Someone mentioned a rule of thumb for minimum coil size as total thickness of the paper plus 2mm. The Akiles CoilMac comes with a coil diameter gauge which gives a result very close to paper thickness plus 3mm. Obviously you can use a larger diameter coil than the minimum, though if the coil is significantly larger than it needs to be, it makes for a somewhat ungainly and unprofessional look. What I did was buy boxes of 100 (36" length) in 3 different sizes: 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm. That's probably more than I'll ever need, but those 3 sizes have turned out to be a good match for my needs. The largest score I've done to date has been 69 sheets of 28 lb. bond, plus two card stock covers, which comes to right around 9mm thick, and it is easily accommodated by a 12mm coil. If had to pick only two sizes, it would be 8mm and 12mm. The best prices I've seen on coils have been here: <http://www.laminator.com/Plastic-Coil-Binding-Supplies.htm>. Also, keep in mind that the price increases rapidly with the coil size (12mm is more than twice the price of 8mm).
For a coil-binding machine, I strongly recommend the CoilMac. It's built like a tank and can punch up to 26" along a side (anything longer than 13" takes two passes, but alignment is easy and accurate). I've had mine for more than 2 years and am very pleased with it. My scores are generally 11"x14", and it's nice to be able to have the coil run the entire length of the page, which is something Kinko's can't do (and even if they could, it's nice not to have to go there). Lee Actor Composer-in-Residence and Assistant Conductor, Palo Alto Philharmonic http://www.leeactor.com > > Can't do a proof -- I don't have the document yet. And since you have > to order 100 coils at a time, I need a good all-purpose size. I just > want to make sure 12 mm is enough. (It's rated capacity is 90 sheets, > which I assume means 90 20 lb. sheets. I have 60 24 lb. sheets, plus > front and back cover, and like I said, I want a little extra room for > page turns. > > - Darcy > ----- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Brooklyn, NY > > > > On 25 Sep 2007, at 5:19 PM, Cecil Rigby wrote: > > > sorry if this borders on nit-picky..... > > > > I once made the mistake of measuring a stack of paper to determine > > what size coil I needed only to find out that ink has some > > thickness when so many pages are put back to back..... and the > > paper's not truly flat anymore, which adds a little, too. > > > > Can you run a proof plus covers and measure that? > > > > -Cecil Rigby > > > > > >> A related question -- anyone have any idea what size coil I'd > >> want for 60 sheets of 24. lb bond plus cardstock front and back > >> cover? Does 12 mm sound right to everyone? > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Finale mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
