of 3 mm plywood would be a good choice: there would be 3 mm of staple through the scrap, 3 mm of staple through the deck, and 4 mm of staple in the kingplank.
2 replies:
RE: Pax deck assembly staple problem
We added several layers of blue tape to the base of our Arrow T-50. That stood the stapler off a 32nd or so, enough to keep the crown from touching wood. This works because you are trying to hold adjacent edges together, no so much holding strips down. From time to time we did need hold a strip down to the form with a bit of tape. Then we’d just switch to the other side while the glue set a bit.
RE: Pax deck assembly staple problem
» Submitted by spclark - Sat, 2/10/18 » 11:52 AM
Hmmm... your Dewalt must be more powerful than the springs in my Arrow T-50’s. Or maybe you were a bit too firm when holding stapler against plastic? Dunno....
Possible solution: got a steam iron? Or other means of applying localized heat by contact from a smooth, hard object (like an iron) to the affected areas?
Tedious work I know but shallow dents in wood (or plywood) often respond well to a but of steam from a damp cloth between the dent and a device providing sufficient heat to effect the steaming. Fibers swell, dents can dissapear, once dry a light sanding removes fibers - if any - that have stuck up from surface.
The tip about using plastic’s intended to keep staple crowns away from wood surface, and a means to remove them without resorting to tools that can create dents. Fold the plastic into a U with staple at bottom, use pliers to grip double-thickness at top then pull to bring staple free. Sometimes rocking from side to side helps, the sides being the ends where each leg of staple is held.
Good luck! Let us know how this ends.