Comb Vs. Coil Binding

Binding can make your documents look more professional than if they were stapled or paper-clipped together. There are several bindings to choose from, including comb, coil, wire and tape. Two that are available most places are coil and comb binding.

Punched Holes

The holes punched for coil binding are small and round. There are several that run up the side of a piece of paper. The holes punched for comb binding are long and rectangular, but there are fewer of them along the page.

Coil Binding

Coil binding is a continuous spiral piece of heavy-duty plastic that bounces back when compressed. It’s spiraled into the holes after they’ve been punched. A tool called a crimper is used to secure and lock the pages of the document in place. It’s easily removed by clipping the ends off and running the coil through the holes.

Comb Binding

Comb binding is a piece of light plastic with teeth that attached themselves to the paper. The binding opens with the help of a binding machine and paper is inserted into the teeth. The machine then closes the binding to secure the documents. To remove comb binding properly, a comb binding machine should be used.

Colors and Sizes

Coil and comb bindings come in a variety of widths great for small presentations or large manuals. They also come in a variety of colors. Comb bindings are specific to the size of the document while coil bindings aren’t.

Pros and Cons

Coil binding is more stable than comb binding. Comb binding isn’t as durable and the plastic tends to break. For thicker documents however, coil loses its durability. For odd-shaped documents, coil is easier to use because it doesn’t have a specific length.

References

• Binding: Binding Supplies

Resources

• About Bookbinding: The Art of Bookbinding