Spiral Coil Hand Crimpers Product Review
Spiral coil crimping pliers are used to finish binding documents with spiral coil. They cut off the excess coil and bend the ends over in a single motion, helping to ensure that the spirals don’t spin back off the book. Usually, spiral coils are purchased longer than the edge of the document you are binding. Most spiral coils are purchased in lengths that are approximately 1″ longer than your finished binding edge, allowing for the crimping process. Special crimping pliers makes the finishing process much easier, preventing you from having cut off the coil and then manually bend the end over so that it will stay secure.
Features:
These pliers are marked with a red dot on one side, helping you align the pliers during the crimping process. It is also important to note that the red dot should always face the ceiling, and keep the spine of the book facing toward you when you are crimping coil.
Spiral Coil And Crimpers also offer a standard throw length, or length of the piece of coil that is bent over, which is ideal for 4:1 pitch and 5:1 pitch coil – the two most common sizes. In addition, the plastic coated handles of these pliers make them easy to hold and easy to use.
Limitations:
Although the throw length of the pliers is ideal for standard 4:1 pitch and 5:1 pitch binding., trying to bind documents with 4:1 pitch oversize oval holes, 3:1 pitch holes or 2.5:1 pitch holes will be difficult. With larger holes the throw length may not be long enough. This could allow the spiral coil to spin off the book. For these applications, premium oversize oval hole crimping pliers are suggested.
The pliers must be squeezed hard enough to bend the end of the coil over but not so hard that you cut the end off. This can take a bit of finesse, and those who work with high volumes sometimes find the coil crimping process tedious and labor intensive. In this case, there are several automated crimping tools available on the market, but they can range in price from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars and often require significant amounts of setup time.
Some new coil binding machines now include a small crimping tool on the machine itself and are easy to use, but are also very expensive. They may be a good alternative, however, for those who dislike crimping documents with these pliers.
Recommendation:
Anyone who uses a coil binder should have a pair of coil crimping pliers, so if your machine doesn’t’ come with a pair, it is highly-recommended that you include one in your order. Although high-volume users may consider other crimping options, it is best to consult with a document finishing specialist before deciding which option will work best for your application. And don’t forget – customers who use non standard pitches or oversize oval hole pattern should consider a pair of pliers with a longer throw for the best effect.
