Jeff McRitchie

RhinoTuff OD4000 Review

The smallest electric binding punch offered by Rhino Tuff, the OD4000 is presented as a versatile solution for small to medium businesses that do a fair amount of binding. Here, we checked out the OD4000 and made a list of what we saw as its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

1. The OD4000 is designed for punching eleven inch documents which makes it a great fit for the vast majority of punching jobs. We thought that one of the great things about this machine is that if you want to bind larger documents, like legal size, the open-throat design allows for that, using a two step punching process. That's some real versatility.
2. Speaking of versatility, the OD4000 comes with the die of your choosing upon purchase. There are a number of dies both standard and custom that are available for this machine. Binding styles that are available include: comb, spiral coil, twin loop wire, Velobind, and 3-hole.
3. Another truly remarkable thing about the OD4000 is the price. Though it is in the same range of a lot of other binding machines, the vast majority of them are fixed die punches, and the OD4000 offers much greater versatility than any of the rest of them.
4. Another thing we really liked about the design of the OD4000 is that the user is able to attach a spiral coil inserter to the side of the punch. Or, you can bolt your finishing equipment to the top of the machine. This is a great way to conserve space as you do your custom binding. Some of the finishing products that can be attached are: a coil inserter, comb opener, automatic paper selector, or a wire closer. This is another big addition to the versatility of the OD4000, allowing companies to choose a combo that works best for them.

Weaknesses:

1. Though it is a versatile punch, the OD4000 doesn't have the best punching capacity. Rated for seventeen sheets, we found that its capacity depended on the punching pattern that we were using. Smaller books and lighter volumes should be fine with the OD4000, but the workload and tedium will increase the larger and higher number your books. If you are doing bigger books on a regular basis, you might want to find a machine that can punch more sheets at one time.
2. Though the system for changing dies is pretty quick, we can see how it could be a bit of a problem if you are going to have to change dies more than a couple times a day. There are systems out there that make the process just a little bit easier. However, modular binding punches with quick change die systems are usually more expensive than the OD4000.
3. The OD4000 is a very good binding punch, but it is, after all, just a binding punch. Depending on what kind of books you are looking to put together, you will need to find and purchase finishing equipment (comb opener, wire closer, etc.) to work alongside the OD4000.
4. Bolting finishing equipment to the OD4000 is a bit of a chore. Plus, you will need to buy a special kit to connect your finishing equipment. It took us around forty five minutes to attach a wire closer with a screwdriver. Of course, your time may vary if you are more mechanically inclined than we are.

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