Akiles RubiCoil Manual Coil Binding Machine

Staff Review

Akiles Rubicoil Manual Spiral Coil Binding Machine Product Review

Overview:

• The Rubicoil is a low priced introductory level 4:1 pitch spiral coil binding machine produced by Akiles Inc.
• Akiles Products Incorporated is based out of Ontario California and has been a leading manufacturer of binding equipment for almost fifteen years. They are best known for their CoilMac spiral coil binding machines and Wiremac double loop wire binding machines. However, all of their equipment is known throughout the industry for its quality and durability.
• The Rubicoil is designed for the home office or small office environment for users who need to bind a few documents per day or per week.
• This machine offers an excellent value for your money but is still a personal binding machine and thus has some limitations that should be noted.

Strengths / Features:

• One of the best things about the Akiles Rubicoil is its price. This machine is available for under $200 making it one of the least expensive coil binding machines on the market. For a small office or a home user that is looking to begin binding their own documents with coil this is often a great starting place. It allows you to experiment with spiral coil binding without having to spend a fortune.
• This machine includes a "U" shaped punching handle that offers ergonomic punching for both left and right handed users. Many other coil binding machines have a handle that is located on the right side of the machine. That configuration works well for right handed users but is considerably more difficult to use for left-handed operators.
• The Rubicoil uses hardened steel dies that are capable of punching up to ten sheets of 20lb paper and one or two clear covers or plastic cover sheets at a time. Considering the price of this machine, that punching capacity isn't actually too bad.
• In pictures on the internet, the Rubicoil looks like it is made of plastic. However, it is actually made of metal and is a stronger and more durable machine than you might think. It certainly isn't a production grade machine. However, the Rubicoil shouldn't break or have any problems if it is used for light volume punching and binding.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• This machine includes a punch but does not include a motorized roller to help insert the coils through the holes in your documents. It does have a groove in the document table to help in the inserting process. However, I find that it is actually easier to simply hold the document with one hand and spin the coil on with the other. For light volume applications this shouldn't be too bad. However, spinning more than a few coils onto your documents by hand will get old really fast.
• The Rubicoil does not have any disengageable dies. It is strictly designed for punching letter sized sheets. With the holes of this punch so close together it will be nearly impossible to use this machine for binding any other sheet sizes without ending up with a half hole on the edge of your page. The only exception to this is A4. You can purchase extra punching pins that can be added to the rubicoil in order to punch documents that are A4 sized. This isn't really common but it is possible.
• This machine also does not include a depth of punch margin control. The manual nature of this machine is such that it is really best suited for binding small documents. For that reason, Akiles did not include the ability to move the holes further away from the edge of the paper. This is a feature that would be used to bind thicker documents.
• The only other limitation of the Rubicoil is that it does not include a pair of coil crimping pliers. With the price point of this machine you can purchase a pair of crimpers and the cost will still be less than other comparable coil binding machines. However, it is highly recommended that you do buy crimping pliers since it is very difficult to cut and crimp the ends of the coil without this special tool.

Recommendation:

• With a great price point and durable construction, the Rubicoil is an excellent choice for individuals who are looking to bind a few documents using 4:1 pitch spiral coil.
• This machine has an ergonomic handle, hardened steel punching dies and a decent punching capacity for personal use.
• However, this machine is not a good choice for companies that are going to be binding more than a couple dozen books per week. It requires you to spin the coils into the books by hand and will be fairly slow for any type of volume application.