A Fahnestock clip is an early technology for a electrical terminal. It is still used occasionally in educational electronic kits and teaching laboratories in schools. It is designed to grip a bare wire securely, yet release it with the push of a tab. The clip was patented February 26, 1907by John Schade Jr., assigned to Fahnestock Electric Co. Less than 2 weeks after the patent was issued they filed for reissue.

It consists of a single flat piece of springy metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

, bent over itself to form a clip. Pushing down on the end of the metal tab opens a hole through which a bare or stripped wire can be inserted. Releasing pressure allows the tab to spring back, closing the hole and gripping the wire to form an electrically sound mechanical connection. Pushing the tab again releases the grip on the wire so it can be withdrawn.

Modern banana plugs will usually fit into a Fahnestock clip, although the fit is tight.

Fahnestock clips were commonly made of phosphor bronze

Phosphor bronze

Phosphor bronze is an alloy of copper with 3.5 to 10% of tin and a significant phosphorus content of up to 1%. The phosphorus is added as deoxidizing agent during melting....

 or spring steel

Spring steel

Spring steel is a low alloy, medium carbon steel or high carbon steel with a very high yield strength. This allows objects made of spring steel to return to their original shape despite significant bending or twisting.-Grades:...

 and plated with tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 or copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

 for good electrical conductivity and corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

-resistance. Most Fahnestock clips seen today are nickel

Nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

-plated.

Fahnestock clips were seen on early radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 receiver breadboard

Breadboard

A breadboard is a construction base for prototyping of electronics. The term is commonly used to refer to solderless breadboard ....

 construction, model train

Rail transport modelling

Railway modelling or model railroading is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale...

 power connections, and the like. Today, they have largely been supplanted by binding post

Binding post

A binding post is a connector commonly used on electronic test equipment to terminate a single wire or test lead. They are also found on loudspeakers and audio amplifiers as well as other electrical equipment....

s. However, they remain in use in elementary schools especially, where their ease of use and visible connections make them a popular way for science instructors to teach the creation of simple circuits, and most university physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

departments still have them on apparatus.