Office Equipment Blog from Office Zone

You just used your coil binding machine to punch small holes into a stack of paper. Next, you spin the coil through the punched holes. Once this is done, you are left with the problem of the coil spinning back out of the holes. If the coil spins out, your document is left free to fall apart.

The best answer to this problem is a pair of coil crimping pliers. Crimping pliers cut off excess coil and then crimp, or flatten the coil ends, thus preventing it from spinning back out. Coil crimping pliers are specially tooled and are relatively easy to use after a little practice. Office Zone offers an informative coil crimping pliers video demonstration to give you a better idea of how these work.

Customers often ask if they can crimp their strand of coil with a regular pair of pliers or needle-nose pliers. That’s definitely a possibility, but you would still need a separate tool to clip off the excess coil. As you can see, coil crimping pliers are a handy tool and a must-have for anyone using a coil binding machine.

Here’s a useful tip for customers who own a Dynafold Model DE-102AF, DE-202AF, or a DE-322AF automatic paper folding machine. When you first install the top folding plate on the unit, you will notice a silver bar that spans almost the entire width of the machine. I have included a photo here for convenient reference. The white arrow in the photo points to the silver bar.

For optimum performance, you need to first gently lift up this spring-loaded bar, and then insert the top folding plate under it. Make sure the top folding plate is snug and doesn’t move. This little procedure will ensure accurate performance with the folding plate on your machine and prevent possible paper jams. You do not need to follow this procedure for the bottom folding plate, but be sure it’s installed correctly and does not move.

If you need further assistance with your Dynafold paper folder, please contact our service department. We are more than happy to help.

Business cards are a great way to get your name out, whether it is for outbound sales or at a trade show. They have even been known to win a free lunch or two with business card raffles at restaurants. Many of these business cards have sleek designs, brilliant colors and a clean finish. It may surprise you to know that many of these professional business card are created in house.

The quality of an in-house card will depend entirely on the printer being used to print the card. There are many card software programs out there to help design and layout a professional design. Ink jet and laser printers can be used to print the them. The speed at which they may be printed depends entirely on the printer model being used.

These cutters then take the printed sheets of cards and

cut them down to size. Most of these cutters are compact, usually no bigger than an inkjet printer. Business card cutters are available in manual and electric designs.

Manual card slitters, sometimes referred to as hand crank cutters, are very easy to operate and are great for low to medium volume use. A great example of a manual cutter is the Cardmate. A handle is turned, the paper is pulled into the machine and the cards are cut. After two passes, individual business cards are ready to use.

Electric card cutters are more common and operate more quickly. These machines are usually available in 10-up, 12-up and 4-up designs. A 10-up card is a page template that prints 10 cards on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper. A 12-up is 12 cards and a 4-up is four cards. Most electric business card slitters still require two passes to complete the cutting process, but this is very easy to do. The Intimus GC210 is a good example of an electric business card cutter designed for high volume cutting.

Other than saving a lot of money over time, business card slitters have other benefits. One of the most common reasons people love them is convenience. They allow the user to cut more business cards, as they are needed. There is no delay or waiting for someone else to get the job done.

Slitters are an ideal choice for any business or organization that wants to save money and streamline operations. Contact Office Zone for more information on business card cutters.

Binding machines are great to have. They make it possible for every day people, schools, students and businesses to bind books, reports and other documents. Finding good binding equipment can be a little more difficult. Learning more about the different book binder manufacturers may help assist you in making an educated purchasing decision. Here is a little bit of information about the most common binding manufacturers out there right now.

I. Akiles: Akiles has quickly built up a reputation for itself. It is known for making some of the most durable and long lasting binding equipment. They manufacture comb, wire and coil binding machines. This includes manual and electric designs. Popular lines include the MegaBind, WireMac and CoilMac models. It is not uncommon for Akiles book binders to last 5+ years.

II. Renz: Renz has been in the book binding industry for over a decade. Based out of Germany, Renz is known for engineering highly reliable machines. They first gained popularity with their Wire binders, specifically the SRW and ECO models. They also manufacture a wide variety of comb and coil binding machines. Their latest line of coil binders, the “Plus” series feature an oval hole punch, the first of its kind. Renz machines come in manual and electric designs.

III. Tahsin/Tamerica: Tahsin binding machines have been around for some time. They manufacture a line of comb and wire binders. They are probably

best known for their comb binding equipment that looks very similar to the popular Ibico brand comb binders. These machines are simple in design, but have a high customer satisfaction. Most Tahsin machines are manually operated.

IV. Fellowes: Fellowes is newer to the binding machine industry, but has built up a huge name for itself thanks to its popular line of paper shredders. Fellowes now manufactures a wide line of comb binders. Fellowes comb binding machines, as is the case with their shredders, are affordably priced. They are generally recommended for low to medium volume use.

V. GBC: GBC has been manufacturing comb and wire binding products for decades. Several years ago they bought out Ibico and integrated their line of machines into their own. GBC has built up a reputation for making good entry-level book binders designed for occasional binding jobs. Their comb and wire binding machines are available in manual and electric designs. GBC’s biggest edge in the binding industry is their exclusive VeloBind machines.

VI. Sircle: Sircle is one of the newest binding machine manufacturers to enter the industry. They manufacture a wide range of comb and wire binders. They are one of the first manufacturers to make a wire binding machine that includes a wire opener. Their machines are designed for low to medium volume use and come in manual and electric designs.

This is a list of some of the top “volume” binding machine manufacturers, but there are several other brands that make binding machines.

Paper perforator machines punch tiny holes in a sheet of paper in a straight line. Paper perforators are typically used for creating coupons, ads, tickets, mailers and more. The spacing of the perforations may be adjusted on some machines by simply changing out the perforating wheel. This procedure then alters the perforations per inch. The more perforations per inch, the easier it is to tear the paper apart.

Paper scorers simply put a crease in a sheet of paper. These machines are also helpful when folding paper. When using a paper scorer, pressure is applied on the paper with a grooved disc. The result is a sheet that’s easily folded in a specified area. Scoring machines are commonly used to make greeting cards, mailers, table tent ads, tent-style business cards, occasion cards, promotional tickets etc.

Corner rounders simply cut the corners off of paper and other similar materials. You can use a round cornering machine with scrap booking projects, playing cards, photographs, business cards, greeting cards and more.

Some industrial-strength corner rounders can even slice the corners off of hundreds of sheets of paper at a time. Some unique models will cut through aluminum.

Office Zone has created a unique, useful corner rounder guide that will help

you choose the best corner rounding machine for your needs. The guide helps you find answers to some common questions that you may have before buying a corner rounder. Some of these include:

• What corner diameter do you prefer?

• How often will you use your corner rounder?

• How many sheets would you like to cut at a time?

• Will you be cutting anything other than paper?

And, if you don’t find the answer to your question in our guide, you’re always welcome to contact Office Zone’s customer service department for more help.

The answers to these questions depends on the size of the documents you need to laminate, and the volume you plan to laminate. Traditionally, most of our customers have used pouch laminators for small documents and roll laminators for large.

This notion is still true to a certain extent, but volume also plays a key role. You may laminate smaller documents on a roll laminator, but just a lot more at a time. If you plan to laminate a few small items on a periodic basis, then a pouch laminator is the recommended choice simply because you will and save yourself a sizeable amount of film.

A roll laminator also takes up a lot more space than a pouch laminator. The methods used between the two machines are somewhat different, but the end result is essentially the same.

We know budgets are tight right now for office equipment, and at Office Zone we are doing everything possible to help you save money. That’s why we’re proud to introduce our new listing of cheap office equipment that’s not only friendly to your budget, but provides a tremendous value as well.

The list of discounted office equipment includes paper shredders, paper cutters, binding machines, laminators, automatic paper folders and more. Be sure to browse through our new, large selection of affordable office equipment today. And, if you’re looking for something that’s not on our list, you can always contact our customer service department to request competitive pricing on almost any item.

Paper joggers are a relatively unknown, yet highly useful piece of office equipment. Joggers help you keep stacks of paper organized, and they make it much easier to bind documents with a binding machine. You will also find much lot easier to cut a large stack of paper, thanks to the help of a paper jogger.

When paper is pulled through a copy machine or laser printer, it’s typically sitting in a jumbled pile. A paper jogger will square things up in a matter of seconds. The jogger simply shakes the stack of paper in a tray until each sheet aligns perfectly with the next. It basically eliminates the time needed to tap a stack paper on a table.

Paper joggers are a popular item with copy shops, schools, and offices that bind several documents. We sell a wide range paper joggers from low-volume desktop models to standalone industrial-grade units.

Some bill counters may be used to count items other than money. Some models can count coupons, tickets, ribbons, cards and other similar products made of

paper. All you need to do is reference the specifications of the automatic bill counter and verify the minimum and maximum note size the machine can handle. If your ticket or coupon falls within those dimensions, you probably should be fine.