Mid-State Litho Blog

The primary feature of a cutter is the cut width. Typically you want a cutter that is at least the diagonal of your largest sheet. For 13″ x 19″ that is about 23.” Electric cutters are good for office environments. Production sites should look at a hydraulic cutter or a flywheel guillotine cutter. Start with the MBM Triumph series and then work your way up to Challenge Machinery and then Perfecta.

Laminating is all about balancing heat and speed. Start with the temperature setting recommended on the laminate packaging. Start at a slow speed and increase it a little bit each time. Going slower and raising the temperature will increase the melting reaction of the glue. Going faster is great but it can cause problems with adhesion like bubbles or ripples. Slow down or raise the temp if that happens.

Spiral binding is a common type of mechanical binding. Spiral binding is a two step process starting with paper punching and ending with coil inserting. Paper punches are basic machines but the die you get must match the coil you insert. Coil inserters are big rollers that help you spin the coil into the book. Crimp the ends of the coil and you’re done. There are bigger coil punches but with a lot of volume you should consider thermal binding.

Thermal binding is a book manufacturing process that uses glue to hold everything together. Paper covers are glued onto book blocks and firmly pressed together to form a square bind. Thermal bound books can be paper back books or they can be further manufactured into case bound books with hard covers. Thermal binding is also commonly called perfect binding.