> But the real reason was because I had little room for error on the
> stapler. I fixed the problem by angling the stapler so that the crosspiece
> of the staple was not parallel to the strip, but at about a 45 deg angle
> to it. That effectively brought the prongs closer together, and I had
> plenty of room in the width of the form for the staple. It also gave the
> row of staples a cool angled row look, kinda like /////////////

This should also help prevent the strips from splitting. The two hole from a staple are awfully close together, and if they are with the grain, you could easily cause a split to occur. Cedar is known for it's ease in splitting.

Mike