A coil binding machine is a book binding machine used to make coil bound books. Sometimes these books are referred to as being spiral bound, however; coiled notebooks are different than spiral notebooks in that the coils are made of plastic and the spirals are made of metal. The machine works by looping plastic coil through punched holes which in turn binds the pages together to create a book.

Coil binding machines come in different sizes, some are big and some small. If you’re in the market to buy one, the model you end up purchasing will be decided upon what types of jobs you will be doing and your personal preference. Here are some things to take into consideration before you buy a coil binding machine:

Choose A Hole Pattern Size

Coil binders come in two different hole pattern sizes, 4:1 and 5:1. The 4:1 pattern will give you 4 holes per square inch of paper, while the 5:1 will give you 5 holes per square inch. The only real technical advantage to either of the hole pattern sizes is the fact that the 4:1 pitch size allows you to bind more pages than the 5:1. Other than that it's just a preference of which pitch ratio you think looks better. Do make sure you have bought the proper size coil binding supplies, as your machine will only support one of these formats.

What Types of Books Will You Be Binding

Be sure to take into consideration is how big the books you want to make will be. By big, I mean how many pages. Most machines will allow you to punch many pages at a time. You will notice that just like anything else, the cheaper the coil binder the less pages it can punch at a time. The really high end machines can punch dozens of sheets at a time. Depending on the heaviness of our paper, the amount of pages you can punch will vary with your paper selection.

Determine the Volume of Your Workload

If you really want to get fancy you can buy an electric coil binding machine, although there are manually powered binders as well. Many of the electric machines will come equipped with electric coil inserters as well. The electric inserter is what loads and spins the coils through the holes in your pages and is truly a great time saver. The electric coil binder sounds nice but it unnecessary unless you are binding tens or hundreds of books daily. For most people’s needs, a manual binder will do the trick and be cheaper as well. A manual coil binding machine is my recommendation for the cost conscious buyer.

Determine Your Need For Versatility

One last feature any prospective coil binding machine buyer should have in mind is whether or not the binder has selective punching dies. Selective punching dies comes in very handy when you are punching non-standard size paper, or if you’re punching several different sizes daily. I’ve also heard of these called disengaging dies and they will save you the frustration and embarrassment of punching half or partial holes at the end of your pages. Again if you are on a budget or are not planning on doing high volume work, you should probably buy a manual coil binder.

Final Thoughts

In the end, the decision on which coil binding machine to buy is entirely yours but be sure to choose one that suits not only your current needs but your future needs as well. If you plan on binding very few books, then a very basic manual binder is probably the right choice. On the other hand, if you need to crank out many books for business related affairs, you should not skimp on buying a more powerful electric coil binder with selective dies and an electric coil inserter for faster production times. Make sure to consider future expansion, buy the proper corresponding size of coil binding supplies, and you should be set. You can find machines online and usually at a discount or with free shipping. Good luck and happy binding!