With today’s complex profiles and configurations, many truss fabricators have been relying on staples to set assembly member contact and relationships. Stapling serves as a temporary means to insure tight joints and accurate locations. Often times, however, because of the ease of multiple stapling via autonail features on most staple guns, workers utilize an excessively large number of staples.
Overuse wastes staples and resources while adding to labor cost. An additional thought some may not have considered – overuse can obstruct proper plate placement. Where staples are used in excess, the area around the staple does not have the same connector holding value based on NDS (National Design Standard) rules for spacing. The crown of the staples can also prevent tooth penetration, preventing the tooth from penetrating the wood member thus providing little load transfer.
If your facility is using staples, consider methods that can be employed to reduce stapling and help insure good plate embedment. For example, the photograph illustrates utilizing a cross nail method. This method is better than parallel stapling. Fewer staples are required to achieve a rigid temporary connection. Triangulation makes any member to member minor gaps more rigid.
Just like other strategies designed to improve processes in a truss plant, remember that too much of a good thing may end up creating new problems that you did not expect.