This may have been asked before but I’d like to know the answer. I’ve got a common stapler and on the metal plate that crimps the staples there are two setting. One gives normal staples (the prongs crimp together) whereas the other causes the prongs to face outwards from each other (anyone who knows the answer will understand this description i hope)
What are the two different modes for? I’ve done a little testing and don’t notice any differences in ‘stapling power’ (how many sheets can be effectively stapled)
So can anybody help?
Nask
p.s. the stapling power tests were run quickly I’m not some sort of sado who will waste away a friday morning playing with a stapler, I’ve got a computer!
It’s for temporarily pinning stuff together. It doesn’t affect the maximum number of sheets, because the staple has to make it through all of the paper before it hits bender plate thing.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that staplers have this option to replace the function of pins that used to be standard in some industry or other(possibly banking).
'Splain. I don’t get it. How does the extroverted prongs make it a temporary pin vs. more permanent? Can’t a stable remover make the “permanent” temporary? Does the outward bend keep the staple prongs from returning into the paper making them easier to bend back up?
Please don’t read this post as a challenge; I’m truly interested.
I kinda thought the outward option was just some holdover from the days when people liked messin’ wif coworkers. Or for pissing off that mean guy in accounts payable by increasing the chance that he pricks his finger on the staple or gets it snagged on his shirt.
The open staple is possible to remove with your fingers with minimum effort and minimum rummpling of the stapled pages. You can simply pull out the staple. The regular closed staple design is not as yeilding. You need to bend open the prongs, which can be quite tedious and painful, or use a staple remover.
There was another thread on this some time ago that pointed to a staple FAQ that was quite informative.
It would seem to me lee that the mechanics (ie the force required) for removing the ‘bent-out’ and ‘bent-in’ staples should be the same. Are they not? Would the ease of removal be intermediate if one end of the staple pointed outwards and the other pointed inwards?
It would seem that the ‘splayed out’ staple is more easily removed because the ends of the staple are more accessible.
“Why are staplers designed so that they can push the ends out as well as in if you turn the metal base around?”
my answer then and now-
see http://www.calcampus.com/stapler/index.htm
WORLDS MOST ASKED STAPLER QUESTIONS: #1 Q)Every stapler I have ever seen in my life (with the exception of those tiny little ones) has a switch to make the tangs on the staples bend in or out. I have yet to figure out what the advantage is to having the staples bend out. More puzzling to me is the fact that all stapler companies seem to feel that this is an important feature of a stapler, but I have yet to meet anybody who uses the bend out option, or even knows why it’s there. So why is the switch on there?
A) This is called the Pinning/Stapling switch. It is located on the anvil. The pinning function is a carryover from the time before staple removers. It makes the staple form a relatively straight form. You can staple two pieces of paper together then pull out the staple. Good for temporary fastening. It’s kind of a paperclip competitor. You can also use it when sewing. Instead of using pins, you just staple. There is also one used on Hotchkisses and some Bates staplers that makes one end go in and one go out. You pull the side with the crimped down staple to get the staple out.