Jeff McRitchie

Rhino Tuff CI 3000 Coil Inserter Review

Rhino's CI 3000 features a unique design that purports to make it easier to do spiral coil book binding. We investigated this machine, and here are some of its strengths and weaknesses as we see them.

Strengths:

1. Though it can easily handle spiral coils from between 6mm and 30mm in diameter, this machine really shines when you are using it to insert coils that are 20mm or larger. With inserters of standard size, you'll have a lot of difficulty with them, but we found that the CI 3000 made it remarkably easy.
2. The CI 3000 utilizes a specialized mandrel system that helps to guide your coils into the books. We found that this system makes this machine the perfect fit for using with thirty-six inch long coil. With most inserters you'll have a bear of a time using thirty six inch coil, but this machine allows you to reduce the number of times that you must thread the wire onto the mandrels by about two thirds, greatly increasing your productivity. Included with the machine are all the mandrels the user will need from 6mm to 30mm.
3. We found that the process of inserting coils went a heck of a lot faster than we were used to with other machines in which the user is required to hold the documents in place. This is because the CI 3000 has a set of guides that allow the user to place the book he or she is binding precisely in place. This feature made the whole process so much easier, and we were really impressed.
4. We also really liked the chute on the side of the CI 3000 that helped guide the coil and kept it from getting tangled. If hung on the edge of the table, the user will be able to simply let the coils thread through from the side of the CI 3000 during the insertion process.

Weaknesses:

1. Though this type of inserter allows you to save a great amount of time if done correctly, the initial setup and learning curve can present a little bit of a hurdle. Roller-style inserters are easy and almost anyone can use one. With this machine, there are a few steps involved such as finding the right mandrel, and setting up the book guide, among other things. All this is easily learned over time, but for lower volume, occasional users, just sticking with the roller style might be the way to go.
2. The ideal user for this system might be businesses or other organizations that often find that they are doing longer runs of similarly sized booklets and books. The setting up process is a little involved when it comes to inserting different sized coils. Doing this every few hundred documents isn't going to be much of a problem, but if you are doing a lot of shorter runs of different sized books, you might find yourself spending more time doing set up than coil insertion.

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