Staples are generally all the same - simply a formed metal wire bent into a very precise U-shape.
- The part across the top is called the crown.
- The two parts which are parallel and are designed to penetrate into the material are the legs.
- The tip of each leg is called the point.
- There may be special coatings or materials used to produce the staple, and these are known collectively as the finish.
The Crown is important to determine what tool will drive the staple. Each tool will normally only work with one crown size.
Leg Length may vary according to the needs of the application – holding power, thickness of the materials, etc. Each tool will normally drive a range of different lengths.
The Points normally come as chisel points, but where very high holding power is required, the points may be divergent points. These are specially cut points which guide the legs in a curve, instead of straight down into the material.
If the legs are not parallel in the material it is much harder to pull out the staple.
