The stapler’s secret

Stapler1The stapler. A simple object you’ve used thousands of times and probably feel like you’ve mastered. Well, think again. Your stapler may possess a mysterious feature…

Here’s what the base, or anvil, of a stapler looks like prepared for normal operation:

But push up on that metal plate and it rotates:

Turn it 180 degrees and it displays an anthropomorphic smiley face:

Stapler2

Stapler3But that’s not the point! Now the staple bends outward instead of inward, like this (top normal, bottom reversed):

Pinning
This method is by far the least known and utilized stapling method. It is used to temporarily bind documents or other items, often cloth or clothing, for sewing. In order to pin, the anvil must be shifted so that the staple bends outwards instead of inwards. The staple binds the item with relative security, but can be easily removed by pulling the staple along the plane of the paper. This method varies between staplers, as some anvils need to be simply pushed forward to allow pinning, while others must be rotated. Some staplers implement pinning by bending one leg of the staple inwards, while bending the other outwards. Some modern staplers do not even include support for pinning.

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7 thoughts on “The stapler’s secret”

  1. I keep rotating my stapler, over and over but no pinning? WTF!! Oh wait, I has a Hammer!

    Works now, looks not quite the picture, but close! Thanks Jonco!

  2. My travel-size stapler does not have this, but my red stapler (like the one from “Office Space”) does, so I can do pinning while at home.

    But this is a cool tip–I will have to keep it in mind.

  3. I’ve always known about this (we used to put them in pinning mode to piss people off in school) but I never knew what it was for.

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