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[F158]Fellowes Tb450 Thermal Binding Machine

by Jeff Mcritchie, Jef

With the high cost of trade paperbacks today, it is extremely important that libraries find ways to make their books last. Most public libraries and school libraries have extremely limited budgets for purchasing new titles and would much rather spend their money expanding their collection instead of replacing their books. Now libraries can extend the life of their trade paperback books using a thermal binding machine. Here's how...

When most trade paperback books are shipped from their publishers they are suitable for personal use. However, their bindings are often not strong enough to hold up to the abuse that most library books receive. Over time the covers of the books can begin to separate from the book block or pages can fall out. However, the binding of these books can be significantly improved by simply running them through a thermal binding machine. The binding machine reactivates the glue in the spine of the books and helps to ensure that the book block is securely fastened to the cover.

In order to complete this process you simply take your brand new trade paperback books out of the box and insert them directly into your thermal binding machine. Simply press the button to start the thermal binding cycle and approximately 45 seconds later the book will be done. When the binding machine beeps to let you know that the book has finished you simply take the book out of the machine and firmly tap the spine of the book onto a hard surface such as the counter. Tapping the spine of the book on the counter will help to ensure that the book block is fully seated into the still hot glue. Finally, you set your book in the cooling stand (or on your book cart) to cool. The glue will fully cure and harden in less than 15 minutes and the bind of the book will be considerably improved.

For best results most users should use a thermal binding machine with a 2" throat that will accommodate most paperback books (many thermal binding machines only have a 1" throat). Additionally, choosing a thermal binding machine with all metal construction and heavy duty heating elements will help ensure that the machine will last for years in even the largest libraries. Most thermal binding machines are just a little bit larger than a toaster (so it won't take up a lot of counter space), and require no maintenance.

In addition to extending the life of your trade paperback books, your thermal binding machine can also be used to repair damaged books making it even more useful for use in both small and large libraries. Check out our other article on repairing books using your thermal binding machine. Plus, if you are part of a school library the binding machine can even be used to bind your own school yearbooks when used along with thermal hard cover cases and a hard cover crimper.

Fastback from Powis Parker, UniBind and the various other thermal binding systems (such as the P2000 from ProBind) are similar in many respects, but have some major differences. When deciding which system is best suited for your needs, it is important to understand what you hope to get from your binding system as well as what the various machines are designed to do.

First, it is important to note that all of the systems are incredibly fast. Thermal binding is by far the fastest of the binding systems available today. One unique advantage of UniBind and other traditional thermal binding systems is the ability to bind several books at one time. If your application calls for a large number of the exact same document to be produced, UniBind and thermal binding are great options. Fastback, while exceptionally fast at 15 seconds per binding cycle, allows for one book at a time.

Another factor to look at is the costs of the equipment and the associated costs of supplies. The equipment cost of UniBind and thermal binding are very low as they start under $500. The Fastback model 9 starts at about $2300.00. There is a huge difference in cost in the supplies as well. While UniBind will start at about $1.25 per bind and thermal binding starts right at $1.00 per bind, Fastback starts at about $0.30 per bind.

A huge issue to take into consideration is the cost of inventory as well. UniBind and thermal binding have preset spine sizes, similar to combs or coils, where you will need to have several sizes of product on the shelf to accommodate a range of document thicknesses. A hand full of boxes of supplies at over $100 per box can add up quickly-not to mention the additional space requirements of the stock. With Fastback, you will only need up to three boxes of strips, taking up less space than a single box of covers to accommodate any document from 2 pages to 375 pages.

One of the most common complaints that people have with UniBind and thermal binding is that the spines are slightly larger than the number of pages you are binding. When you look at the side of the document you can see a gap. With Fastback, the machine tightly wraps the strip no matter what size the document is.

All three options have several finishes to choose from, making them some of the most versatile binding systems available. All three can bind soft covers and hard covers. UniBind has hard covers, covers with incorporated front and back clear or frost covers and a unique product called a SteelBack spine that enables you to use your own covers. Thermal Binding has a glue strip to enable you to create your own perfect bound books along with paper covers and hard covers. Fastback has a huge number of options including hard covers, SuperStrips that have a linen finish, CompStrips that have a leatherette finish, true perfect binding, and Halfback covers that enable you to print on a cover prior to binding.

Many users want to use their own cover sets to give them the exact look they desire and to lower the overall cost of binding. Thermal binding requires that you use a solid, wrap around cover and is very inflexible. UniBind offers the SteelBack spine to enable you to use your own covers. Powis Parker is by far the best in this perspective giving you the ultimate flexibility to use your own covers or Fastback covers that exactly match the strip. Fastback even offers a foil printer to customize hard covers and leatherette covers as well as a spine printer to print on the spine of the document.

UniBind, thermal binding and Fastback are excellent options for Photobooks as well. Each has their own styles and sizes to choose from. Fastback offers a Photobook work cell that incorporates a stitcher in the binding process to insure that the glossy photo paper will not come out of the book afterbinding.

There are many factors involved in choosing the proper thermal binding system. Machine price, supply price, binding options, binding speed, and appearance of finished product are perhaps the most important factors to take into consideration.

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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 MyBinding.com. He has written over 100 articles on. Jeff Mcritchie's top article generates over 74000 views. Bookmark Jeff Mcritchie to your Favourites.