If you are a business, a copy center or an organization that folds paper on a daily basis, you should really be using a paper folding machine. If you don’t have one, or are in the process of looking, you should take a close look at the MBM 207M paper folding machine. We have one of these on our showroom floor and I have been able to use it on several occasions. This is my review.

MBM, as a manufacturer, is synonymous with high quality. Their product line, ranging from paper shredders to paper cutters, are extremely reliable. Their folding machines follow with this tradition.

The 207M is MBM’s mid to high-volume folding machine. It is the successor to the extremely popular 206M. It is hard to believe that this folding machine is a manual setup. I can set up a fold on this machine faster than most can do on an automatic folding machine.

The folding plates (total of 2) have to be manually set. Unlike many comparable folding machines, this takes just seconds. Each folding plate has sliding adjustment. Simply pinch the adjustment bracket and slide the plate to the fold you want. It’s that simple. Fold types are clearly labeled on the folding plates.

While this is a manual setup folding machine, the 207M incorporates several computerized functions. Such functions include a clear LED counter (4 digit) and the capability to do batch folding. It is both UL and C UL approved.

The 207M features all-metal construction. You can tell that this machine is heavy duty when you try to move it. Weighing in at 72 pounds shipped, this machine is solid. It can still be used on most desks and tables.

Able to handle paper from 12# to 80# thick, the 207M can be used to create common folds such as a letter fold (C Fold), an accordion fold (Z Fold) and a single fold. It can also be used to create cross folds, including the French fold. The folding plates can be set up to create custom folds as well.

The exit tray uses a conveyor to keep paper properly lined up. This is a huge plus if you are folding invoices, bills and other material that needs to be kept in numerical or alphabetical order.

Overall, I have to say that the MBM 207M paper folding machine ranks up in my top 5 favorite paper folding machines. It really is that good.

You can find the MBM 207M paper folding machine here. You can find our entire selection of paper folding machines here.

Are you looking for a fast and effective way to seal bags, mailers and other plastic material? An effective way to do this is by using a heat sealer (aka bag sealer). One model that has quickly grown in popularity is the Traco TISH line of impulse heat sealers. This is my review.

Traco is best known for their line of shrink wrap machines, including both I-bar and L-bar designs. While they have been making heat bag sealers for some time, they have recently increased dramatically in popularity. A lot of this has to do with the high-end build quality, considered to be equal to that of AIE. Regardless of the reason, these sealers are more affordable now than ever before.

TISH bag sealers come in a variety of different lengths. This includes the TISH-100, 200, 300, 400 and 500. Sealing time takes just 0.2 to 1.3 seconds (variable) and the sealing width is about 2mm wide. These sealers are pretty light and can be easily moved from table to desk and room to room without an issue.

TISH sealers are usually used to seal bags. They can, however, be used to seal seal Polyethelene, Polypropylene, PVC, Foil and Surlyn, Mylar or Bubble Pack/Padded Mailers.

What’s nice about the TISH sealers is that they can be used to package and seal a variety of products. Operating and output speed is really limited to the speed of the operator. Simply place the opening of the bag into the sealer, pull down on the lever and the bag is sealed.

Traco’s TISH sealers feature an adjustable timer. The time can be set for shorter periods of time for simply sealing the bag. The sealing time can be increased for tearing away excess plastic. Versions of our TISH sealers are available with optional cutters, making it even faster to get rid of excess plastic.

Overall I consider the build quality of the Traco TISH heat sealer to be about as good as it gets. These sealers are designed for continued daily use and I can safely say that I am unaware of any customer complaints regarding these sealers.

You can find our Traco TISH line of heat bag sealers here. You can find our entire selection of impulse heat sealers here.

I had a customer ask me recently if electric letter openers sometimes damage the mail they are opening. I can understand the concern. Anytime blades and knives are involved, you would think damage could potentially occur. So, can an automatic electric letter opener damage mail?

The answer to this is yes and no, depending on the letter-opening machine being used. There are two very distinct technologies used. Here is what you will find when looking for a letter opener.

Traditional Letter Opener – Traditional electric letter openers literally cut off the edge of an envelope. This is usually about a 1/8-inch strip. Cutting off this edge allows access to the contents inside. Because cutting is involved, if mail contents are too close to the edge, the potential does exist of the mail being cut as well. The chances of this happening are very slim.

Envelope Slitter / Opener – Envelope slitters use a slightly different approach to opening mail. They slit the outside of the envelope, near the edge, allowing access to the contents inside. The blade is designed to slit the envelope deep enough to open the envelope, but not so deep that it cuts the contents inside. This newer technology is safer for mail and creates very little mess.

The chances of mail being damaged by a letter opener are pretty slim. We have sold many of these machines over the years and I have yet to hear from a customer complaining about their mail being damaged.

We currently offer a great selection of high-speed automatic letter openers that utilize both technologies. The machine you use in your mailroom will depend entirely on how many pieces of mail and letters you will be opening per day.

You can find our entire selection of automatic electric letter openers here.

I recently had a customer ask me what OMDD meant in reference to the HSM 411.2 OMDD shredder. Initially I didn’t know for sure what the acronym meant. After a few minutes of research I figured it out. It stands for Optical Media Destruction Device.

The HSM 411.2 OMDD paper shredder is designed to destroy CDs, DVDs and other optical media. It does this by cutting the data down into 2.2 x 4mm particles. This is extremely small for optical media discs.

As far as I’m aware, the term OMDD is strictly used by HSM. In fact, I haven’t seen it referenced with any other shredder other than the 411.2.

As far as security is concerned, the HSM 411.2 OMDD is one of the most secure disc shredders around. It is designed to be used all day long, every day, without suffering any wear or tear.

I am personally a big fan of HSM and consider their line of optical and paper shredders to be some of the best around for businesses, government, DOD and military.

You can find the HSM 411.2 OMDD (Optical Media Destruction Device) shredder here. You can find our entire selection of CD and DVD shredders here.

Are you looking for a simple and easy-to-use employee time clock for a small business or office? One model that you may want to consider using is the Pyramid 3500 punch card employee time clock. This is my review.

Pyramid is one of the best-known time clock manufacturers, right up there with Acroprint. The complete name of the company is Pyramid Technologies (PTI). They make biometric, digital keypad and punch-style time clocks. The Pyramid 3500 is one of their cheaper punch-style time clocks.

The Pyramid 3500 can be used to stamp the time on a time card or on a document. It stamps the year, the date, the time and can be used to stamp 14 different messages. This makes it ideal for employee time and for document control purposes.

The 14 selectable messages include:

date/time,                     date/year/time,
date/year/approved,       date/year/faxed,
date/year/filed,              date/year/in,
date/year/out,               date/year/paid,
date/year/received,        date/year/sent,
date/year/original,          date/year/void,
date/year/used,             date/year/completed

Setup on the Pyramid 3500 is very simple and isn’t much more complicated than setting up an alarm clock. The easy-to-use interface only takes about two minutes to set up. The LCD display is large, easy to read and easy to navigate. It can be set up and used in English, Spanish, French or German.

An auto-punch feature stamps cards and documents as they are fed into the machine. The printing is done via a built-in dot matrix print head. This print head is designed to be used daily and should easily hold up for years without issues. The dot matrix print head makes stamped data easy to read. It can be used with standard time cards or with Pyramid brand cards.

The Pyramid 3500 is designed to handle short months, leap years and daylight savings time. It even includes a battery backup that keeps settings stored for up to 30 days. This is pretty nice. Believe it or not, many punch-style time clocks do not have this feature.

Overall I consider the Pyramid 3500 to be a solid little time clock. It is perfect for use in small businesses and small offices.

You can find the Pyramid 3500 punch card employee time clock here. You can find our entire selection of employee time clocks here.

Do you run a printing press or have the need to count thousands of sheets of paper every day? Do you need high-speed batch counting and tabbing capabilities? If these questions apply to you, you may need a paper counting machine. One of our most popular machines is the Max-Bantam paper counter. We have one of these machines on our showroom floor and I have used it on several occasions. This is my review.

Quantity control and cost justification are huge concerns in the printing business. The ability to separate print jobs into individual stacks is also a huge issue in the printing business. You don’t want to end up printing too much or short changing someone.

The Max-Bantam paper counter, made by U.S. Paper Counters, is extremely easy to set up, is extremely accurate and gets the job done in seconds. This machine can do up to 2,000 counts per minute (CPM) on 25-250 gsm paper. The counting speed is adjustable. Not only is the Max-Bantam fast, it is also accurate.

Unlike many machines out there that count paper based on the weight, the Max-Bantam provides an exact number by literally counting each sheet. I have had customers ask if it is accurate every time. I have placed the same stack in this machine, counting it multiple times, and it always provides the exact same number of sheets. It is EXTREMELY accurate.

Why Use The Max-Bantam Paper Counter?

1. Exact count deliveries
2. Provide competitive quotes
3. Eliminate re-runs & miscounts
4. Improve quantity control
5. Verify quantities of stock deliveries
6. Improve customer satisfaction

The Max-Bantam is packed with features. Besides counting paper, it also has tab insertion and batch counting capabilities. You can tell the Max-Bantam to place a tab into every 5 to 999 sheets. The tab insertion depth can even be adjusted. The tabs are fed from a tab roll. An indicator light will let you know when the tab roll is running low.

Access to the machine is simple. There is a door in the back that allows easy access to the tape roll and mechanical components. The front of the machine also has an access panel, making maintenance on this machine a breeze. The front panel requires a key to access.

The counting surface on the front of the Max-Bantam is 15” x 18” in size. The Max-Bantam can handle sheet sizes as small as 2 1/4″ x 4″.

I do recommend using a paper jogger prior to counting the paper. This helps square up the edges and makes it easier for the Max-Bantam to count paper. You can find our paper joggers here.

The build quality on the Max-Bantam is top notch. I have opened up this machine and have used it and can tell you that it is solid. You can view my video demonstration of the Max-Bantam by going here.

I highly recommend the Max-Bantam paper counter. This particular model is a customer favorite. If you need even higher capacity and faster counting speeds, U.S. Paper Counters does make even larger and heavier-duty paper counters.

You can find the Max-Bantam paper counter here. You can find our entire selection of paper counting machines here. Feel free to speak with one of our specialists with your questions by calling 1-800-658-8788. Not only can they help answer your questions, they can even offer you an interactive live video demo over the Web.

Are you looking for an effective and tamper-proof system for keeping tabs on security guards? One great way to do this is by using a watchman’s guard clock. One of the most popular models we offer is the Acroprint C-72 watchman’s guard clock. This is my review.

To begin with, security is an important and critical part of many businesses’ operations. Many of these security jobs require the guard to make rounds and check in at various stations. The best way to do this is to use a guard clock. These guard clocks assure that security personnel make their appointed rounds.

Acroprint has been making employee time clocks for years. Their C-72 watchman’s clock is one of the most widely used guard clock used today. It is called the C-72 because it is capable of logging up to 72 hours worth of data thanks to the clock’s 72-hour disk.

The C-72 is designed to support up to 30 different stations: 15 numeric and 15 alpha. The guard carries the C-72 and as they reach their station, they insert a key station into the watchman’s clock. The clock then logs that information, including the key station location and time. The key station hole is located on the bottom of the C-72.

The C-72 is extremely easy to carry and includes a convenient shoulder strap. The clock only weighs in at 5 pounds shipped and is even less unboxed. Not only is the C-72 lightweight, but it is also shock resistant. The case is designed for high-impact protection. The sturdy ABS molded key stations are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

There is no need to worry about tampering. The Acroprint C-72 has a secure double casing lock. The clock records every time the case is open, providing additional security against fraud.

The clock itself features quartz movement and electronic timekeeping. This helps assure both accuracy and longevity.

We sell quite a few of the C-72 guard clocks and I’m not aware of any issues. The build quality seems to be solid.

Not only do we offer the C-72 guard clock, but we also sell replacement case keys, replacement disks and key stations. You can find the Acroprint C-72 watchman’s guard clock here. You can find our entire selection of employee time clocks here.

Whether you need to bind a cookbook or simply need something for a presentation, comb binding is a great all-round format to use. So which comb binding machine should you buy? One model you may have already looked at is the GBC CombBind C110 comb binding machine. I have used this comb binder and this is my review.

GBC, now owned by ACCO Brands, has been making office equipment for years. Their product lineup includes binding machines, staplers, paper cutters, laminators and more. Their line of comb binding machines are marketed under the name of CombBind. The C110 is one of their entry-level comb binding machines.

The GBC CombBind C110 is designed for light-volume use. It is capable of punching up to 15 sheets of paper at a time and can bind books up to 300 pages thick. This is based on 20# paper. It can be used to punch and bind card stock and other types of paper, but the punching capacity needs to be scaled back to handle the increased thickness.

One thing GBC is really good at is making their binding machines look nice. Like Fellowes, they clearly have a group of talented aesthetic designers. The C110 looks great and really fits in well in an office environment. It only weighs 19 pounds shipped, so it is light enough to be used on most desks, tables and counters.

The housing on the C110 is a formed plastic shell. The inside of the machine is metal. The build quality is decent, but I would definitely not use it for medium or high volume binding. It is really designed for only binding a few books a day or for occasional use.

For a similar dollar amount I also recommend these machines:

1. Intelli-Bind IB650 Comb Binding Machine
2. Akiles EcoBind-C Plastic Comb Binding Machine
3. Intelli-Bind IB700 Manual Comb Binding Machine
4. Tahsin 190PB Comb Binding Machine
5. Intelli-Bind IB400 Comb Binding Machine

While I enjoy using the GBC ComBind C110, there are too many other good machines out there for me to settle on this particular machine. I would rather get a machine with selectable punching dies and an adjustable margin depth for the same amount of money.

You can find the GBC CombBind C110 comb binding machine here. You can find our entire selection of comb binding machines here.

Whether you are laminating a photograph or business cards, you will want to get the thickness right. Using laminating film that is too thick can make something hard to use, where having laminating film that is too thin can cause a document to bend and become ruined. So what thickness of laminating film should you use? Here are few tips that may help you out.

Laminating film comes in a variety of thicknesses with the most common sizes being 1.5, 3, 5, 7 and 10 mils. A mil is one thousandth of an inch and is the common measurement of laminating film in the United States.

A 1.5 mil thick laminating pouch is actually 3 mils thick. This is because the mil thickness of a pouch is only taking into account one side of the “pocket.” This means a 5-mil pouch is actually 10 mils laminated and a 10-mil pouch is 20 mils laminated. Many people don’t realize this and discover only later that when they needed 10 mils of film on their document that they really needed a 5 mil thick pouch.

Most people use a 1.5 mil pouch purely to give a document or photo a protective coat or a glossy shine. A pouch that thin really doesn’t provide much stability. Few people use a 10-mil thick pouch because it provides so much rigidity. A 10 mil thick pouch is difficult to bend or fold, make it less desirable for brochures and menus.

As previously mentioned, a laminated 10-mil pouch is 20 mils thick. Standard 20# copy paper is about 4 mils thick. This means a standard sheet of paper, laminated with a 10-mil pouch is about 24 mils thick all said and done. A credit card (like a Visa or MC) is 30 mils thick. That should help you get an idea on the thickness involved.

The most common sizes used by our customers are 3 and 5 mil thick film. One nice thing about laminating film is that it is cheap. If you aren’t sure about the thickness you want to use, you can buy a 3 and a 5 to see what works best. A package of 100 laminating sheets usually doesn’t cost more than a few dollars.

We are also often able to mail laminating pouch samples. Just call us up at 1-800-658-8788 and ask for some film samples. We won’t charge you for this. We are also able to offer some really nice discounts for bulk purchases.

You can find our entire selection of laminating film here. You can find our entire selection of pouch laminators here.

There are copy machines and then there are digital duplicators. While the goal may be the same, both technologies use totally different approaches. I am going to go into a few details on the benefits of each technology. I’ll let you decide which technology is best for you.

To begin with, the supply used to actually print an image is completely different. A copy machine uses toner to create images and text where a digital duplicator uses ink to create an image.

Copy Machines (Xerographic) – A copy machine uses an electrostatically charged cylindrical drum to create images. A bright lamp illuminates the document being copied. White areas of the paper are then illuminated onto the drum. Areas of the drum that are not exposed to light become negatively charged. The toner is positively charged, sticking to the drum. The drum then transfers this image to paper, which is then melted and bonded to the paper.

Digital Duplicators – A digital duplicator also uses a drum as well as a sheet of wax paper-like material called a master. As the document is scanned, tiny holes are burned into the master, creating the image in tiny dots. This master is then wrapped around the drum. Ink is placed inside the drum. As the drum spins, ink seeps out of pores on the drum, which then leak out of the tiny holes burned into the master. This master then rolls over the paper, creating the image.

While these are two fairly simplistic descriptions, you can see that the technologies are very different. The reasons for using one technology over the other varies, depending on what you will be doing.

With digital duplicators, the initial cost of creating a new master costs more than a copy machine, but the costs drops quickly as more copies are made. Since ink costs so much less than toner, you pretty much break even at about 25 copies. Everything after 25 copies then costs far less than a toner-based copy machine.

Copies on a toner-based copy machine (xerox-style) cost about 1.6 to 2 cents a copy. This cost never goes down. Copies on a digital duplicator initially cost slightly more, but with quantity (150 plus copies) the price goes down to as much as 0.004 cents a copy.  Also take into consideration that copy machines make about 35 to 50 copies a minute, where digital duplicators can create about 130 copies a minute.

Ultimately if you plan on creating a few copies here and there, which is a lot of us, a copy machine will cost less to operate. If you plan on creating dozens to hundreds of copies of the same thing, a digital duplicator will cost far less to operate.

You can find our entire selection of Standard digital duplicators here. Do you still have questions about copy machine and digital duplicators? You can read our digital duplicator guide (found here) or speak with one of our duplicating specialists at 1-800-658-8788.