Are you looking for a new style of binding for your reports and documents? Perhaps spiral coil is a good fit for you. Spiral coil binding uses a colored plastic element that is preformed into a spiral coil that is wound onto the edge of your book and then crimped to keep the coil from winding back off. If you are thinking about switching to spiral coil binding (also called color coil binding or plastic coil binding) here are seven things you might need to know ...

1. Plastic coil binding spines are available in more colors than any other style of binding. In fact spiral coil binding elements are currently available in more than 60 different colors. This means that no matter what your company colors are you can probably get a close match with spiral coil. For this reason, spiral coil tends to be popular with marketing firms, graphic designers and crafters since there are so many available options.

2. Spiral Coil Binding spines are available in sizes from 6mm (approximately 1/4") up to 50mm (approximately 2"). However, binding documents much larger than an inch with spiral coil can be somewhat difficult. Just imagine trying to put a slinky onto the edge of a book. If you do need to do larger sized books there are some tools available to make it easier but it can still be somewhat time consuming.

3. Most people who bind documents with spiral coil use a spiral coil inserter. A spiral coil inserter is simply a set of stationary rollers that spin. To use a spiral coil inserter you start the coil onto the edge of the book and then you place the book against the edge of the coil and it spins it onto the book. The first time that you do this you might find that the coil spins right off the other side but after a little bit of practice you will get the hang of it. If you don't have a spiral coil inserter you can spin the coil onto the edge of the book by hand. However, if you are binding very many documents this can get a little bit tedious.

4. After you have spun the coil onto the edge of your book the final step in binding is to crimp the ends so that the coil can't spin off. When you buy spiral coils for binding they are generally 1" longer than the edge of your book. You trim off this extra inch during the crimping process. Most people use a set of special coil crimping pliers to crimp the ends of their coil. These special pliers cut the coil off and bend the end over so the coil can't spin off the book. These crimping pliers can be a bit tricky to use but after you get the hang of them they really aren't too bad at all.

5. Spiral coil is available in a number of different pitches. Most spiral coil machines on the market are 4:1 pitch (4 holes per inch). However, spiral coil is also available in 5:1 pitch (5 holes per inch) and 3:1 pitch (3 holes per inch). Depending on the machine that you have you need to make sure that you select the correct pitch of spiral coil so that it fits through the holes on your book. Some individuals use 3:1 pitch spiral coil with their Wire Binding Machine or Proclick Binding Machine which works quite well.

6. Unlike other binding styles, Spiral coil is readily available in lengths up to 36" for prices that are very reasonable. For this reason, spiral coil is ideal for binding odd sized books. However, most spiral coil binding machines are only designed to punch the holes in specific lengths of paper. It is important to consider this when choosing your spiral coil binding machine. If you are going to bind documents that are non standard lengths you might want to consider either a punch with fully disengageable dies or a modular binding punch where you can remove some of the pins.

7. Spiral coil is incredibly durable and is ideal for mailing since it maintains it shape and does not become deformed like Wire Binding elements. However, spiral coil is not ideal for high temperature applications since the plastic may become deformed. For instance, it is definitely best not to leave a spiral bound document sitting in the back seat of your car in the middle of summer.

Hopefully after reading these seven pieces of information you know a little bit more about Spiral Coil binding. However, if you need help choosing a binding machine or knowing what supplies are right for the machine that you have it never hurts to ask.