Binder clips are incredibly handy

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/03/13/binder-clips-are-incredibly-ha.html

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just yesterday I used the silver bit to momentarily replace a drawer pull on a metal desk which lost a handle. Then I put the clip back together, and back on my notes.

Too bad these weren’t more common in MacGyver’s day. They’d be a key plot device!

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They are office cable management life savers

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Their utility is inarguable, but I’ve never had to buy any. They’re like wire coat hangers, once you have captured a breeding pair they’ll just multiply of their own accord.

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Then there’s this famous usage.

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They can also be used in the oven: I had just enough foil to cover the pan but no more. It barely wrapped around the edges. A series of binder clips to the rescue! They are awesome for making blanket forts as well.

Don’t get me started on Clippy™

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And homemade toys!

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I am clipping binders right now.

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They are also awesome for clamping on to your fingers. And then wondering why you did that. Then removing and immediately doing it again. Repeat 20x and then ponder the ridiculousness of human existence.

At least that’s what I do! I buy them by the case.

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A Sierpinski Clip! Nice find!

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You can also put them on nipples if you’re feeling extra brave.

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Verily, a fluid medium for sculpture.
http://blog.officezilla.com/binder-clip-creatures/

ETA: I thought this was some kind of enzyme model at first. Perhaps there are mysteries of molecular biology waiting to be unlocked through binder-clip rendering?
pennypincher-md
http://zacharyabel.com/sculpture/pennypincher.html

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i use them all over the house, for sure. my business partner thinks i’m in some sort of crazy binder clip fanaticist society, or something.

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Pull the wire pieces out and each one will make a great replacement for a broken keyboard “foot”. Keeps my wonderful Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro (vintage 2000) still in place on my desk, it’s outlived three computers.

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that’s a damn clever purse!

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Not only bags of chips, but any food bag (inner bag of breakfast cereal, or spice packets for example.)

Also, milk and cream cartons that open the old fashioned way (if anybody still makes those.)

I’ve used them to repair LP covers that come unglued: spread on some PVA or rubber cement, then clip several along the edge until it dries.

AND, come to think of it, when repairing guitars I sometimes remove the strings only part-way, coil them up near the bridge and use a binder clip to keep them from getting all squirrelly, then I can work on the headstock or neck, and not have to put on new strings when I’m done (I’m frugal like that.)

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A few more uses:

  • Holding books open while you read
  • Ad-hoc cable wrangler (currently keeping my replacement DVD drive from joining its predecessor on the floor)
  • Holding the garden’s frost cloth from blowing away on a cold night
  • Holding the back of an otherwise baggy outfit snug for a photograph of the front.
  • Holding the binding in place when sewing a quilt (or zillions of similar tasks)
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Somewhere a teenager is walking in on his dad discussing binder clips, muttering the word “lame” before going to his room to fantasize about how awesome it’s gonna be once he finally ditches this town.

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