subject: What Happens In A Bindery? [print this page] Few people are familiar with binderies, but most people reap and enjoy the benefits of the work that is taken on and completed therein. A bindery creates items that we use every day, in numerous industries and in many leisurely pursuits. They play a pivotal role in education, business and the arts, and have done so for hundreds of years, at both the handcrafted and mass produced levels.
So, what exactly is a bindery then?
Not to put too fine a point on it, a bindery is a place where things are bound. Typically, this means the paper in books that you might get at the library, but it also includes the construction and decoration of covers (not photoshopped imagery but the physical structure itself). Still, there are numerous types of binding that happen in these places, both old and new. Let's look at a few of them.
Coil Binding
This is also sometimes called spiral binding and is typically used for documents, presentations, and other small-run or one-off pieces. It is defined by a helical coil, often covered in plastic or rubber, that is strung through the pages of a document. This is often used for documents that need to be sent through the mail.
Comb Binding
In either 19 or 21 solid plastic rings, this binding is slipped through evenly spaced rectangular holes made by a special puncher. The plastic spine comes in a variety of sizes to suit different page lengths, but unlike coil binding, the spine unfortunately limits movement and obstructs opening, disallowing the pages to be swung around the binding 360 degrees.
Velo Binding
Velobind is actually a trademarked term from General Binding Corporation, but it is still used to refer to the process in general, even outside of that company and its services. It involves a series of very small holes made in the paper, holes through which fine plastic is threaded, and the use of a specially designed machine to cut excess material and finally melt it closed.
Perfect Binding
This is a type of thermally activated binding often used by large scale book publishers. Some binderies do almost exclusively this type of work. Both mass market and Trade paperbacks utilize a version of this method, with respectively different levels of durability. Primarily, it involves the use of hot glue to hold paper together, with special cuts and patterns made to allow for opening and page movement.
These are just a few of the many different methods that are used in a bindery, large and small. A bindery provides an important service, the benefits of which we enjoy everyday of our lives. Next time you open a book or bound work document, think of the bindery that it came from.
