subject: Which Type of Binding Machines Do You Need? Here Are Some Tips To Help You Out [print this page] Which Type of Binding Machines Do You Need? Here Are Some Tips To Help You Out
Are you confused about the type of binding machines that will be right for your office?
Often times, the decision on which type of binding machines to buy are based solely on price alone or on recommendations from others.
However, without a real understanding of what actually suits your office, you may end up making a wrong purchase decision.
So let me offer some pointers to clear the air and help you make an informed purchase decision of the type of binding machines that will suit your office needs.
There are many types of binding machines but these four types make up the lion share of the binding machines industry.
These are comb binding, coil binding, wire binding and thermal binding.
Comb Binding Machines
Comb binding machines are easily the most common type of binding machines worldwide.
Now here are the features and advantages of comb binding:
1) Plastic comb binding supplies are cheaper than other type of binding supplies
2) Plastic comb binding documents can open up flat for easy photocopying
3) You can easily open up and close the plastic comb rings for easy editing
4) Plastic comb binding rings come in a variety of colours (up to 12 colours in some countries) and sizes from 4mm to 51mm
Perhaps the main disadvantage of plastic comb binding is that it does not look professional enough if you are using it for presentations or proposals. Other types of binding would be a better bet in this case.
Spiral Coil Binding
Spiral coil binding is another popular type of binding and is one good option if you want a different look for your proposals or presentations.
It is also known with many other names such as spiral coil, color coil, colorcoil, ez-coil, plastic coil, spiral binding, plastikoil and coilbind.
In spiral coil binding, you first punch the holes and then wind a piece of pre-coiled plastic binding rings onto the edge of the book.
Spiral binding have the following advantages:
1) Open up flat and wrap around easily for ease of photocopying and reading
2) Ideal for documents that need to be mailed since the spines are flexible and retain its shape well
3) Good for up to 1 inch of documents. (sizes up to 2 inch is available but it becomes difficult to bind beyond 1 inch)
4) Suitable for low volumes of binding
5) Comes in up to 60 colours so it is easy to match a company's logo or branding
The spiral coil supplies are more expensive than plastic comb rings but are still reasonably priced.
Wire Binding
This is one of the most popular commercial binding types on the market. You can see everywhere on calendars, notebooks and many other type of documents.
It is also known by various names such as twin loop wire binding, Wire-o binding, double loop wire binding, double-o binding, ring wire binding and wirebind.
This type of binding is great for presentations, sales materials and manuals.
Here are some benefits of wire binding:
1) Gives a professional, elegant and premium metal finish look
2) Allows you to open up the documents flat and wrap around for easy reading
The disadvantage of wire binding is that it is permanent so you have to use a new wire if you make a mistake. Also it is slightly more expensive that other types of binding styles (but of course it gives you that expensive looking image for your documents).
Wire binding documents are also not suitable for mailing as the wire might be deformed.
For sizes, note that there are two range of sizes. One range is the 3:1 pitch and the less common one is the 2:1 pitch. For 3:1 pitch, the sizes range from 6mm to 14 mm while the 2:1 pitch have sizes from 16mm to 32mm.
The thing to note is that most wire binding machine only allows you to bind 3:1 pitch size rings. If you need to bind the larger 2:1 pitch rings, you either have to buy a different machine or choose one which allows for binding both 3:1 and 2:1 pitch sizes.
Thermal Binding
Thermal binding is dramatically different than the other 3 types of binding mentioned earlier.
In thermal binding, no holes are punched. Instead, a strip of glue is pasted on the inside of the spine of the book cover and heated using a thermal binding machine to bind the documents.
Standard thermal covers come with clear front cover and linen back and spine. However, if you really want to have a unique, highly professional look that matches your company branding needs, then a customised thermal cover will be your best option.
Thermal binding gives the most unique, elegant and professional look of the four types of binding. Of course this comes at a price but it is a price worth paying if you want the best look for your important documents.
So there you go. There are several more types of binding machines out there but understanding these four will go a long way in helping you to make the right decision to get a binding machine that will meet your office binding needs.
