Financial Resource

Overview:

Even if you have the highest speed binding punch available on the market, you still have to have a plastic comb opener to spread the combs so that you can insert your pages onto them. Opening the combs and inserting the pages can be one of the most time consuming parts of plastic comb binding. This is especially true for users who have a high speed punch or use pre-punched paper. Currently all of the comb spreaders available on the market are manual with the exception of the PB2600 by GBC. This review will provide a quick overview of that machine.

Strengths / Features: The PB2600 uses a foot pedal for its operation this frees up your hands to hold the documents while you are inserting your pages onto the combs. However, if you don’t like using the foot pedal there is also a nice large button on the top of the machine that you can use instead. It can remember the previous setting that you used for opening combs. This allows you to quickly and easily open combs that are the same size without the need to adjust the machine every time. It is the most accurate comb opening system available on the market. You can use the large knob on the side of the machine to set the amount that you want the comb to open. For large documents you can also tap the foot pedal to incrementally open the combs. This is important when trying to insert pages onto large oval shaped combs. When I first saw this machine, I had to ask someone what the little black tabs on the back of the machine were. It turns out that they are called “no flip stoppers” and they are designed to help ensure that large oval binding combs don’t slip on the machine during the opening process. This is a unique feature to the PB2600. The PB2600 is designed to pair with one of the GBC modular binding punches such as the Magnapunch, MP2500ix or MP2000PB. It will neatly stack on top of one of these machines or can be placed beside the punch to allow two users to work on the binding process at the same time.

Weaknesses / Limitations: In using this plastic comb opener I did not note any major limitations. It was easy to use and I had no problems with it whatsoever. Its construction is solid and there is very little that can go wrong with this machine. The only problem that I see with these machines in the field is that they can become dirty or clogged with paper dust over time. The opening hooks need to be cleaned and lubricated periodically to prevent the machine from becoming jammed up.

Recommendation: For organizations that do a lot of comb binding this is an extremely helpful tool that can more than can offer more than double the productivity of a standard manual plastic comb opener. This makes it ideal for printers, copy shops, in plant print shops and binderies. It might be a little bit of overkill for smaller organizations but should still be helpful in getting the job done faster. If your budget can handle it, the PB2600 is a must have for organizations who do plastic comb binding.

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