Fastback Perfectback TA Strips

Welcome to MyBinding video and another FastBack 20 help. Lots of books and styles are created with the FastBack 20. And within the PERFECTBACK Strip family, you've got the TA or Temperature Activated strip. These Powis Parker FastBack PERFECTBACK Temperature Activated Strips are designed for use with wraparound covers. Using the FastBack binder, a TA strip binds both the book block and cover using the same adhesive, two adhesives, both inside and out. The TA strip also allows for different kinds of projects. For instance here, the TA cover has been fastened to the book block and you remove that outer cover and then you've got three books in one. So you've bound three different kinds of books in one setting with one strip. And then you can wrap each of them with a different cover or style. You can also make your own notepads. You simply bind the short or long edge of the page, remove the outer strip, and tear off one sheet at a time. Narrow, medium, or wide, they come in 11" lengths. That is the PERFECTBACK TA Strip. For more demos, reviews, and how-to's, check out MyBinding.com.

These are Perfectback Thermal Activated Strips for the Fastback 20!

Before I jump into creating a book, these are materials you’ll need: Perfectback strips, a Fastback 20, a creaser, wrap around covers, and finally a stack cutter.

There are three types of Perfectback strips for the Fastback 20, each with their own appeals. I’ll talk about each briefly at the end of the video.

First I’ll be using the Fastback Scoring Machine—You can use any other creaser, but this scorer simplifies the process.

You’ll need your own covers, which you can print yourself, but if the print or the cover material is not temperature safe, you’ll run into a lot of issues. The easiest size to purchase that will work for this process is 12” x 18” paper—11” x 17” will be too small for standard paper.

To start, using the scoring machine measure out your document thickness. Simple enough.

One thing that is unique to thermal activated strips is that you can use the larger sized strips to do multiple books at a time. Just make sure to separate them by some colored sheets to remove later.

Place the pages into the Fastback 20 like normal and insert your perfectback strip.

Once the glue is cooled, peel off the surrounding sheets and the strip—leaving the glue on the stack of pages. If you did multiple books, use a straight edge blade to separate the stacks.

Now take a cover that is folded in half and center it in the middle of the clear scorer. This will be different with other creasers.

With it aligned, move the entire edge guide until the edge of the page lines up with the X in the orange section. I don’t want to use this folded page, so now i’ll take a clean sheet, align the cover in the first and section position and score the cover.

You’ll see it creates four creases in the middle of your cover. Fold along the two center lines. With the pages bound together, it’s time to add the cover. Make sure the front of the cover matches up with the front of the pages.

Now back at the Fastback twenty, access the settings and select the “TA Cover” option. The machine will adjust it’s heat.

Take your stack of pages, line it up with the front of the cover and place it in. When the machine is ready, put the project in to reheat the glue and bind the cover on. It will run through a whole cycle. Which for time, we won’t watch it all.

Now we have a lot of extra cover space, so go to your stack cutter—which mine just happens to be an industrial one—and trim the book for some nice edges. Note that no perfectback book will ever be the exact size of the pages—because they will always need trimming. So plan accordingly.

What you have is a great looking finished product—and the cover is now securely attached to your paper stack, but it doesn’t lay flat very well. The final look is a very clean finish.

To compare, the lay flat strips use the same process as pressure sensitive, but is designed in a way to allow to pages to better lay flat. Temperature activated is the strongest bind, but it requires a second run through the fastback machine to bind the covers.