If you have made very many scrapbooks, you know how costly albums can be to purchase. This cost is all too apparent if you are making scrapbooks that are designed to be given away as gifts or if you are one of those prolific scrapbookers with dozens or even hundreds of scrapbooks. However, there is an alternative to expensive albums when binding your scrapbooks. You can use spiral coil (also called color coil).
One of the best things about spiral coil is that it is available in almost any length and color imaginable. Currently, spiral coil is available in more than 64 stock colors. No matter what color scheme that you choose for your scrapbook, there is most likely a color available that will match. Recently a number of new colors of spiral coil were released including: Charcoal, Electric Blue, Magenta, Fluorescent Green, Dark Purple, Fluorescent Pink, Fluorescent Orange, Burnt Orange, Spiral Blue, Plum, Neon Green, Pearl, Goldenrod, Light Teal, Lilac, Process Blue, Copper and Tangerine. Using the different colors available on the market, you can give almost any scrapbook its own customized appearance.
Spiral Coil also lends itself extremely well to scrapbooking since you can buy coils in almost any size or length imaginable. Color coil is available in sizes as small as 6mm (1/4") and as large as 50mm (2") however it works best in sizes up to 1" (25mm). Coil can also be ordered in almost any length up to 36" long and can be easily cut to the correct length if needed. This flexibility makes it possible to bind almost any size of scrapbook including 12" x 12", 8" x 8" and 8.5" x 11" albums.
Traditionally, the equipment to punch holes for spiral coil binding has been too expensive for the home market. However, there are now a few different coil binding machines that are affordable for doing scrapbooking and creating memory books. For 11" x 8.5" albums, GBC (General Binding Corporation) recently introduced a new binding punch called the ProClick P50. The ProClick P50 costs about $60 and can be used in conjunction with 3:1 pitch spiral coil for an extremely economical coil binding solution.
For individuals who are looking to bind scrapbooks with a binding edge shorter or longer than 11" a plastic coil binding machine with disengageable dies is necessary. There are coil binding machines available on the market that cost approximately $250 and have 46 disengageable punch pins allowing you to bind documents as short as 1 inch long and as long as 21 inches long (using the open throat design). These machine uses 4:1 pitch color coil which is more readily available and slightly cheaper than 3:1 pitch coil. Using this type of binding machine you can bind dozens or even hundreds of scrapbooks without difficulty.
Spiral coil binding can be done using several different hole patterns. The hole pattern is described in terms of pitch. Pitch represents the number of holes per inch. 4:1 pitch is chosen by the overwhelming majority of people, although 5:1 and 3:1 pitch are also available. When using the 4:1 pitch, please remember that even though the pitch is standardized, the total number of holes varies. Some systems use 43 holes, and others use 44. Be careful when purchasing prepunched items for spiral coil binding projects and double-check the number of holes your binding system uses.
You may be tempted to use oversized covers for binding your documents; however, this is not a good idea. Not only is it difficult to handle a larger cover, but when you attempt to align the punched paper with the cover, you will most likely end up with extra holes.
Because the majority of coil binding machines are not equipped with disengageable dies, it is difficult to create spiral bound documents in nonstandard sizes. Some spiral binding machines and modular punches are available with disengageable dies to allow for the creation of other sizes of documents. Disengageable dies allow users to prevent individual pins from punching holes so that you don't end up with a half hole on the edge of your sheets.
Once you have properly punched the holes into the document, the next step is to insert the spiral coil into the holes. To do this, you take the spiral coil and spin it through the holes on the edge of your book. Some machines are equipped with a spiral coil inserter. Pay attention as you do this to ensure you don't spin the spine right off the other side of your proposal.
That said, the last thing you need to do is crimp the coil's ends to keep the spiral coil in place. For best results, you should do this with coil crimping pliers. Keep the spine facing towards you and the red indicator dot facing up. While you could attempt use needle nosed pliers, it will likely be an exercise in frustration to do so.
Most documents under one inch thick are easy to bind with colorcoil; however, larger documents can be tricky. To prepare to insert the binding, you will need to arrange the document so that it is appropriately curved where the coils will be inserted. Although the majority of coil binding machines include spine shapers, you may want to consider purchasing a separate spine-forming device if you need to bind many thick documents. You should also note that you will most likely not be able to use your inserter for large diameter coil book binding.
With this background information in mind, you have a good foundation in the basics of spiral coil binding. While you may not become a master of spiral coil binding immediately, with a little practice you will develop an eye and hand for this great book-binding style.
Jeff Mcritchie has sinced written about articles on various topics from Binding Machines, Computers and The Internet and Shopping. Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for . He has written over 100 artticles on. Jeff Mcritchie's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.