Renz TC20 Manual Thumb Cut Calendar Punch

Staff Review

Renz TC-20 Thumb Cut Calendar Binding Punch Review

Overview:

• The Renz TC-20 is designed to allow users to quickly and easily punch a half moon or thumb cut punch along the edge of their calendars in preparation for binding them with twin loop wire and a calendar hanger.
• Using this machine you can easily create a notch in calendars so that you can add a preformed calendar hanger that you can use to hang a calendar on the wall. You still need to use a wire binding machine to bind the document together. This just allows you to prepare the documents for punching.
• This is one of the only machines available on the market that allows users to punch a half moon out of their paper.

Features/ Strengths:

• Looking at a photo of the TC20 you might think that it is actually a very small hand held unit. However, when I took it out of the box I was shocked to find that it was actually a very heavy duty unit measuring almost nine inches in length and six and a half inches high. It is designed to sit on your desk during punching (not held in your hand). It weighs between three and four pounds and is a lot more substantial than I thought it would be.
• The TC20 is actually made completely of heavy duty steel and is designed for production use. I was actually quite impressed with the construction of this machine. It has a wide punching handle that allows you to get leverage for punching your documents and can punch up to 20 sheets of 20lb paper at a time.
• The bottom of the TC20 is covered with a plastic cover that holds in the chips that are produced when calendars are punched. The chip tray seems to be large enough to hold a moderate amount of chips and the plastic base helps to keep the TC20 from moving during punching and prevents it from scratching your work surface.
• The TC20 has a convenient locking mechanism that allows you to lock the handle in the down position for quick and convenient storage when it is not being used. It also includes a depth guide and an edge guide to help you align your documents for punching.

Limitations/Weaknesses:

• The Renz TC-20 can punch approximately 20 sheets of 20lb paper. A typical calendar is 12 pages so you would think that this would be adeaquate. However, if you use a heavier stock it is almost impossible to punch an entire calendar at one time using this device. You will need to split your calendar into two sections for punching.
• The fact that the TC-20 is manual makes it less than ideal for a print shop or company that needs to produce hundreds or thousands of calendars. Unfortunately, the only electric alternative for organizations such as this is a modular binding punch with a thumb cut die built in.

Recommendation:

• If you want to make calendars with preformed calendar hangers then the TC20 is one of only two low cost options that you have for putting a thumb cut in your documents (the other is the Akiles Diamond 1 with the half moon die and a half moon depth of punch guide). Overall, this is an excellent choice for low to moderate volume applications. Just know that it might be a little bit tedious if you plan on creating hundreds or thousands of calendars.