Stapler Rentals - back in the saddle

February 13, 2012 1:51 AM

Is there a place I can rent, borrow or otherwise find a way to use a saddle stapler in the Seattle area? They're expensive to purchase, and it seems as if a lot of the copy centers no longer keep them around. I've checked Kinko's, Office Depot and Staples, and they don't have them for rent or use (and it's either the web site or ship-to-store to buy, even if you wanted one.

I'm going to be assembling a set of booklets that are printed on 11x17 paper, folded in half to make an 8.5x11 booklet. The initial set is going to be about 25, with more possible later. If that happens, then it might be advantageous to get my own, but until then I'd like to find somewhere I can use one, even for some fee.

I have a printer that can do the pages, so that's not an issue.

(I feel like a 90s 'Zine Kid sometimes doing this kind of thing, I have to admit.)

posted by mephron to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

This is probably a stretch, but I would try local libraries. The one time I have seen one of these in real life was at a school library, used for repairing books.
posted by pallas14 at 4:20 AM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Try an independent copy shop that is actually concerned about customer service. They will probably even staple it for you for almost nothing.
posted by rockindata at 4:20 AM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would call around to print shops (versus photocopiers)--screeners, letterpresses. Also, go to your local bookshop (Leftbank Books?) that sells indie poetry journals and zines and look in the face pages to see where those are being printed and assembled.

Last ideas--local college and university public information offices and their onsite printers. UW, for example, will get all of its photocopying and print jobs done by a campus printer who probably needs to keep one of these around. Libraries often have these for repairs--both public and university (one of them may no longer use theirs and want to get rid of it, even). Finally, The Seattle Zine Project may have one or a source for one.

Love,
Former 90s Zinester
posted by rumposinc at 4:23 AM on February 13, 2012 [3 favorites]

On preview--pallas14 and rockindata are right-on, too. Especially locally-owned photocopier places.
posted by rumposinc at 4:26 AM on February 13, 2012

Any actual printer (the kind with actual 2 and 4-color presses) will have saddle stitchers. I'm sure they'd be happy to do the stapling for you at a moderate cost.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:25 AM on February 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Try ZAPP - the Zine Archive and Publishing Project located at the Richard Hugo House. (p.s. zinesters don't put an apostrophe in front of the word zine!)
posted by kuppajava at 7:26 AM on February 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I've got one that was more like $40 or $50 than the $100 to $200 some seem to cost. Something like this.

Just about any Kinkos or copy shop should be able to do that kind of stapling for like $.01/piece or some similar reasonable price.
posted by flug at 12:15 PM on February 13, 2012

Every city of any size has furnished office space for short-term rental. Most of them have the standard office equipment. Call around and find whether they have the stapler you need.

Printing shops may let you rent time for using a saddle stitcher, which all of them have.
posted by KRS at 3:34 PM on February 13, 2012

Response by poster: just to follow up, one of my housemates ended up with a similar question, and after some looking, got the one that flug mentioned. thank you all for your help.
posted by mephron at 5:47 PM on April 9, 2012