Insulated cable staples can be hard to start. Or maybe it’s because you’re trying to hold a staple and swing a hammer without hitting a finger. Recently, I was wishing for a staple holder, and then I realized that I had one right on the job: my sheetmetal locking pliers. I backed the heads of the staple nails out about 1⁄4 in. and clamped the nail heads in the jaws of the pliers. This made it easy to straddle the wire and start the staple.
Click here to enlarge illustration.
—Don Mathis, Macomb, Ill.
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #261
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Been, there, suffered that. Great tip, thank you!