Binding Machines Buying Guide

A wire binding machine uses wire binding spines to create an upscale, sleek, professional appearance to proposals, company literature and other important documents. Punch your pages & covers with the wire binding machine, lay them into the wire binding spine then crimp it closed. Wire binding documents will lie flat & fold back on themselves.

There are two types of wire binding machine :

1. Double loop wire binding machine
2. Spiral-O Binding Machine

Double Loop Wire Binding Machine

Double loop wire binding can create a contemporary, professional image right at your desk. Double loop bound documents lay flat and wrap around for easy reading. In addition, pages are bound so securely that they won’t fall out and documents maintain their neat appearance for the lifetime of the information.

There are two main types of double loop wire binding machine, namely 3:1 pitch and 2:1 pitch wire binding machine.

3:1 wire means that the machine will punch three holes per inch (32 holes total along the 11″ side of a standard sheet of paper). You can only use 3:1 wire with a machine that punches 3:1. It binds a stack of paper as small as 3/16″ (10 sheets of standard 20 pound paper) up to 9/16″ (120 sheets of standard 20 pound paper).

2:1 wire machines will punch two holes per inch (21 total holes). As with a 3:1 machine, the 2:1 machine can only use 2:1 wire. It can bind a stack of paper as small as 1/4″ (20 sheets of standard 20 pound paper) up to 1 1/4″ (230 sheets of standard 20 pound paper).

The main features for double loop wire binding machine are :

• Wire bindings allow document pages to turn a full 360 degrees and lie flat for easy note taking and photocopying.
• Punching capacity ranges between 10 and 20 sheets at a time. A larger punching capacity speeds up the binding process. Maximum binding capacity ranges from 45 pages with ¼” wire to 120 pages with 9/16″ wire. It can be used with documents up to 11″ long.

• Wire binding provides a secure binding solution which pages cannot be added or deleted once bound.
• A built–in comb size selector measures document thickness to determine the appropriate wire spine size.
• Use the margin guide to align flush cut and oversize covers when punching.
• A plastic coating around the wire prevents the spine from scratching desktops.
• Most machines easily fit on a desktop.

The steps involved in double loop wire binding are :

1. Punch the sheets to be bound.
2. Rotate your back page to the front of your document (this will hide where your wire closes for a more professional look), and insert the wire into the punched holes by hand.
3. Place your book into the wire closer with the open side of the wire touching the back of the closing wall. Pull the handle down with light pressure.
4. Rotate your back cover to the front and your book is bound.

Spiral-O Binding Machine

Spiral-O wire is also known as wire comb binding because it uses the same style of punching die as plastic comb. It is also referred as 9/16″ wire because there is 9/16″ spacing between the punched holes. This is the same punch configuration as plastic comb bind. A Spiral-O binding machine punches 19 total holes along the 11 inch side of a standard sheet of paper.

Spiral-O wire can bind from 1/4″ (20 sheets of standard 20 pound paper) up to 1” (200 sheets of standard 20 pound paper).