MyBinding Knowledge Base
How do I use Foil with my laminator?
Do you want to make your documents, business cards, mailers, and other materials stand out? If so, you should consider adding foil to them. Foil is a great way to add a touch of elegance to any document and best of all, it can be done easily with a pouch laminator.
First of all, you’re going to need the following supplies:
- Your pouch laminator. It must have variable temperature and speed settings.
- Access to a copier or laser printer because your document must be printed with toner. Do not use wax-based inks.
- Toner-receptive foil.
- Scissors.
- A laminating carrier. See if there’s one in your box of laminating pouches.
- Turn on your laminator so it can warm up. The machine needs to reach a very high temperature in order to do foil fusing. Thus, you should use a machine that can handle 10 mil laminating pouches or reach temperatures near 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare your document. Print it on a photocopier or laser printer since foil only responds to toner. Cut out a piece of foil that will fit over your graphics and/or text. Place the foil on the appropriate area of your document and place it in a laminating carrier.
- When the laminator has completely warmed up, feed the carrier containing your document through the machine. As the carrier moves through the device, the foil will stick to the toner and give your work the look you want. When the item comes out of the machine, remove the remaining foil and let the document cool off.
< 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)
