If you’re looking for that unique gift for a special someone, consider one of our many unique office products. While many of our products are designed for use in an office, many are also excellent for use at home by a scrapbooker, a hobbyist m a parent, a friend and much more. I would like to bring up just a few of our most popular Christmas gift ideas.

One of our most popular product categories for gifts is our line of rotary paper cutters and trimmers. These are excellent for trimming down paper, cutting photos, sizing card stock and more. Here are four that I personally recommend:

1. Carl RT-200 Rotary Paper Trimmer (found here) – This is by far one of the most popular trimmers we offer. It is a great multi-purpose trimmer and scrapbookers love the optional patterned blades. It comes with a standard slitting blade, but optional scoring, perforating and patterned blades are available. It is very accurate and affordable.
2. Carl DC-300N (found here) – This is another popular scrapbooker / hobbyist rotary trimmer. It includes a convenient carrying handle, multiple guides / grids and has a nice clamp that is designed to make the item you’re cutting easier to see. It also has a compartment where you can store extra blades.
3. Dahle 500 Series Rotary Trimmers (found here) – The 500 series Personal Rotary Cutters from Dahle are excellent gift items. They come in different sizes, have optional perforating / scoring blades available and are actually really well built. They hold up very well and maintain a sharp edge.
4. Carl 210 Rotary Trimmer (found here) – If you need some added cutting length, but don’t want to spend a fortune, the Carl DC-250 is an excellent option. I have had customers tell me this is equal to the Dahle trimmers in quality and it has a long 25” cutting length and a decent 30 sheet cutting capacity.

Another very popular gift category is our line of binding machines. These are especially nice for that person that likes to bind their own books, cookbooks, photo albums or scrapbooks. Here are four models I personally recommend:

1. Intelli-Bind IB200 Comb Binding Machine (found here) – The IB200 is one of the most affordable comb binding machines we offer. While it isn’t designed for high volumes of binding, it is excellent for a few books a day. It uses 19-ring plastic binding combs and can bind a book up to 2” thick. It is a great book binder for the value.
2. Intelli-Bind IB150 Comb Binding Machine (found here) – The Intelli-Bind IB150 is another value comb binding machine. The advantage to this machine is that it uses a “U” shaped handle that is easy to operate whether you are right or left handed. Like the IB200, it can be used to bind a book up to 2” thick. It can bind reports, books, presentations, photo albums and more.
3. Intelli-Bind IC210 Coil Binding Machine (found here) – Coil binding machines are especially popular these days due to the durability of the PVC coil and the ability of the books to lay flat and pages to turn a full 360 degrees. The IC210 is very easy to operate and includes the added benefit of an electric coil inserter.
4. Intelli-Bind IW250 Wire Binding Machine (found here) – Wire binding is considered to be one of the classiest binding formats out there. The IW250 will allow you to use 3:1 pitch wire to bind a variety of items. It includes the punch and the wire closer. It also comes with fully selectable punching pins, which is excellent when binding non-standard paper sizes.

Finally, I recommend you consider a paper shredder for a loved one who has a lot of material that they dispose of on a regular basis. A paper shredder provides the gift of peace of mind. Here are four models that should keep up with your home shredding needs:

1. Fellows P-35C Cross Cut Shredder (found here) – This is a great deskside shredder that can be strategically placed to quickly destroy invoices, bills, sensitive documents, mail, applications and more.
2. HSM Shredstar X5 Shredder (found here) – The HSM Shredstar X5 is by far one of the best small office paper shredders available. It is made by HSM, considered to be one of the best brands out there. It is easy to use, well built and cross cut shreds 6-7 sheets of paper at a time. If you need quality, this is the shredder to own.
3. Fellowes DS-2 Cross Cut Shredder (found here) – The Fellowes DS-2 is one of the few paper shredders we offer that includes a garbage bypass slot. It can easily cross cut shred full sizes of paper and features a unique modern design. This is a great shredder for the home.
4. Intimus 20CC3 Cross Cut Shredder (found here) – If you want to take your shredding up to the next level, consider the Intimus Pro 20CC3. This shredder is German built, features a continuous-duty motor and holds up to 5.28 gallons of paper. It is on the quieter side of cross cut shredders and includes a lifetime warranty on the cutting cylinders.

Hopefully these suggestions help you in your pursuit of a thoughtful Christmas gift. Keep in mind, we offer a lot more than just these machines. At ABC Office we offer literally thousands of products, so feel free to swing by our site and see everything we have to offer by visiting us here (www.abcoffice.com). You can reach us by calling 1-800-658-8788.

Are you looking for a way to save a little extra money during the holidays? Consider using our holiday coupon code. This code can be used to purchase equipment, supplies and accessories. For the next several weeks, you can use coupon code HOLIDAY05 to save 5% off of your order. This coupon code will expire on December 31st.

This coupon code can be used multiple times and with multiple items. You can use it multiple ways. We will accept this coupon code for orders placed over the phone or you may apply it when checking out via our secure shopping cart. Some restrictions do apply.

If you are looking for some Christmas or holiday gifts, here are a few products that have proven to be popular with our customers:

• Carl RT-200 Rotary Paper Cutter (found here) – This rotary cutter is extremely popular with our scrapbooking customers. It can be used to cut paper, photographs and can be used with optional patterned blades. This cutter is easy to pick up and can be used on most tables and surfaces. It makes an excellent gift.
• Intelli-Lam IL200 Laminator (found here) - Do you have a friend or family member that would love to create their own bookmarks, laminate photos and preserve documents? Consider using a pouch laminator like the IL200. This laminator is affordable and very easy to use.
• HSM Shredstar X5 Paper Shredder (found here) – What better gift to offer than peace of mind? If you or a friend is tired of junk paper shredders that seem to fall apart after a month or two, consider using a shredder from a very reputable manufacturer like the HSM ShredStar X5. This cross cut shredder is excellent for home or small office use.
• Intelli-Bind IB200 Comb Binding Machine (found here) – A binding machine for Christmas? You bet! Many people out there would love to be able to bind their own cookbooks, story books, children’s books, scrapbooks or memory books. Comb binding is readily available, the supplies are cheap and the end results look great!
• Sinbo Vacuum Sealer (found here) – Whether you want to preserve food yourself or you need a gift for a fellow prepper, consider the Sinbo vacuum sealer. This sealer uses retractable nozzle technology that simply isn’t found in department store vacuum sealers like FoodSaver.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and hopefully the above-mentioned coupon code helps you save some money. As always, please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions. Have a wonderful day!

When it comes to paper folding machines, there are literally dozens of different models to choose from. While there are some tied and true machines out there, it is tough to know which will hold up and which will do a good job. One such machine I have personally used is the Martin Yale 1611 AutoFolder (found here). I would like to share a new video with you that we just added to our site and discuss why I personally like this machine.

Martin Yale has been around for years, well longer than the 13 years I have been with ABC Office. They manufacture a wide variety of products including paper folders. To be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of their folding machines (such as the 1501X and the 1217A). My opinion of their machines changed with the introduction of the 1611 and 1711 AutoFolders. These two machines are solid.

The 1611 is the replacement of the older 1601. They took the 1601, worked out some of the kinks and issues people were having and released the 1611. For the price, and considering the capabilities included, it is a great deal. Here is a video of the 1611 and 1711 folding machines in use:

So why do I like the Martin Yale 1611 so much? A lot of it boils down to price, features and simplicity. Here are just a few things I really like:

• Folding Plates – While this machine is still manually set up, adjusting the folding plates is as easy as loosening a single thumbscrew, sliding the plate to the correct position and tightening the screw back up.
• Drop-In Feed Tray – Unlike the older 1501X (aka CV7) and the 1217A that require the paper to be pre-fanned, the 1611 utilizes a drop-in feed system. This means you can take your stack of paper and drop it into the feed tray without any fanning or special adjustments. This also results in much fewer paper jams.
• Multi-Sheet Folding Capabilities – The 1611 is built with a multi-sheet feed slot that can handle up to 5 sheets of stapled or unstapled paper. This slot is located in front of the standard feed tray. The multi-sheet stack does have to be manually fed into the machine, but the results look great.
• Stacking Wheel & Conveyor – Unlike most paper folding machines in this price range, the 1611 comes equipped with a powered exit conveyor and stacking wheels. This essentially takes the folded paper, slows it down and helps keep it organized as it leaves the machine.
• Maintenance – I should mention that this machine is easy to maintain. It is designed to make the rollers easy to access and clean. This helps prolong the life of the paper folding machine.
• Adjustments – While this machine lets you easily adjust the folding plates to accommodate the fold you need, it also has skew adjustment capabilities via a dial, making it easy to get the fold completely registered and crisp every time.

I should mention that this machine is a friction feed paper folding machine. This means it will not handle slick, glossy or coated paper will. It will handle standard finish paper just fine in thicknesses ranging from 16# bond up to 70# index. It can also handle paper sizes ranging from 3 ½” x 5” up to 8 ½” x 14” (legal).

I hope this information helps you in making an educated buying decision on a paper folding machine. We have sold a lot of 1611 folding machines and have had great luck with them. If you have additional questions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-658-878. You can find our entire selection of paper folding machines here.

The US Government has just released a new $100 banknote (October 7th, 2013) and we are already getting a lot of questions about what new features are included and how this will impact their bill counters and counterfeit money detectors (found here). Many customers are wondering which new machines will also handle this new banknote. I would like to educate you regarding the new bill and answer some common questions.

The new $100 bill is one of the most recent denominations to receive a makeover. While smaller denominations have already received makeovers, this the first time the $100 has been redesigned since 1996. Apparently these new bills cost 8 cents a piece to manufacture, which isn’t cheap compared to the older bills. The redesign was done to help stay ahead of counterfeiters and their ever-improving counterfeiting methods. The new $100 has received a couple of new features including a three-dimensional security ribbon and a color-changing bell in the inkwell. Here is a video that goes into more detail:

Here is where the new 3-D security ribbon is located. As you tilt the banknote you will notice the bells changing to 100s. The ribbon is actually woven into the banknote. Seeing this ribbon and the 3-D shifting effects makes it much easier to visually identify a legitimate $100 bill.

Here is where you will find the “Bell in the Inkwell” feature. It is a color-changing bell in a copper-colored inkwell. As the $100 bill is tilted, the bell will shift from copper to green and back again. This is also a great way to visibly identify a legitimate $100 banknote.

I have found, after speaking with many of our manufacturers, that many of the older currency discriminators (aka mixed bill counters) and several automated counterfeit money detectors will not work with the new bills. The good news is that most manufacturers have taken the new bills into account and are now manufacturing machines that are compliant with the new banknote. Manufacturers who are currently compliant include Semacon and Cassida. You can find all of our money handling equipment here.

The good news is that many manufacturers are offering a free upgrade to older machines. You’re only going to be out the cost of shipping. Some more sophisticated machines can even be upgraded on location via a software upgrade. We just had a customer today who wanted their Cassida 3300 (including the 3310) to be able to be used with the new $100. Cassida notified us that this model could be sent in for a free upgrade.

If you have a question as to whether or not your machine can be upgraded, or if you are looking for a new $100 bill compliant machine, please give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. We would love to help you out.

You can find our entire selection of bill counters here and counterfeit money detectors here.

Does your business or organization need the ability to fold stapled sets of paper in a quick and professional manner? Doing this quickly and accurately can be difficult, especially if you are trying to do this by hand. Most people who need to fold hundreds or even thousands of sets of stapled paper per day need to use a special type of paper folding machine (found here). Not all folding machines can handle multiple sets of paper at a time. I would like to cover some machines that should work and answer some common questions.

Multi-sheet folding is the method of folding more than one sheet of paper at a time. Often times these sets of paper are stapled prior to folding. Unfortunately over the years I have found that many people purchase a folding machine thinking it can do multi-sheet folding. This is not the case. Only a small percentage of machines are capable of doing this. Let me explain why this is so difficult.

Most paper folding machine have a feed tray where the paper is loaded. The folding machine then takes a sheet of paper from the stack, runs it through the machine, bounces it off of some folding plates (which determine where the crease will be made) after which the paper comes out of the machine folded. Due to the fact that most paper folding machines only have one tray, and due to the way that the machines are designed, it is only physically possible to fold one sheet of paper at a time. Some manufactures have come up with a clever way to bypass this problem.

TABLETOP PAPER FOLDING MACHINES

Many manufacturers use a multi-sheet bypass slot to fold multiple sets of paper (stapled or unstapled). A great example of a machine that can do this is the Martin Yale 1611 (found here) and the Martin Yale 1711 (found here). Mechanically both of these machines are almost identical except that the 1611 requires the folding plates to be manually set where the 1711 has plates that set themselves.

Both of the above mentioned Martin Yale folding machines have a bypass feed slot for multi-sheet folding. This isn’t quite as convenient as simply dropping a large stack of paper into a tray, but it is still significantly faster and much more accurate than manually folding multi-sheet documents or stapled sets of paper. Simply take your stack of papers (up to 5 20#bond documents) and feed them into the bypass slot. The folding machine detects the paper, pulls it in and folds them all together. The results are impressive.

Here is a picture that shows you where that bypass slot is located:

Here are some other machines that have a multi-sheet bypass:

• Dahle 10560 Paper Folder
• Martin Yale P7400 AutoFolder
• Martin Yale 1501X AutoFolder
• Martin Yale 1812 AutoFolder
• Martin Yale 2051 SmartFold

Here’s a video of the Martin Yale 2051 folding 5 sheets of paper at once:

DESKTOP LETTER FOLDING MACHINES

If you are folding just a few dozen sets of paper per day, you may want to consider something basic like a tabletop letter folder. These machines require the paper to be manually fed in regardless of whether you are folding a single sheet or multiple sheets of paper. These machines are also still significantly faster than manually folding paper. The Martin Yale P6200 (found here) and Martin Yale P6400 (found here) are both examples of tabletop letter folding machines that can multi-sheet fold up to 3 sheets (letter fold) or 5 sheets (half fold). Both can handle stapled or unstapled documents.

ENVELOPE INSERTING MACHINES

If you need a more automated way of multi-sheet folding paper, you may want to consider using an envelope inserting machine (found here). These machines have multiple feed trays. While they are designed to fold paper and insert it into envelopes, the envelope inserting portion of the process can be disabled. The only downside to this method is you cannot use it with stapled sets of paper.

I hope this information helps you with your multi-sheet folding needs. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. We have decades of experience with folding machines and multi-sheet folding. We would love to help you out. You can find our entire selection of paper folding machines here.

The 27” wide roll laminator (found here) continues to be the most popular size used today. It is commonly found in schools, copy centers, print shops and businesses around the world. The 27” size is ideal for laminating posters, signs, banners, multiple letter-size documents and more. It is just a very affordable and versatile size and is an excellent upgrade over the slower pouch laminator. One laminator I recommend time and time again is the GBC HeatSeal Pinnacle 27 (found here).

Now that the popular EasyLam roll laminators are no longer available, many people ask me, “Which roll laminator do you recommend?” There are still a lot of great laminators out there, but I have always considered the Pinnacle 27 to be an excellent machine and have felt this way for years. This laminator produces excellent results, is very nicely priced and is very easy to set up.

The GBC Pinnacle is available in two different versions. You can buy it as the standard HeatSeal Pinnacle 27 or as the Pinnacle 27 EZLoad. The EZLoad version uses special roll cartridges, which is nice for people who don’t like to hassle with loading and feeding individual rolls of film. The EZLoad film packs are actually pretty affordable, considering they are a proprietary product only available from GBC.

Personally I prefer the standard Pinnacle 27 as it allows you to use standard thermal roll lamination film (the most common thermal film out there). This means if you are in a pinch and need film fast, it won’t be hard to come by. This is a huge advantage for me. Standard rolls of film are also 25%-50% less money.

Both versions of the Pinnacle 27 can be used with 1.5, 1.7 and 3 mil rolls of film. A mil is a thousandth of an inch. The higher the number the thicker the film. Most schools and businesses won’t need anything thicker than a 3 mil roll of film. Both are compatible with NAP I or NAP II film. Here is more information on the differences between the different types of NAP lam film.

Here is a video on exactly how the standard Pinnacle 27 laminator is set up and used:

There are a lot of reasons why this laminator may be a good option for you. To begin with, it is extremely fast. Many laminators out there require you to wait a good 10-20 minutes before it is ready to use. This laminator takes just 6 minutes to warm up, which is excellent for organizations that are pressed on time. It is also nice to have someone that is easy to set up and simply “works” in a short period of time.

Controls are located on the right-side of the machine. The control panel allows you to select the type of film, adjust the temperature and adjust the speed. It also makes it very easy to shut off and start. It cans also be switches to reverse if needed. A digital readout lets you know the exact temperature of the machine.

Once you are done laminating, the machine can be turned off and a built-in slitter can be used to cut off the item you have just laminated from the continuous roll of film. This laminator is extremely easy to clean and maintain.

We have sold a lot of these laminators and they have a great track record. I would easily put this laminator up there with Ledco laminators and the now discontinued EasyLam roll laminators. If you have any questions about this laminator and its features, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. We would love to help you out. You can find our entire selection of roll laminators here.

So you want a piece of office equipment, but just can’t make the leap? Consider using our October coupon code. This coupon code will allow you to take an additional 5% off of our already low prices. This coupon code can easily be applied to our secure shopping cart or you can use it over the phone.

The coupon code you will want to use for the month of October is OCTBLOG05. This coupon can be applied towards equipment or supplies. You can also combine it to a large order of multiple items and you can use it multiple times throughout the month.

At ABC Office we offer a wide selection of equipment and supplies at guaranteed low prices. Popular product categories include paper folding machines, laminators, shrink wrap machines, money counters and much more. Here are just a few of our top sellers:

• Intelli-Fold DE-172AF (found here) – Considering what this machine does, it is a steel. Not only does it handle small sheets of paper and letter size documents, it can also handle larger 11” x 17” sheets of paper. It features a drop-in feed tray, an adjustable speed and a powered exit conveyor with stacking wheels. This machine has been around for years and is a customer favorite.
• Minipack MVS 31X (found here) - When it comes to chamber vacuum sealers, few are as affordable or as reputable as the MVS 31X. This chamber vacuum sealer is Italian made by Minipack-Torre and features a seamless basin design, clear hood, digital controls and the ability to package food, medical supplies and more at a speed of 3 cycles per minute.
• David-Link W-988 (found here) – Do you need a reliable biometric time clock for your office? The David-Link line of time clocks are some of the most affordable around. They can be integrated into your business’s local network and they include time attendance software with the price. The data can even be exported for use with Quickbooks and other payroll software.
• Intelli-Lam IL400 (found here) – You’ll be hard pressed to find a 13” wide pouch laminator with a four-roller design for this price. The IL400 is comparable to many commercial / industrial pouch laminators at a fraction the price the price.

Please give us a call at 1-800-658-8788 for answers to any questions regarding this coupon code. Please be aware that some restrictions using our coupon code do apply. Read more here.

If you’re in the food handling or food packaging industry, you probably use or are in need of a vacuum sealer. Vacuum sealers (found here) provide a very sanitary and professional packaging option for foods such as pork, poultry, beef, fish, vegetables, fruits, cheese and more. These systems prolong the life of food, prevent contamination and allow food to be frozen without suffering damage. The list of benefits is long. If you’re business needs to package a lot of food regularly and on a daily basis, you may want to consider using a freestanding chamber vacuum sealer.

Freestanding chamber sealers are commonly used for commercial / industrial levels of packaging and they usually sit on casters for added mobility. Many feature dual sealing bars, allowing the operator to package multiple pouches simultaneously. If you’re looking for a specific brand, I highly recommend you look at Minipack. Minpack-Torre (parent company name) is based out of Italy and they manufacture a wide range of packaging products including chamber vacuum sealers, channel sealers, shrink wrap machines and more.

Minipack chamber sealers are some of the most reputable machines on the market. Unlike many cheaper machines that require fine tuning and are made using cheap components, the Minipack sealers are made using thick gauge stainless steel, seamless basins, easy-to-clean components, Busch pumps and much more. The quality, design and craftsmanship is unprecedented. We have been selling Minipack chamber sealers for over a decade and our customers are always happy with the results. I should also mention that they are very easy to set up and use.

I would like to go over some of these freestanding sealers. These are sorted by price and mostly by size.

• Minipack MVS 45LXII (found here) – This is the smallest of the Minpack freestanding chamber sealers. It has a chamber that is 18.5” x 18” and it has two sealing bars. This allows it to be used for sealing larger or multiple smaller items. This is very similar to the tabletop MVS45X.
• Minipack MVS 52X (found here) – This is a great mid-range chamber sealer. It has a sealing area of 20” x 21” and has dual sealing bars that measure in at 21” long. This is ample room for sealing a variety of food, medical supplies and much more.
• Minipack MVS 52XP (found here) – Do you like the MVS 52X, but need a few additional features? Consider the MVS 52XP. This sealer as the ability to store up to 100 custom programs and includes a printer that will print the item name, pricing, coding, date, ingredients and more.
• Minipack MVS 50X (found here) – On the larger end of the spectrum, the MVS 50X has a large 26” x 20.5” sealing area. Equipped with two sealing bars, a Busch pump and the ability to package at a rate of 3 cycles per minute, this vacuum sealer is ready to take on the tough jobs. Thanks to a large sealing area and dual sealing bars, this machine can crank out several small pouches a minute.
• Minipack MVS 65X (found here) – The Minipack 65X is the largest single chamber vacuum sealer offered by Minipack. It has a large 29” x 27” chamber that can hold just about any pouch you want to use. Using a 3hp Busch R5 oil rotary pump, this vacuum sealer can crank out food packaging quickly and efficiently. The end results look amazing.
• Minipack MVS 52X-DV (found here) – Do you need a chamber sealer that has some serious output capacity? Consider the MVS 52X-DV. This is a dual chamber freestanding chamber sealer. It is essentially two MVS 52X machines linked together. Each chamber measures in at 20” x 21” and each chamber has dual sealing bars. This is an impressive chamber sealer and is perfect for businesses that package a lot of food per day.

So what are some common options you can get with a freestanding Minipack sealer? Some options include a tray for sealing liquids, an inert flush kit (must be factory installed) and an evacuation filter kit (must be factory installed). If you don’t see an option listed here that you need, call us at 1-800-658-8788. We can get a lot of these machines customized for specific needs / uses. You can find our entire selection of vacuum sealers here and vacuum sealer bag supplies here.

Because we are an authorized Minipack dealer, and be cause we have a fully staffed Service Department, we are able to provide you with parts, servicing, technical support and much more on just about any Minipack product. You can reach our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129.

Bill counters are useful tools for any business or organization that handles or counts bills on a regular basis. One thing people don’t realize is that bill counters and mixed bill counters (found here) are very different in functionality. One type of machine only provides you with a total quantity, where the other provides you with a total value. I would like to show you one of our most popular mixed bill counters, the Carnation CR3 (found here).

As mentioned earlier, bill counters provide you with a total number of bills counted. This means if you put in 125 bills, it will tell you 125 on the screen. No value will be given. If you need the value of the bill, you need what’s known as a mixed bill counter (aka currency discriminator). These machines can provide you with the total quantity, but will also provide you with the total value, often including how many of each type of bill are in the stack.

The Carnation CR3 is by far one of our most popular mixed bill counters. This is because it is extremely accurate and affordable (considering what it does). This mixed bill counter operates much like a standard bill counter. It has a feed hopper and a stacker. You put the bills in the top of the machine and they come out the bottom. The CR3 counts bills at a speed of 500 to 1,100 per minute (variable speed).

Here is a video of the Carnation CR3 in use:

You’ll notice that the $5,000 in cash is counted multiple times. This is to prove just how accurate it is. This bill counter won’t flub up the numbers or provide slightly different results. It is extremely accurate, which is what you need in a business that handles a lot of money.

This video goes into even more detail as to the functions you’ll find in the mixed bill counter:

The CR3 includes many features you find in a standard bill counter. This includes the ability to batch count, add and more. It can even be set up to help sort the bills. This is done by the operator specifying the desired denominational value. The machine will stop when a different denomination is detected.

Who uses this bill counter? We have customers from banks, credit unions, casinos, schools, restaurants and other organizations that regularly handle money.

While the functionality and accuracy are amazing, I also really like the fact that this machine incorporates counterfeit detection into the counting process. The CR3 uses UV (ultraviolet), MG (magnetic) and IR (infrared) detection. This means the bills are scanned while the bills are counted. If a counterfeit banknote is detected, the machine will automatically stop and notify the operator.

Considering what this mixed currency counter does, it is remarkably compact. It even has a built in handle that makes it easy to pick up and move around the office. It weighs in at just over 16 pounds, which is extremely manageable.

I hope you enjoyed these videos. I think they really help convey just how nice this bill counter is. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. You can find our entire selection of bill counters and currency discriminators here.

If you have ever heard a time, date or text stamp in use, you may have noticed that they can be a bit loud. There is a reason for this. These stamping machines use a great deal of force to slam that crash head against a ribbon (or using ink) to create a clear and precise stamp on a sheet of paper. These very stamps are often used to not only stamp, but impress information through carbon / carbonless multi-sheet forms. So is there anything that can be done to make these machines a little quieter? I would like to offer a few suggestions. You can find our document stamping machines here.

About a week ago we had a customer contact us regarding the Widmer T-3 time stamp (found here). They said that the stamp, while working perfectly, was producing a lot of noise. It was enough of a concern that they felt it was affecting operations of the employees by creating too much of a distraction. They wanted a few suggestions on quieting the stamp. Widmer was kind enough to provide us with some solid options.

At ABC Office we currently offer a lot of time, text, date and document stamping machines. Many of these machines use a crash head, which is the term used to describe the apparatus that actually makes contact with the paper, resulting in the stamped imprint. Most of our machines are made by manufacturers such as Widmer (very well known) and Acroprint (a leading manufacturer of time clocks). These stamping machines are well made and designed for constant use.

So here are a few things you may want t consider to help quiet your stamping machine:

• Location – The design of a room, or the size, can dramatically affect the dissipation of sound. Quieting the machine may be as simple as moving it into a different part of the building or into a different room (if possible).
• Surface – When used on a solid surface, the table or desk can reverberate the sound. Widmer recommends (if noise is an issue) to try using the stamp on a mouse pad. The pad can help absorb the vibrations and decrease the amount of noise generated.
• Stamping Pressure – Many stamping machines allow you to adjust the amount of pressure the stamping head uses to amply the stamp. You may simply have the stamping pressure dialed up a little too high. Try scaling the pressure down a little and see if that helps decrease the sound without decreasing the quality of the stamp.
• Case – Widmer actually offers a soundproof case for many of their date stamps, number stamps and text stamps (for an additional cost). These special cases are designed to significantly silence the noise and provide a quieter stamping experience. These cases can be added even after you already have the stamp in your possession. They are easy to swap out.
• Machine Design – Rather than going with a crash head design, you could consider going with a model that uses a dot matrix print head. This is quieter, although it won’t go through multiple layers of paper if you are dealing with multi-sheet / multi-part forms. The Widmer T4U (found here) is an example of a dot matrix designed time stamp. It can be customized to show time, data and include text.

I hope these suggestions help you in your noise reduction efforts. For many people the noise these stamps generate isn’t a big deal, especially when the machines are only occasionally used. If it is a big deal, and you use it a lot, these suggestions may make a big difference. If you still have questions about time, date and text stamping machines, please feel free to give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. We have decades of experience with these machines and would love to help you out.