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    Coil Binding

    Spiral Coil Binding
    Available in more than 50 colors and sizes up to two inches Spiral Coil Binding is one of the most popular binding styles that we carry. It offers your documents a highly professional look and provides easy reading, copying and note taking for your reports.
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    Shop Coils by Colors
    Plastic coils are available in over 60 colors.
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    Manual Machines
    Variety of Easy to Use Machines.
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    MyBinding offers plastic spiral coil machines and supplies from six great brands.
    About Coil Binding
    Coil Binding

    Spiral coil binding (also known as Color Coil binding) is a bright, trendy binding element that has excellent bounce back memory. This makes it an attractive method for those looking for something new and exciting, as well as something that can be mailed and stand up under adverse conditions.

    Here are some key points to remember about Spiral Coil binding :

    There are three primary hole patterns used for coil binding.
    - The GBC / Ibico 4:1 pattern utilizes holes that are 0.2475” center to center with 44 holes on an 11” binding edge.
    - The industry standard pattern for color coil utilizes holes that are 0.250” center to center with 43 holes on an 11” binding edge.
    - The 5:1 pattern for coil binding utilizes holes that are 0.200” center to center with 55 holes on an 11” binding edge.

    GBC / Ibico 4:1 vs. Industry 4:1 — Documents punched using the GBC / Ibico 4:1 pattern and the Industry 4:1 pattern both use the same binding elements. There is no need to use special binding elements with either pattern. So, why use the GBC / Ibico pattern? Simple … with Industry 4:1, many people were understandably upset with the frequency of paper that had holes punched off the top and bottom of the binding edges. This was caused by the holes being spaced further apart (.250” center to center). Ibico developed a new 4:1 pattern, with the holes slightly closer, .2475” center to center. This pattern has solved the problem, and has become the lead pattern for most Coil Binding users.

    4:1 Pitch vs. 5:1 Pitch – 5:1 Pitch, with 55 holes to the 11” binding edge created the same challenge as Industry 4:1 – PLUS, the number of pages in a 5:1 document are substantially less than in 4:1 since color coil spines are only available in sizes up to 25mm in 5:1 pitch while 4:1 pitch coil is available in sizes up to 50mm.

    Length – In the office environment, most coil that is used is 12” in length; which, when cut and crimped, become 11” for the 11” binding edge. However, some users do use 36” lengths of coil. These longer pieces of coil are more often used with AFD equipment and by print shops looking to bind documents in irregular sizes.

    Crimping – Coil elements must have the top and bottom ends of the element crimped, to prevent the coil from slipping through the holes of the document. This procedure can be accomplished either manually, with coil crimping pliers or with a semi automatic crimper such as the GBC heavy-duty CI-12 Inserter.

    Millimeters vs. Inches – All color coil is sized by millimeters – ranging from 6mm through 50mm in 4:1 pitch. To determine the size of a coil, measure the inside diameter. MyBinding.com provides a chart to help you determine the correct sizing for your book in the coil binding supplies section of our website.

    Frequently Asked Questions
    How do I bind a document using spiral coil binding?
    Spiral coil binding (also known as Color coil or plastic coil binding) is one of the most popular and fastest growing of all coil binding styles. Documents bound with spiral coils lay flat and the pages can turn 360 degrees around the flexible PVC coil spine. Coil binding is fast and easy an...Read More
    Do you have a glossary of coil binding terms?
    Coil binding is a popular document finishing method that can be used for reports, proposals, anthologies, and more. In order to bind with coils, it’s usually necessary to use a coil binding machine. There is a lot of terminology associated with these machines, so it’s a good idea to b...Read More
    What features should I look for in a spiral coil inserter?
    If you are looking for a spiral coil inserter to use in your office or print shop and don’t know where to start, don’t worry. This will help you better understand the different coil inserters that are available on the market so that you can better make your decision. Num...Read More
    What features should I look for when buying a coil binding machine?
    Spiral coil binding is one of the most popular binding styles available on the market. The flexibility along with the huge number of colors that are offered in coil binding supplies make it a favorite binding style for all types of organizations. Perhaps you have seen coil binding somewhere ...Read More
    How do I bind large documents with Color Coils?
    If you have ever attempted to bind a book using a large sized color coil binding (30mm and larger), you will understand just how frustrating the process can be. For smaller sized book binding, you can easily use your coil binding inserter to quickly spin the coil binding onto your docum...Read More
    What should I know about Spiral Coil Binding?
    Choosing the right binding system to fit the needs of your organization can be a very difficult task. There are almost a dozen different binding styles available on the market all with their individual strengths. One of the most popular binding styles available today is spiral coil...Read More
    Are there easier ways to bind a document with coil binding?
    If you regularly bind your documents with coils, you are probably wondering if there is anything you could be doing to create an easier coil binding experience. It turns out that there are ways to speed up your productivity and make the process a lot smoother. Here are three tips for easier ...Read More
    How can I make a spiral notebook without a machine?
    Who needs an expensive binding machine? If you are doing a small number of documents, you can easily get away with doing the binding by hand. Here are a few tips on how to make a spiral bound book without a machine. 1. Why Spiral Coil? The first thing you will have to decide when you are doing y...Read More
    How do I use Coil Binding Sleeves?
    Coil binding is an excellent way to make your documents look more professional. However, working with coils can be tricky since you’re using a flexible piece of plastic to bind a stack of paper. That’s where coil binding sleeves come in. These are plastic sleeves that look very much l...Read More
    How do I use my coil crimpers?
    Coil binding is a great way to bind your documents and make them look professional. Punching holes in your document and inserting the coils is easy. Some people do however have trouble with the final part of the process: crimping the coil. Crimping entails trimming the ends of the coil and t...Read More

    Spiral Coil Binding Overview

    Transcript: Welcome to MyBinding video. This video is designed to give you an overview of spiral coil binding. Coil binding is very versatile and very popular. It's secure and can be used with small and large documents. To give you an idea of range, a small coil, a quarter-inch coil, can handle up to 30 sheets, while a 2-inch large coil can handle up to 440 sheets, and there are plenty of colors to choose from. On our website, you'll find there's lots of different colors and options you can look for. There's 3:1 and 5:1 pitch. The difference in these pitches are how many holes are punched per inch on this... Read More
    Welcome to MyBinding video. This video is designed to give you an overview of spiral coil binding. Coil binding is very versatile and very popular. It's secure and can be used with small and large documents. To give you an idea of range, a small coil, a quarter-inch coil, can handle up to 30 sheets, while a 2-inch large coil can handle up to 440 sheets, and there are plenty of colors to choose from. On our website, you'll find there's lots of different colors and options you can look for. There's 3:1 and 5:1 pitch. The difference in these pitches are how many holes are punched per inch on this bind and corresponds with the size coil that you need. As you can see, there are plenty of colors and materials to choose from. There's also the option of turbo coil, which is a much stiffer coil designed especially for large books. But it too has a different pitch and needs a specific punch pattern. Now that you have an idea of the coils themselves, let's take a look at the systems and machines that they work on. We'll use the OfficePro 46-E as a way of looking at all the parts. First of all, side margin control. This guides your paper in so that all punches are consistent throughout your entire project. Almost every machine has this. Inserting the spiral coil onto the spine of the book is the most time consuming process, and some machines have a built-in coil inserter to make that easier. It's a rubberized wheel setup that drives the coil all the way down the spine. The final and finishing phase of coil binding is crimping off the ends of the coil. The most common way to do this is with coil crimping pliers. It cuts and crimps the end of the coil. There are machines in the market that can do this process for you, which may be a great idea if you have a lot of books to bind. The variety of machines and systems out there is vast. Some are small and designed for personal or home use and may even contain a small coil inserter. The punching is often done by hand and runs about $100 or $200. Mid-sized machines are built for offices or those who have to do quite a bit of binding. These are a few hundred dollars but they are built to last and process many books for a long time. And extra-heavy stackable modular units are built really for a lot of work and are a thousand dollars and more. So there it is. That is spiral coil binding as an overview. For more how-tos, demos and reviews, checkout MyBinding.com.