Heavy duty all metal legal sized plastic comb binding machine.
Akiles has an excellent reputation for producing some of the highest quality binding equipment on the market. The Megabind 1 is no exception.
Manual punch with comb opener. Designed as a complete plastic comb binding solution.
Strengths / Features:
Includes a depth of punch margin control that allows you to select how far from the edge the holes will be punched. This makes the Megabind 1 ideal for use with all sizes of plastic comb binding spines ranging from 3/16" up to 2" in diameter.
It also includes 24 fully disengageable dies to allow you to stop any hole from punching. This allows it to handle virtually any document length up to 14" with no problems at all. The Megabind 1 also has a plastic comb opener that is 14" long to help you open combs and insert pages on plastic combs that are up to 14 inches in length.
The Megabind 1 has two handles. One for punching and the other to operate the comb opener. Many machines with a single handle place undo wear on the machine by activating the comb opener during punching (or vice versa).
The Megabind 1 has a manual punch that is capable of punching approximately 20 sheets of 20lb paper per lift. This is adequate for most small to medium sized companies.
Includes a convenient and easy to use document sizing guide on the document table portion of the machine to help you select the right size comb for every job.
Weaknesses / Limitations:
The Megabind 1 has a manual punching mechanism that is great for small to medium sized companies who bind documents on a weekly basis. However, companies who bind documents every day or bind a large number of documents at a time would probably benefit from purchasing a machine with an electric punching mechanism such as the Megabind 1E.
Although the Megabind 1 is a great machine the Megabind 2 is just a little bit more money and it includes a convenient and easy to use wire closer that can be used with spiral-o 19 loop wire. This feature is something that is very worthwhile since it essentially provides you with the ability to use an entire new binding style for less than $75 more.
Construction:
The Megabind 1 is built with all metal components and is an extremely reliable machine.
The two handle design should help elongate the life of the machine. Most users should never have problems with this machine provided that they don't punch things that they shouldn't (no more than 2 clear covers at a time) and no metal, wood, heavy duty plastic or other materials that could damage the punching heads.
Recommendation:
The Akiles Megabind 1 is an excellent choice for an organization that is looking for a highly reliable legal size plastic comb binding machine. It is built extremely well and has all the features that you would expect.
That being said, I would suggest that users strongly consider the Megabind 2 which provides the ability to bind documents with wire for just a few dollars more.
Either way, these are excellent machines and shouldn't need to be replaced unless you end up deciding to upgrade to an electric punch in the future.
