Do I Really Need a BindIt Hard Cover Crimper?

When binding hard cover books with a thermal binding machine the final step is to place the hard cover into the hard cover crimper and tighten it down. Although this step is unnecessary when using standard thermal binding covers, it is very important when binding hard cover books. The hard cover crimper accomplishes several important tasks that are essential in providing a high quality finished hard book. Specifically, the hard cover crimper is designed to do two primary things:

1. Immediately after removing your hard cover book from your thermal binding machine you place it in the bindit hard cover crimper. At this point the glue is still hot and pliable and process of crimping your book helps to force the glue up into the base of your book block ensuring a strong and permanent bind while securely holding the pages of your book in place. If you don’t use the hard cover crimper the pages may fall out of your hard cover books after some use.
   
2. The hard cover crimper is designed to properly form the spine of the hard cover book. If you look at a finished hard cover book you will notice that at the base of the spine there is an indented area that serves as a hinge allowing your book to open and close easily. The hard cover crimper takes your book while it is still hot and properly forms the spine of the hard cover giving it a finished look and ensuring that your hard cover operates correctly.

In the absence of a hard cover crimper I have seen some customers use an oven mitt to attempt to manually form the spine. It works, but it doesn’t look great and all of them have ended up buying the hard cover crimper in the end.

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Written by Jeff McRitchie
©2006 www.MyBinding.com