17 Jan 2020
I am doing an "Elias Air Sport" and need hook fittings for my removable wings and struts. It is very simple to make hooks from any wire with the appropriate tools: a side cutter and a pair of needle nosed pliers. I tried with paper clips and did all the fittings I will need but came up with an idea using the stapler. A bit of experimenting and here is the procedure:
- Place a paperclip between the stapler's jaws.
- Press down on the stapler, the paperclip prevents the jaws from clamping all the way and the resulting staple has open hooked ends.
- Twist the ends of the open-hooked-ends-staple 90 degrees and it is ready to be hotglued.
I am pleased with the hooks made. They are uniform, very light and the simple process is repeatable. I didn't need to cut wire or use needle nosed pliers.
The paperclip in step 1 may be replaced with something slightly thicker to get shorter but bigger hook ends. I would say to grip the ends with two pairs of pliers to make neat 90 degrees bend in step 3. Slight variations will make a few varied hooks.
