I think they're for holding galvanised staples straight while you knock them in - the shape of the jaws look capable of holding a U-shape. The tangs on the end of the jaws are for extracting them. A refined version of the pair that Lakey shows, though without the hammer face.
I like your answer, srp. Good logical thinking, but they would only be capable of holding a very small staple. Also what would the stepped part of the jaws be used for?
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WHen will claptop makers agree on one standard keyboard! question mark are there?
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When the French, Americans, Brits, Russians, Japanese etc etc agree an international keyboard layout! Different countries with the same alphabet can't agree on letter sequence so what chance of the "extras" being consistent? I used to have to use UK keyboards to type Cyrillic. It didn't half make it a slow job! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif