GBC SureBind System One Binding Machine - 9707053

Staff Review

GBC SureBind System One Binding Machine Review

Overview:

• The GBC SureBind system one binding machine is the most basic Sure Bind binding system available on the market.
• It combines a medium duty manual punch with high quality hot knife binding system that is designed for creating documents up one inch.
• The SureBind System One uses special ten pin binding strips to create highly secure and professional bound documents.
• Plus, you can use this machine to rebind your old comb bound documents bringing old material back to life with a whole new binding style.

Strengths / Features:

• The GBC Surebind System One offers one of the most secure binding styles available anywhere. Much like Velobind, Surebind uses hot knife technology to permanently rivet the spine in place. The only way to edit a document bound with this system is to cut the spine off the document and rebind it. Although this system works much like Velobind, it is even more secure. Far less users own SureBind binding systems and therefore less users have the ability to edit documents bound with this binding style.
• This binding machine can bind any document up to one inch thick using one size of spine. Many other binding systems require you to use a spine that matches the size of your document. This requires inventorying a number of different sized supplies. With Surebind, you can simply stock one inch binding strips and bind any thickness of document up to 1″.
• Documents bound with GBC Surebind simply look great. This is one of the most professional and elegant binding styles that I have seen. It places a thin plastic strip along the binding edge of the document. This strip is not only functional but also helps to frame your document and provides it with a classy finished look.
• The punch on the SureBind system One is capable of punching up to twenty five sheets of paper at a time. However, it works best when you punch between fifteen and twenty sheets of 20lb paper at a time. This punch can also handle one or two plastic or poly binding covers at one time. These punching capacities should be more than adequate for most light volume users.
• The hole pattern used by this binding system actually matches up with the hole pattern used for plastic comb binding. This allows users who have documents that are bound with plastic combs to rebind them with Surebind. It also allows users to use a high volume comb binding punch or prepunched comb binding paper to increase productivity using this system.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• One of the biggest limitations to the Surebind binding system is the limited number of supplies that are available for this system. One inch letter sized strips are available in Black, Navy and White. Black strips are also available for binding documents on the 8.5″ edge of the paper. However, other color options or lengths are simply not available for Surebinding. Technically speaking the System one can punch legal sized paper. However, there are no legal sized spines available for this system.
• The SureBind System 1 is designed for binding books up to one inch thick. Users who need to bind documents that are thicker than this will need to consider either the Surebind System Two or System Three.
• The punching mechanism on this machine is decent and can punch both standard weight papers as well as plastic covers. However, users may want to consider purchasing punched covers for use with their binding system. This will help to prolong the punching dies on the system. Over time when using this system for large numbers of documents I found that it became less and less effective when punching plastic covers. This is something to keep in mind.
• The security offered by this binding system is great. However, the only way to debind a document that is bound with Surebind is to cut the binding strip open. Using a razor blade knife or other sharp instrument for this purpose can be very dangerous and can result in injury. The best way to debind a hot knife document is to use a Velobind Debinding tool. This tool offers a protected razor blade that will cut the pins of your spine while protecting your fingers during the debinding process.

Recommendation:

• The GBC Surebind System one is an excellent choice for small and medium sized organizations that need a secure and professional binding system.
• This machine offers tremendous security and tamper resistance for your documents and at the same time allows you to make your presentations and proposals look great.
• However, this machine is somewhat limited by the supplies that are available for it. Users who need to bind custom sized documents or want a large selection of colored binding strips will probably be disappointed with the Surebind System one.
• This is a great machine for small organizations that want to create a few dozen documents per week or who want to rebind some of their old comb bound presentations. Users who need to bind more than 25-50 documents per week may want to consider a larger machine with an electric binding punch such as the Surebind System Two or Three.

This review was written by Jeff McRitchie who is the director of marketing for Mybinding.com Jeff has written more than three hundred articles and more than two hundred reviews on Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers, 3-Ring Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Supplies, Paper Shredders and Paper Handling Equipment