Product Description
Designed for the home or small office, this Fellowes Star 150 Manual Plastic Comb Binding Machine is a great little machine. Let’s watch it step-by-step as you make a book. Let’s begin with the covers. Slide them into the slot at the back of the machine. Use the side margin control knob on the left hand side to align your paper where you want the holes punched and all papers will be punched consistently throughout your project. Down with the lever, you’re all punched. Continue to make punches through the rest of the pages of your project in batches of seven sheets or less. When all of your punches are made, gather your materials together. You’re now ready for the binding step. There’s a small tray on the right side of the machine that slides out. Here you can store a few combs but more importantly there’s a great little tool to help you determine which size comb is best for your project. Slide your completed project in and choose your comb. With your selection made, place the comb over the teeth of the comb opener. Be sure to keep the plastic comb teeth faced up and your project faced down. That way the project does not come apart in use. You open the comb with a lever on the left hand side of the machine. Simply pull down until it’s open as far as you need. Thread your project over the teeth of the comb, down, close the comb, and you’re all set. It really is that easy with the Star 150 by Fellowes.
Product Details
- Light duty comb binding machine for the small office.
- Manually punches up to 10 sheets at a time.
- Binds up to 150 sheets with a 3/4" comb.
- Allows user to punch & bind continuously for maximum productivity.
- Loads vertically for accurate punch alignment.
- Adjustable edge guide centers documents with ease.
- Document thickness guide helps user select proper comb width.
- Built-in comb storage tray for added convenience.
Specifications
- Item Number: 5217301
- Model Number: STAR
- Color: White
- Material Type: Plastic/Metal
- Qty Per Pack: 1
- Item H x W x D (inches): 3.13 x 17.69 x 9.81
- Application: Small Office
- Usage: Moderate
- Ready Light/Binding Light: N/A
- Vertical Punching: Yes
- Binding Type: Plastic Comb
- Three-hole Punch: No
- Binding Element Selector: Yes
- Punching Type: Manual
- Punching Capacity: Capacity of 10 Sheets
- Binding Capacity: 150
- Beep at the End of Binding Cycle: N/A
- Auto Shutoff: N/A
- Removable Binding System: No
- Warranty: 2 Yr
Staff Review
Fellowes Star Manual Plastic Comb Binding Machine Review
Overview:
- The Fellowes Star is a low cost introductory plastic comb binding machine designed for home office and small office users.
- This machine offers a sleek and contemporary design that is easy to use and easy to transport.
- The Star is a larger and improved version of the Fellowes Starlet plastic comb binding machine.
Strengths / Features:
- The Fellowes Star binding machine is designed to be extremely economical and offers light volume users an opportunity to bind their own documents without spending hundreds of dollars on equipment. It has a MSRP of about $110.00 and a selling price of around $75. For the features, this machine offers a great price and value.
- The comb opener on this machine has metal fingers and metal hooks. Many inexpensive comb binding machines use plastic hooks to save money. However, plastic hooks frequently break off making the machine useless.
- The Star binding machine includes a single ergonomic handle that stretches across the front of the machine. This makes it easy for both right handed and left handed operators to use this machine.
- There is a built in storage tray on the side of the machine to hold a small supply of plastic combs. This helps to ensure that binding supplies are always within reach. The storage tray also has a built in guide for measuring the size of your comb binding supplies and to help determine the right size of spine for your document.
Weaknesses / Limitations:
- The Star binding machine is only capable of binding documents up to 3/4″ thick. That equates to about 150 sheets of 20lb bond paper. It is possible to punch documents thicker than this using this machine. However, the comb opener is not designed to handle larger sized combs. Users who need to bind documents thicker than this will really need to consider a different machine.
- This machine is designed to bind documents that are 8.5″ x 11″. It can also punch oversized covers that are 8.75″ x 11.25″ in size. However, it is not capable of punching legal size, A4 size or custom sized sheets. To bind documents that are smaller or larger than 11″ in length a machine with disengageable dies and an open throat would be necessary.
- This machine is constructed almost entirely out of plastic. For most occasional users this should not be a problem. However, the machine is simply not designed for high volume binding applications. Users who need to bind more than a few documents per week should really consider a larger more durable machine.
Recommendation:
- The Fellowes Star is a great choice for organizations that are looking for a low cost plastic comb binding machine for occasional use in a home office or small office environment.
- The Star offers a sleek ergonomic design, is simple to use and is easy to transport.
- Provided that your organization doesn’t need to bind documents larger than 3/4″ thick and doesn’t need to do more than occasional binding then this is a great fit.
- Higher volume users will want to consider a heavier duty machine with metal components and an expanded feature set.
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.
