Spiral coil binding is one of the most popular binding styles used today. It offers a contemporary look and feel with some great features such as full three hundred and sixty degree rotation. . This article will provide you with six simple tips for binding your documents with spiral coil. Here they are.
Spiral coil binding is one of the most popular
binding styles used today. It offers a contemporary look and feel with
some great features such as full three hundred and sixty degree
rotation. However, binding documents with spiral coil can be a little
bit tricky, especially if you have never done it before. This article
will provide you with six simple tips for binding your documents with
spiral coil. Here they are.
There are several
different hole patterns used for spiral coil binding. The most common
hole pattern is 4:1 pitch (four holes per inch). However, spiral coil
spines are also available in 5:1 pitch (five holes per inch) and in 3:1
pitch (three holes per inch). More than 90% of users choose a 4:1 pitch
machine since the supplies are easier to find and less expensive.
However, it is also important to note that some 4:1 pitch punches use a
43 hole pattern while others use a 44 hole pattern. If you decide to
order pre punched covers or need to match a hole pattern from an
existing document you will need to count the holes to make sure that
you end up with the appropriate number of holes.
Using oversized covers with your coil binding machine is not
recommended. In fact, many coil binding machines are not capable of
handling oversized covers. When you try to punch an oversized cover
with a coil binding machine the holes may not line up with the paper
that you have punched or you may end up with extra holes.
Most coil binding machines do not have fully disengageable dies. This
means that you can not choose to stop a single pin from punching. This
makes it difficult to bind odd sized books and documents with your
machine. Most coil binding machines are capable of binding letter and
half letter sized documents. If you are going to need to bind smaller
or larger documents, it is recommended that you choose a machine with
fully or partially disengageable dies.
Once you
have the holes punched in your document you will need to spin the coil
onto the spine of your book. Start by taking the spiral coil and
spinning through the first few holes of the document by hand. If you
have a machine with a spiral coil inserter on it, you can use the
roller from your inserter to spin the element the rest of the way onto
the document. However, be careful that you don't spin the book right
off the other side. If you don't have an electric inserter, you will
need to simply spin the coil onto the book by hand.
The
final step in finishing a book bound with spiral coil is to crimp the
ends of the coil so that the spiral doesn't spin back off the book.
Special coil crimping pliers are used to cut off the excess coil and
bend over the end in a single step. It is possible to achieve the same
results using a pair of needle nosed pliers but it is much more
difficult and will require multiple steps. If you do have a pair of
crimping pliers it is important to remember two things. The red dot
should always face the ceiling and the spine of the book should always
face towards you.
Binding documents that are less than one
inch thick is fairly simple with colorcoil. However, binding documents
that are larger than an inch can be somewhat difficult. In order to
bind larger documents you will need to form the spine of the document
so that it matches the curved shape of the coils that you are planning
to insert. Most coil binding machines have a spine shaper built into
them. However, if you are planning on binding lots of thick documents
using coil you might want to consider buying a stand alone spine
forming device. You should also note that you most likely will not be
able to use your coil inserter for thicker documents. You will need to
spin the coils on by hand.
These are five simple things to remember when binding documents with spiral coil binding. Good luck and happy coilbinding.
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He has written over 100 articles on binding machines,binding covers,binders,laminators,binding supplies,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,index tabs, and shredders.