MyBinding Knowledge Base
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 turning the ends in so the coil won’t spin out of your book. Doing this can be tricky so here are a few tips that can make it easier:
- Your crimpers will have a dot on one side(often red). You need to make sure that the dot is always facing up. If you try using them and the dot is facing down, you’ll just end up cutting the coil and not crimping it.
- Hold your book so that it’s parallel to the floor and ensure that the coil is facing you. Begin by crimping the right side of the coil as close to the edge of your document as possible. You should give the crimpers an additional squeeze to ensure that the coil is completely bent over.
- Now you can flip the document over and crimp the other end of the coil. Flippping the book over is necessary because you need to make sure that the end of the coil is turned in, not out.
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
