# Staplers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 6, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928 "2000-10-06T04:58:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fleejagoob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fleejagoob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleejagoob)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/1 "2000-10-06T04:58:59Z")
Why are staplers designed so that they can push the ends out as well as in if you turn the metal base around? ---
**Author:** ![Shatzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Shatzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shatzi)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/2 "2000-10-06T05:14:19Z")
Oh my god… _fiddles with her stapler_ I never noticed that! :o Good question. O\_O ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/3 "2000-10-06T05:21:50Z")
[CLIFF] _Well, it’s a little-known fact that…_ [/CLIFF] My WAG - when you make an in-to-out staple (as opposed to the more traditional out-to-in staple) it is easier to remove the staple. So, if you need a temporary hold, flip the metal plate around. Judges? ---
**Author:** ![Fleejagoob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fleejagoob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleejagoob)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/4 "2000-10-06T05:24:14Z")
It is a lot easier to remove the staple, but if it comes out overly easily it defeats the purpose of putting it there. And backwards staples, at least on thin stacks of paper, basically just fall out. ---
**Author:** ![Fleejagoob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fleejagoob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleejagoob)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/5 "2000-10-07T04:19:40Z")
This may not be the most engaging of intellectual discussions, but doesn’t some one have an idea? Where are all the stapler experts?!?! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/6 "2000-10-07T04:56:17Z")
Sigh… Google yields see [http://www.calcampus.com/stapler/index.htm](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. ---
**Author:** ![jamesglewisf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a5b964/32.png) [@jamesglewisf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jamesglewisf)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/7 "2000-10-07T05:27:40Z")
Google rocks! BTW, great question. I always wondered about the staple thingy turning around. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/8 "2000-10-07T20:42:01Z")
The next time I get really pissed with anyone at work, I’m just going to turn their stapler plate around. ---
**Author:** ![orion007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@orion007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orion007)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/9 "2000-10-07T23:27:25Z")
Wow I never knew you could do that!! Heehee that’s cool. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2000, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/10 "2000-10-07T23:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*The next time I get really pissed with anyone at work, I’m just going to turn their stapler plate around. \*\* Let’s be among the stapler elite here, don’t call it the stapler plate. Call it the anvil. ---
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/11 "2000-10-08T12:28:11Z")
go a’s! toast those old yankees. will heredia come through again? can the a’s hit pettite on 3 days rest? we shall see! ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2000, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staplers/35928/12 "2000-10-08T20:03:03Z")
So, does this mean that the A’s and Yankees will be playing baseball with staplers?