Senco SKS-L 7/8-Inch to 1-1/2-Inch 18-Gauge Narrow Crown Stapler

Before I purchased this stapler, I tried the Senco SLS20 stapler. The SLS20 was just not powerful enough - it would not drive one inch staples into maple through a drawer bottom. This stapler solves that problem. It's powerful enough to handle any wood I choose. I also like the oilless feature, not only because there's no oil to mar the work I'm doing, but also because I always forget to oil nailers that require oil. Although I haven't owned this stapler long enough to comment, other users have commented that the SKS is rugged and reliable over time.

While the SKS is a powerful stapler, there are a number of shortcomings to it.

1. The unit is big and heavy which makes it hard to maneuver.
2. There's no depth adjustment on the gun (the documentation erroneously says there is). To change the depth adjustment you have to buy a different driver and install it, or grind the existing one. You won't change the drive depth very often with this unit.
3. The gun does not detect when it's out of staples but keeps firing (blanks). The operator has to notice that nothing is being driven and re-load the stapler. The driver marks the surface even though no staple is driven so it's not easy to notice that nothing is being driven.
4. The air exhaust is not adjustable so you get blasted in the face under certain conditions.
5. The documentation is miserable - worse manual I've ever seen.
6. The gun is extremely expensive when compared to other narrow crown staplers.

All-in-all, it appears to me that the SKS is an old design that Senco keeps around, perhaps because there's not enough competition in this segment of the market to cause them to bring out a more modern design. I would recommend shopping around before you buy the SKS. There must be better staplers out there but I don't have enough experience yet to recommend one to you.

Update May 4, 2004: After using the SKS-L stapler for a few months, an additional problem appeared. The spring on the magazine is fairly weak. When the magazine gets low, the spring is not strong enough to push the staples into firing position and the gun fires a blank. The problem is intermittent - the gun may miss two or three staples and then begin firing again for a few staples. Because of the marking of the wood by the driver, you can't tell if a staple has been driven except by attempting to lift the wood to see if it is attached. The problem does not happen when the magazine is full.

Senco support has been fairly responsive to my problem and is sending me replacement parts.