If you have recently purchased or are
considering the purchase of a new spiral coil binding machine you might
need to know how to bind documents with this type of binding. Here is a simple, step by step guide to binding documents using plastic
coil...
If you have recently purchased or are
considering the purchase of a new spiral coil binding machine you might
need to know how to bind documents with this type of binding. Coil
binding is one of the most flexible binding styles available on the
market and is really not that difficult once you get the hang of it.
Here is a simple, step by step guide to binding documents using plastic
coil...
The first step to binding documents with spiral coil is to
prepare your completed document. Before you ever use your binding
machine you need to take the time to print and assemble your document.
If you are going to add index tabs, a front and back cover or any other
special inserts you need to insert them into you document at this point
before you ever start punching.
After you have a completely
assembled your document you are ready to select the correct size of
spiral coil for your book. If you have a spine measuring device you can
simply hold your completed book (do not compress the pages) up to spine
measuring device. If you don't have a spine measuring device you can
use a ruler to measure the thickness of your book. Spiral coil supplies
are measured in millimeters and not inches so you will need a ruler
with metric sizes. Just be sure to add 2mm to the uncompressed
thickness of your book to be sure that the pages will turn freely. If
your document is larger than 30mm you can still bind it with spiral
coil but it can be a little bit tricky (sort of like trying to put a
slinky on the edge of a book). Before you attempt this you should look
on the web for tips and tricks for binding thick documents with spiral
coil.
Now that you have assembled your book and determined
the correct size of coil to use you are ready to start punching.
However, before you punch your first page you need to make sure that
the coil binding machine is set up correctly. In order to do this you
need to take a few pages of scrap paper that are the same size as the
pages you are binding and make sure that the holes are centered on your
document. If the holes are not centered you will need to move the edge
guide slightly to center the holes. If you have a hole that is hanging
off the edge of the page you will need to pull one of the pins on the
front of your machine to prevent that pin from punching. After you are
satisfied that the holes are centered on the page, you are ready to
start punching. Depending on your machine you are going to punch your
document in sections between 10-20 pages (some large punches can
probably handle a few more pages than this). To get the best results,
you shouldn't punch the full capacity of your machine with every lift.
You will get a cleaner punch, have less paper jams and prolong the life
of your punch if you aren't trying to punch the maximum capacity of
your machine with every stack.
Once your documents are
punched, you are ready to start assembling them. If your binding
machine has an electric coil inserter on the front of it this will be a
lot easier but if it doesn't the process is essentially the same. With
an electric inserter you start the coil through the first few holes of
the document and then use the rollers to spin the coil through the rest
of the holes. If you don't have an electric inserter you simply spin
the coil through the holes by hand. Standard spiral coils are usually
1" longer than the length of your binding edge, this will leave you
with extra coil hanging off each end of the book.
The
final step in binding documents with spiral coil is to crimp the ends
of the coil so that the spiral cannot spin back off the document. A
special pair of crimping pliers is used to cut off the excess coil and
to bend the end of the coil over so that it can't spin back through the
holes. Crimping documents can be a little bit tricky but it is a lot
easier if you remember that the red dot on your crimping pliers should
always face up.
After you have finished crimping the coil on your documents your
document is finished and ready use. Spiral coil binding is one of the
most versatile binding styles offering more than 60 colors of binding
spines, is flexible and perfect for mailing.
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He has written over 100 articles on binding machines, binding covers, binding supplies,laminators,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,binders,index tabs, and shredders.
