Rhin-o-tuff Hd-4101 Ez Spiral Coil Spine Former Review

If you have ever tried to insert spiral coils onto theThe pages fit into the machine easily and the spine
edge of a book that is 2" thick you know just howwas formed with a convenient curve. I then
difficult that it can be. Inserting coils onto small booksproceeded to insert the coil onto the edge of the
really isn't that hard. However, dealing withbook. Although you can use the HD-4101 along with
documents that are larger than 30mm can be veryan electric coil inserter (it even bolts onto one of the
challenging. In fact, I timed myself to see how long itRhino inserters) I decided to try it by hand so that I
would take me to insert a coil on the edge of acould compare it to my previous inserting experiment.
50mm book by hand (that is how most people do it)I won't lie. The coil still got hung up a few times
and it took me almost ten minutes. In a productionwhen I was trying to insert it onto the document. It
environment that would represent a huge drain onwould have helped a lot if I had used a punch with an
resources.oval hole pattern or larger holes. However, I was able
The main reason that inserting spines onto large sizedto complete the document in approximately 3.5
books is so difficult is that the coil doesn't have aminutes. Compared to the ten minutes that it took
clear path to travel. The coil is round and when youme without the 4101 this was a significant time
line up your paper the holes are straight. This meanssavings. In fact, if I had to do 100 books I could save
that it is necessary to shape the spine of your bookalmost 11 hours of labor.
so that it matches the diameter of coil you are using.Limitations:
Trying to do this by hand is a lot easier said thanTo be honest, I was surprised that the HD-4101
done. This is why the Rhino HD-4101 claims tosaved me as much time as it did. I was pretty
dramatically reduce the time that it takes to insertimpressed. However, after playing with the machine a
large coils onto documents. It helps you to quicklylittle bit I did notice one limitation that I thought that I
and easily shape the spine of your book and holds itshould note. This device cannot be used with
in place so that you can insert the coil through thedocuments that have index tabs or use index
holes. I decided to put this claim to the test and seeallowance sized covers. It actually shapes the outside
just how much time the HD-4101 saved me.edge of the document so that the binding edge is
The Test:easily accessible. If you try to use index tabs they
The HD4101 spine former is actually very simple towill keep the spine from forming properly. This is
set up and to use. It is designed for shaping bookssomething to remember with the 4101.
for use with 30mm - 50mm spiral coils. There areAs I mentioned above, inserting coils with such large
three size settings on the spine former. You simplycoil was still not really simple with the 4101. However,
rotate a shaft on the machine to select the size ofif you want to make your life easier you might
the book that you need to shape. In my case Iconsider using an oversize oval punching die or try
decided to select a 50mm (2") book so that I couldusing a different pitch of coil. Spiral coils are available
test the real capabilities of this machine.for both 3:1 pitch or 2.5:1 pitch (most people use this
The machine has three forming tools attached to thewith a 2:1 pitch hole pattern) hole patterns. These
shaft that I mentioned above. Each of the threelarger pitch hole patterns use more rigid coil and
forming tools has a small thumb screw that allows itrequire you to insert the coil through less holes
to be moved. I set mine so that they were equallymaking it much easier to finish your documents.
spaced along the edge of the spine of the book thatRecommendations:
I needed to form. In my case I was forming a letterIf you use spiral coil binding and do a lot of large
sized document but the 4101 could also be used fordiameter books the HD-4101 is an absolute essential.
forming longer or shorter documents.It is the only tool of its kind that I have seen on the
Once I selected the diameter that was appropriatemarket and it is incredibly simple. If it could deal with
for my document and set up the forming tools I wasdocuments that had index tabs it would be even
ready to give the machine a try. I took my two inchbetter. Still, the labor savings that the HD-4101 offers
thick book which was already punched and placed itwill quickly allow it to pay for itself in no time at all.
into the machine with the binding edge facing out.