If you have not already done so, you should think
about binding your own documents. This is one task that can be very
efficient, cost-effective, and rewarding - especially once you hold a
finished book in your hands. Most of the bookbinding devices on the
market are really designed for letter-sized paper that measures 8.5" x
11" which can be problematic if you ever need produce documents that are
legal-sized (8.5" x 14").
If you haven't already done so, you should
think about binding your own documents. This is one task that can be
very efficient, cost-effective, and rewarding - especially once you hold
a finished book in your hands. Most of the bookbinding devices on the
market are really designed for letter-sized paper that measures 8.5" x
11" which can be problematic if you ever need produce documents that are
legal-sized (8.5" x 14"). Luckily, there are things you can do and
supplies to stock up on so you're prepared. Let's take a look at three
of the most common binding methods and how you can use them to assemble
legal-sized books.
Coil coil. Binding with color coils is
really popular because the coils can be used to bind books of different
sizes. They're also available in almost any color you could ever want,
from black and white to pastel and neon shades. Coils are pretty
affordable and they're available in various lengths including ones that
are 15" long. (That's the recommended length for a legal-sized book.) To
process your documents, you'll need a punch that can handle larger
pieces of paper. And when you're ready to spin the coil through your
work, you can use a spine former to align the pages and then insert the
coil by hand. You can then fold the coil ends in with a pair of crimping
pliers. That's all there is to it.
Plastic comb.
Plastic comb binding has been around for a long time and it's still
incredibly popular thanks to its simplicity and low cost. Combs are
great for thicker documents since they can be used in books that contain
over 400 pages. And, best of all, it's pretty easy to find combs that
are the right-length for legal-sized works. There are comb binding
machines available that can process larger documents and they tend to
have disengageable punching dies and an open throat. The disengageable
dies will help you punch the correct number of holes for documents of
different sizes so you can use the same machine for large and small
books.
Twin-loop wire. Twin-loop
wire binding requires the use of a machine with disengageable dies, just
like the plastic comb method. The main difference between the two
methods (aside from their look - wires look more sophisticated than
plastic combs) is that you need to custom order wire spines. Thus, they
need to be ordered well ahead of when you're going to be binding.
Needless to say, this can be inconvenient, especially if a big project
just fell in your lap. However, books that are bound with wire spines
look great, so the inconvenience can be worth it.
Binding legal-sized documents isn't really that different from
working with smaller documents. You just need to make sure that you
select a machine that's compatible with your paper and order your spines
ahead of time, if necessary. If you do that, you're well on your way to
producing documents of which you can be proud. Good luck and happy
binding!
Jeff McRitchie is the Vice-President of Marketing for MyBinding.com.
He regularly writes articles, reviews, and blog posts on topics related
to bookbinding, laminating, paper shredding, and office equipment. More
than 2,500 of his articles have been published in thousands of
locations on the Internet. If you're looking for information about binding machines his articles are a great place to start.
