TECHNICAL TIP: Choose The Right Mechanical Binding Style. Knowing a product's intended use is important when selecting a mechanical binding style. If a book has critical crossovers, such as maps, artwork, or diagrams, choose Wire-O or GBC because it opens without shifting up or down. If a book is to be held in one hand (i.e., equipment manuals or some maps), choose a style that opens 360°. If the product will be exposed to extreme temperatures, avoid plastic-only bindings because GBC and plastic coil may melt or crack. If a book is intended to be sold in retail stores, spine printing might be important - making semi-concealed reversible binding a great choice.

Plan for success by including your bindery representative early in the job preparation stage. Ask how a job should be laid out for maximum bindery performance. Poor communication can reduce an easily produced automatic job to hand-fed or handwork status.

For example, an oblong 4" x 6" product (bound on the 4" side) should be laid out two-up for automatic punching. If not, your bindery will have to hand-feed lifts into a manual punching machine. What if a similar dimension product is bound on the 6" side? If the stock is thick (12 pt. or higher), grain direction becomes very important. In this case, the grain should be long because if it isn't, the book may not automatically punch or collate.

A CASE STUDY: Mylar Tabbing. We just completed 20,000 sets of Mylar reinforced tabs (12 tabs, 2 banks of 6) that we bound into a Wire-O book. We had a problem because during set-up we noticed that the Mylar adhesion was poor. We asked our customer if they used wax-free ink. Unfortunately, they didn’t, and due to time and job cost constraints, a reprint wasn’t possible. Our agreed upon solution was to use a special film that ran a lot slower. The Bottom Line: When planning your next tabbing job, remember that tabbing machines typically run at 350°F. Therefore, always use wax-free ink, heat-resistant varnish and use press powder sparingly.