MyBinding Knowledge Base
How do I choose the right ProClick Spines?
GBC has become one of the most popular manufacturers of binding machines thanks to great products such as their ProClick spines. These items are some of the best binding supplies available because they can be re-opened later in case you need to edit your document. They also allow the pages of your documents to rotate in a full circle, making your work a pleasure to read. They also come in three different sizes and four colors, and are easy to use. However, choosing the right supplies for your particular binding device can be a bit tricky. Here’s how you can make the best choice.
- Color and size. First, think about what you’re binding and how many pages it contains. You will need to select a ProClick supply that can accommodate all your pages. The following three sizes are available and their binding capacity is noted in the parentheses: 5/16″ (62 sheets), 1/2″ (100 sheets), and 5/8″ (125 sheets). You also need to decide which of the following colors is best for your work: black, frost, navy blue, and white. These are the only colors and sizes available, so if your document is longer than 125 pages or you don’t like the colors, you should select a different binding method.
- Using a manual machine? If you want to purchase or use one of GBC’s manual ProClick machines, just about every one of these supplies will be compatible with your device. However, you’ll want to make sure the machine can handle the size of spine you need to use. For example, the P50 is simply a hole punch, so every spine will work because you’ll be closing them by hand. However, a more sophisticated device such as the P200 can only use the 5/16″ and 1/2″ spines, so if your document contains more than 100 pages, you can’t use that machine. Both the P75 closer and P110 can bind books containing 110 pages, so use one of those products if your document is a little bit longer.
- Want to go electric? There a few electric ProClick machines available. The first is the P210E which has a binding capacity of 110 sheets. All three sizes of ProClick spines can be used with this device and it’s great for small office use. If you really want to bind a lot of books and use the full capacity of the supplies, you’ll need one of the ProClick Pronto machines which are the stars of the ProClick universe. These incredible devices, the P2000 and P3000, require the use of cassettes that contain 20 spines. The cassettes allow the devices to bind extremely fast because you won’t need to insert a single spine into the machine repeatedly. Both of these products have the ability to bind up to 450 books in one hour, so you simply need one of these machines if you bind a lot of documents regularly. Just keep in mind that while the P3000 has an integrated punch, the P2000 doesn’t, so you’ll need your own punch if you purchase the latter.
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
