If you have just recently purchase a coil binding
machine and you've never used one before, you're going to need some
instruction to help you get started with it. That's why we put together
this quick-how-to guide about coil binding. Read it and see if it may be
the tutorial you've been looking for.
If you've just recently purchase a coil
binding machine and you've never used one before, you're going to need
some instruction to help you get started with it. That's why we put
together this quick-how-to guide about coil binding. Read it and see if
it may be the tutorial you've been looking for.
Get it together. The first thing you need
to before you even think about approaching your binding machines is put
your document together. That means printing it, organizing it with index
tabs and other inserts, and selecting front and back covers. Once
you've done that, you can move on to the next step.
Choose your coil.
After your book has been put together, you can select your binding
coil. This can be a bit tricky. There are some machine that have coil
selectors to help you out, but if yours lacks this feature, you'll have
to go it alone. Take your documents and measure its thickness with a
metric ruler that clearly has millimeters marked on it. You can then
choose your coil - just make sure it's about 2 millimeters thicker than
your document. (This makes it easier for readers to turn the book's
pages.)
Punch that paper. At this
point, you can begin punching the documents. You should do a test run on
some scrap paper beforehand to make sure the machine's settings are
right. If you don't get the results you want, you'll need to adjust the
edge guide, disengageable dies, and so on. You might have to punch the
book in sections depending on its length as well as what your machine
can handle at once. You might want to actually punch slightly less paper
per lift. This helps keep the machine in good condition and reduces
wear and tear.
Get binding. Once
your document's pages have been punched, you can start binding. If you
lack a coil inserter, you can manually thread the coil through the holes
in your document. However, if you do have access to a inserter, it will
take you less time to finish things up. Whichever method you use, there
should be about 1" of excess spine on each end. You're going to need it
for the next step.
Crimp the ends.
Finally, we're at the last step. In this part, you're going crimp the
ends of the coil used to bind your book. To do this, you need a pair of
crimping pliers. (These either come with the device or are bought on
their own.) You're going to use them to trim and fold up the ends of the
spines. (This keeps the book intact so the pages won't fall out.) Using
pliers is pretty easy to do as long as you keep the red dot that's
printed on them facing towards you.
That's a quick how-to guide about coil binding. Once you're used
to operating your machine, you'll find that coil binding is easy and
enjoyable. Get started with yours today so you can become a pro in no
time.
Jeff McRitchie is the Director 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 coil binding machines his articles are a great place to start.
