The Tao of Stapling

This Document is for those who have the mental capacity of a staple and can not seem to handle the simple act of binding a few pieces of paper together with a small bent piece of wire... at work I see many packets being held together with staples and 99% of them wrong.

PROCEDURE:
01. Make sure that you have the right equipment. There are many different kinds of staplers and one must be aware of all of them before proceeding. There are three kinds of manual staplers.
The pushdown: These are the top mounted staplers that everyone knows and loves that are now ubiquitous of every desk of corporate America. These you use by keeping them on the desk. Note: they can be picked up and some have been designed for that by keeping ergonomics in mind. These staplers can also be hinged so one does not have to use the base of the stapler and can use it against a wall or the like. By definition, this process is not stapling but is called tacking. Tacking is defined because the staples do not grab and bind the paper together.
The Lever: These are basically the heavy duty staplers that can staple a large quantity of papers at the same time.
The Pliers: These staplers are meant to be used with out a desk but they seem to bind and jam often and thus should be avoided whenever possible because there is always a flat edge to use.
Of course there are also electric staplers but the techniques talked about here should carry over to the electric stapler with ease.
02. Make sure that you are using the right materials. Staples come in a variety of lengths, gages and shapes. The first thing to remember about staples is their gauge. The gauge of the wire defines how thick the wire is. It basically measures the diameter of the wire and the larger the number the smaller the wire. You must have the right gauge for the right stapler. The small blade is the same size as the staples thus ensuring that you only push one staple at a time. If the wrong staples are used chances are that the stapler will jam. The second thing to remember is the shape of the staple. Staples mostly come in three shapes. Beveled, Standard and Arched Crown. The third thing, and probably the most important thing to remember, is the length. The length of the staple measures the length of the leg and the helps define how many papers one can staple. Form smallest to largest;
1/4" for 15 25 pages 3/8" for 25 60 pages
1/2" for 60 90 pages 3/4" for 90 160 pages
15/16" fir 160 210 pages --- Taken from Swingline model 900XD.
03. Make sure that your equipment is in proper position. This mostly applies to the anvil of the stapler. The anvil is the little metal plate at the bottom of the stapler that decides which way the staple legs should go. Accepted practice is to have them facing in. The reason why there is a choice is because it is a carryover from where there were not staple removers. The point outwards option is so the staple becomes very temporary and can be easily removed. Some companies used to make ones that one leg was pointing out and the other in. This way, all one had to do was pull the staple out sideways.
04. Make sure that the stapler is on even ground. One must have a firm and flat surface to place the stapler on. If there is no flat surface available then one can opt to hold the stapler in their hand and operate that way. Still this is a rather difficult operation and should only be attempted by skilled users.
05. User must make sure that all sheets of a document are aligned. This can be done by knocking all edges of the sheets of the document against a flat surface. One can manually place one sheet on top of the other but this is generally not as affective or efficient as the previously mentioned method. If the sheets of the document are of different sizes then it is best to tap on the top and left edges of the document. This will ensure that the top-left hand corner of the document is aligned and thus allowing the user to staple that corner.
06. Hold the pages together and insert them into the stapler. The stapler should be positioned at a 45 degree angle in relation to the document. There should be a 1/4 of an inch from the each side of the document to the edge of the stapler. The angle method of stapling is by far the most effective type of stapling there is. The reason why is because this angle provides the longest possible fold line that does not impede in the reading in of the subsequent pages. If another angle is used then when the user tries to fold something then they will inevitably rip the top page as they try to establish a 45 degree fold.
07. PUNCH!

THE WRONG TYPE OF STAPLING:
The Horizontal: That is when someone staples horizontally because they think that it is the most professional or best looking way to do it. Still, this method only leads to ripping of the page and it makes folding over difficult to do.
The Vertical: This is the opposite of The Horizontal still this stapling method seems to crease the top paper along the edges too much and in the end just rips the paper.
The Dangler: This is when the user, due to inability to aim or just not care only staples the pack of paper with one prong of the staple. Thus the other end is just hanging out in the air and will either rip some article of clothing or just rip the papers at the tops.
The Encroacher: This is probably the worst stapling method against productivity. This is when the no one cared enough to even look at that they where stapling and just staple where ever. This usually leads to stapling over the text on the first page and thus the text over the subsequent pages. So now the reader has to undo the stapling job and start again.
The Compensator: This is when some can not follow proper stapling procedures so they must over compensate by using multiple staples. This includes, but is not limited to, The Sandwich, this is when someone staples both sides of the paper bundle because the staple did not go all the way through. One must use the correct staple size for the package of paper.
The Wild Card: This is the most manic of forms of stapling and it is as if they let Corky from Life Goes On to handle a stapler. This only adds to confusion that is not conducive to business function and efficiency.


Extra Reading