subject: How To Use A Wire Binding Machine [print this page] A twin-loop wire binding machine is frequently used by print shops, offices, schools, colleges and churches to bind a stack of papers together in to a book or document. This is especially common when creating academic journals, quarterly reports, proposals, workbooks, notebooks, pre-published manuscripts or other documents whose contents will be viewed and evaluated by stakeholders.
Wire binders, sometimes referred to as wire comb or double loop wire, work by punching a series of holes at fixed intervals in the left-hand margin of the sheets of paper. The wire binding machine then inserts a metal wire through the holes to securely bind the sheets of the document together. Though commonly made of metal, wire binding spirals are also available in plastic wire varieties of different colors and widths as to match the size and color scheme of the bound document. Once the document is bound the operator uses wire cutters to trim any slack in the wire. Wire bound documents securely hold the pages together so information isnt lost. The only downside is that once a page is bound it is difficult to add additional pages. If you need to bind a document but still have the option of adding additional pages then you should consider using a comb binding machine instead.
These machines are available in multiple sizes and performance grades, including low-use, medium-volume and heavy-duty. You will save yourself a lot of time and unnecessary effort if you use a machine that is compatible with the work being done. For example, a heavy-duty machine like the Akiles Wiremac-Duo Binding Machine is able to punch holes through 20-sheet stacks of paper. This makes it ideal for binding larger documents. If you were to try and bind the same large project on a medium-volume machine that can only punch though a dozen or so pages, then youll lose a lot of valuable time making extra punches to complete the project.
You should also consider whether or not to a manual or electric hole punch would be practical. If youll only be creating a few bound documents then either option will be fast and sufficient. If youll be creating a large volume of documents then an electric wire binding machine, like the Wiremac EPI Plus Wire Punch Wire Binding Machine would be more effective, and would reduce operator fatigue. You should always use an electric wire inserter.
To use a twin-loop wire binder, you just have to follow a few simple steps.
Step 1: Begin by adjusting the margin and guide settings on the wire binding machine so that they will match the dimensions of the sheets of paper being bound. Use some scratch paper to do a test punch so you can be certain that it is aligned properly. Once a page is punched it obviously cant be un-punched.
Step 2: The sheets of the document should be placed in the order that they will appear in the bound document. Split the document into sections for punching. Please note that each section should be a few pages less than the maximum number of pages that the wire binding machine can punch through. This will reduce wear and tear on the wire binding machine. Place the pages in the hole punch section, lining up the edges so you will get a clean punch. Then either pull down on the punch handle or press the activation button.
Step 3: After youve punched the holes in the sheets, place them in the holding section as you punch the next section. Be sure to keep the document in order as you remove and add new section. Do not adjust any of the hole punch settings, if the holes in the different section dont life up perfectly then the finished document will have an unseemly appearance.
Step 4: Once all the holes have been punched then you can use the wire inserter on the machine to apply the wire and finish the binding process. Simply position the document with the holes facing the rollers on the inserter. Place the wire on the spinning rollers so it feeds through the holes in the pages. If for some reason you dont have an electric inserter then youll have to spin the wire through the pages by hand.
Step 5: And now you have a wire bound document that will be ready to send off to your stakeholders.
Call the ABCOffice wire binding machine experts at 1-800-5658 if you have any questions. ABCOffice.com also offers a great selection of binding machines.
