Have you ever used a paper shredder that sounded like a lawnmower? I certainly have. Lawnmowers belong outdoors, not in the office. So how do manufacturers try and keep their paper shredders quiet? There are a few techniques used. Here are some of the most common “silencing” methods.

To begin, strip cut paper shredders tend to be quieter than cross cut shredders. This is because there is less cutting going on and fewer moving parts. The only downside is that strip cut shredders don’t provide as much security as cross cut shredders. Luckily many of our paper shredder manufacturers have made significant improvements in paper shredder noise.

Rubber Bushings – One significant improvement that many manufacturers are making is by using special rubber bushings in the design of their shredders. These bushings are placed around joins and mounting points where reverberations and vibrations are the worst. These rubber bushings act like motor mounts, dramatically cutting down on noise-making vibration.

Wooden Cabinets – You’ll often find on many of the cheaper paper shredders that a lot of plastic is used in the construction. This is because plastic is cheap to use in manufacturing. The downside is that plastic can break and crack easily and has very few noise absorption properties. Many plastic cabinets used with lower-end shredders can even amplify sound. Most modern paper shredder manufactures try to use wood with their cabinets. Wood has natural noise absorption properties.

Auto Oilers - Many office and departmental paper shredders feature auto oilers. These auto oilers help keep moving parts and shredder blades properly lubricated, cutting down on metal-on-metal noise.

Tight Construction – Tight construction, utilizing high quality bolts, screws and materials, can help cut down on sound by eliminating vibration caused by loosely fitted pieces. This feature is more difficult to tell with the naked eye and is generally a product of high-quality manufacturers.

Insulated Shredding Head – Some paper shredder manufacturers actually try and insulate the motor with noise absorption material, often called insulation. A well-insulated motor typically runs cooler and emits less noise.

What if you already own a shredder and it is loud? If you already own a shredder and are growing sick and tired of the noise, I highly recommend oiling it. You would be surprised how much noise can be reduced by eliminating friction in the shredder blades. Not only does this quiet a shredder, but it also prolongs its life.

Hopefully some of these tips help you in your quest to find a quiet shredder. Believe it or not, quiet shredders do exist, however, all shredders will make a little noise. You can find our entire selection of paper shredders here.

Feel free to call us at 1-800-655-8788 for advice and recommendations on quiet paper shredders.

Reliable personal paper shredders are hard to come by. This isn’t because there aren’t a lot of shredders available. Heck, you can find literally dozens to hundreds of cheap plastic “toy” shredders in just about any department store. The only problem is that when you decide to do some real shredding, they often break, overheat or continuously jam. If you are tired of wasting your time with cheap paper shredders, you should consider using the Dahle 30114 cross cut personal paper shredder. This is my review.

Dahle has a long and rich history in the paper shredding industry. They make shredders ranging from small personal shredders up to high-end commercial paper shredders. Regardless of size, one common theme with Dahle is quality. Their paper shredders work and are reliable. You can’t ask for a lot more.

The Dahle 30114 paper shredder is a Level 3 cross cut shredder, which is the most common cut size used by offices in the United States. This is shredder is categorized as a personal shredder. This is because it is small enough to be used at home or next to a desk in the office. It can be used for daily shredding, but is not designed for departmental use.

This shredder was designed with the intention of handling up to about 100 sheets of paper per day. For personal use, this is pretty impressive. As mentioned earlier, this is a cross cut shredder. Once a sheet of paper is fed through the opening, it comes out the other side in 1/8″ x 1 9/16″ particles. Just try and reassemble that! You won’t, and that’s a good thing.

The opening on the Dahle 30114 is 8 ¾” wide, which easily accepts most letter size, legal size and smaller documents. The opening of the shredder is recessed back into the shredder head for safety purposes. This is designed to help prevent personal injury. The shred bin holds about 8 gallons of paper before needing to be emptied.

The Dahle 30114 is packed with several high-end features. This includes an auto on/off sensor that automatically shreds paper as it is placed through the shred opening. It also features a bag full sensor that turns the shredder off once the bin is full.

One of the most annoying features of shredders is the noise they can produce. The Dahle 30114 is set in a wooden cabinet, which helps to absorb vibrations and dampen noise. While there is no silent shredder, this shredder is relatively quiet, especially compared to plastic bin shredders that reverberate and amplify noise.

The build quality is amazing. As mentioned earlier, many shredders this size are absolute garbage, made from cheap plastic components. The Dahle 30114 is German engineered and made to perfection. The material construction and workmanship makes this shredder extremely reliable.

Remember this is a small shredder designed for individual personal use. It shreds 6-7 sheets of paper at a time, up to 100 per day (recommended). If you feel this isn’t up to par with what you need, you may want to consider using a more robust shredder. While it is a personal shredder, it is immensely better than most comparable shredders.

I highly recommend this paper shredder for home, under the desk or next to the desk in a small office environment. I would recommend this paper shredder to my own friends or family.  What more can I say?

You can find the Dahle 30114 cross cut personal paper shredder here and our entire selection of paper shredders here.

There are several tips and tricks out there for speeding up binding operations, but one tool that seems to speed up the process the most is using an independent binding station. These stations may be a comb opener, a wire closer, an electric coil inserter or a combination of all three. The Intelli-Bind 910 binding station, from Intelli-Zone, features all three.

I have personally used this machine and have to say that I’m impressed with just how easy it is to use. I especially like the fact that it can be used alongside a comb, wire or coil binding machine. The build quality is great!

The wire closer is located on the back of the machine, the comb opener is in the middle and the electric coil inserter is located on the front. Using this binding station, along side a binding machine, can easily double your binding output.

Here is a great video demonstration of the Intelli-Bin 910 binding station.

Pretty slick….right? This triple format binding station costs less than most single-purpose binding stations. You can find the Intelli-Bind 910 binding station here and our entire selection of binding machines here.

I have had a lot of people ask me questions recently about what types of ink can and which drums can be used with their Digital Duplicators. While digital duplicators are pretty easy to use, once you have a little basic training, there are a few catches that you need to be aware of now to prevent headaches later down the road. These are just a few of them.

Digital Duplicator Ink & Drums FAQ

Does duplicator ink instantly dry once it leaves the machine? While the ink does dry quickly, it may still be slightly wet once it leaves the duplicator. It isn’t wet enough to cause ink transfer to surrounding copies, but may smear or get on your hands if immediately touched. You should be fine to touch the copy after 30-60 seconds. Many people use paper joggers to quicken the drying process.

Are Standard and Ricoh duplicator supplies interchangeable? Standard and Ricoh digital duplicators are made in the same factory, which allows ink and masters to be interchangeable. The only tough part is determining which Standard model matches up with the Ricoh equivalent.

Can I use multiple colors in my duplicator’s drum? The quick answer to this question is no. You truly need a dedicated drum for the color you are using. I have seen people put blue ink in a drum that was previously used with red. Let’s just say the end results looked pretty bad and the drum was pretty much ruined. Once a drum has been contaminated with different color ink, it cannot be cleaned out.

Can digital duplicators print full color? The answer to this is yes and no, depending on the machine you are using. Some duplicators have the ability to use multiple drums at the same time, allowing them to print full color prints. Most duplicators, however, are monochrome, which require multiple passes (using interchanged drums) to produce multiple colors.

What kind of dpi (dots per inch) can I expect with my duplicator? You can expect anywhere from 300 x 400 dpi up to 600 x 600 dpi, depending on the duplicator.

Can duplicator ink bleed through paper? I’m not aware of this being an issue. Most digital duplicators allow you to speed them up or slow them down. If the ink is being laid on too thick (potentially bleeding through), I recommend speeding up the duplicator and thinning out the ink.

Are digital duplicators cheaper to operate than a copy machine? It really all depends on how many copies you are making. If you are only making one or two copies at a time, a copy machine is going to be cheaper. If you are making hundreds to thousands of copies, a digital duplicator will be the cheaper way to go. You can read more about the pricing breakdown differences between duplicators and copy machines here.

I hope these common questions and answers help you in your quest to find a copying machine and I certainly hope that these questions help prevent some headaches later down the road. Having used many digital duplicators myself, I have to say that I’m pretty impressed with the modern take that has been put on an older technology.

You can find our entire selection of digital duplicators here, duplicator ink here and duplicator master rolls here.

I just had a chat this morning with a customer regarding some small-volume packaging operations. The customer wanted to buy a shrink wrap machine, but was completely new to the industry and didn’t know exactly where to start. I don’t normally post chats in our blog, due to the fact that I have dozens a day, but this customer asked some pretty good questions that I think will help many of you who are shopping around for a shrink wrap machine.

This particular customer informed me that they were packaging about 6-8 boxes a day that measured in at 12 ½” L x 9 ½” W x 6 ½” H. This is where buying the right size machine can get a little complicated. The easiest way to determine the machine width you need is to take the width of the product you are packaging, plus the height and add 2″ on top of that. Some people only add 1″, but I find that 2″ gives you a little extra (and valuable) room.

This is what we calculated:

9.5″ + 6.5″+2″ = 18″

So we ended up determining that the customer needed a machine that was 18″ wide. In his case we only needed an I-bar sealer because he was only packaging 6-8 boxes a day. Because an I-bar sealer doesn’t use a tunnel, we didn’t need to worry about getting a machine that may have tunnel or chamber height issues.

I provided the customer with a link to our I-bar sealers. After browsing through them for a minute or two he asked me what I thought about the Traco Deluxe Super Sealer. I told him that Traco makes some great products, but that I considered the AIE I-bar sealer to be the better deal because it comes with a 500-foot roll of starter film. I informed him that both machines were probably equal in quality, but that they AIE system was simply the better deal.

He ended up ordering the 24″ AIE I-bar sealer (AIE-2024I) because he wanted to be future proof, believing that he may end up packaging larger items later down the road. In case you didn’t already know, a longer 24″ (or bigger) I-bar shrink wrap machine can use smaller rolls of film.

I hope this chat, and included details, help you with your shrink wrap machine shopping. You can find our entire selection of shrink wrap machines here and shrink wrap film here. If for any reason you still have questions about these machines, feel free to speak with one of our shrink wrap specialists by calling 1-800-658-8788.

When people ask me which manual wire binding machine I prefer to use above all others, I have to answer back with the Akiles WireMac. This machine, although several years old now, continues to be one of the most solid and reliable wire binding machines around. It is solid, easy to use and the end results are highly professional. Here are a few other reasons why I like this machine.

To begin with, the machine has truly been built from the ground up for the sole purpose of durability. It is heavy, weighing in at a solid 45 pounds. The handles are metal, the dies are metal, the gears are metal and the housing is die cast metal.

Because the Akiles WireMac is so incredibly solid, punching and binding on it is a piece of cake. It is available in either a 2:1 pitch or a 3:1 pitch hole pattern. The hole pattern you use really depends purely on your preference. The reports it produces look just as good as anything a professional copy center could make.

While I could continue to go on about this machine, this video demonstration will probably do a better job of helping you familiarize yourself with the Akiles WireMac. Enjoy!

I hope that video demonstration helped you understand why I like this wire binding machine. You can find the Akiles WireMac wire binding machine here and our entire selection of wire binding machines here.

Do you need to quickly package and seal polyethylene or laminated foils for retail packaging purposes? Do you need to quickly seal around odd-shaped products, drums, box liners or perhaps larger items like furniture? You may want to consider using an impulse sealer like the Aline S-10 or S-6 impulse scissor sealers. This is my review.

Scissor sealers are nice because they are easy to pick up, move around and they allow easy insertion of polyethylene or laminated foils. Aline manufactures a wide range of scissor sealers including floor models and handheld units. The S-10 and the S-6 are both handheld sealers, allowing for easy movement and use.

Using the S-10 or S-6 is extremely easy. The scissor sealer itself is attached to a cable that leads down to the main housing. This housing has a master power switch and a sealing time adjustment dial (timer). Simply take the housing, plug it into the wall and you’re ready to go.

The power cable is 8 feet long and the cable connecting the main housing to the scissor sealer is also 8 feet long. This provides for 16 total feet of length, making this sealer very portable and easy to use.

Both the Aline S-10 and Aline S-6 are pretty much the same in functionality and build, with the S-10 measuring in at 10″ long and the S-6 measuring in at 6″ long. Using them is extremely easy. Simply squeeze the handles to open the scissor-like jaws. These jaws easily and quickly clamp down on bags or film for fast sealing. An indicator light on the main housing will let you know when the sealing process is completed. Once sealing is completed, the handles can be squeezed again to release the product.

Both sealers work on the concept of impulse sealing. This means they use impulses of electricity to quickly cut through material, which is a huge benefit over straight heat. Impulse sealing produces less heat and less smell with continuous use.

One feature I really like about the Aline S-10 and S-6 is the optional flat band elements. You can use a 1/8″, 3/16″, ¼” or ½” flat band element. They can both also be used with wire cutting elements or cold cut wire. Both also come in a 220-volt version upon request.

Aline is known for their high-quality heat sealers, shrink wrap machines and other sealing products. The S-10 and S-6 fall right in line with this reputation and both feature an impressive 2-year warranty, a detailed manual and a spare parts kit.

You can find the Aline S-10 or S-6 impulse scissor sealers here and our entire selection of heat & impulse sealers here.

A few months ago I wrote a popular article entitled “How To Sharpen A Paper Cutter Blade.” This article went into great detail on where to go and what to do when your paper cutter becomes dull. Our Service Technician stopped by my desk today and told me that there was one small thing I missed. How many times can you sharpen a paper cutter?

I hadn’t really thought about it, but our Service Technician made a great point. You can only sharpen a paper cutter so many times before it has to be replaced. She told me that you can sharpen a paper cutter about 3 times before it has to be replaced.

Apparently, especially in the case of stack paper cutters, the blade gets shorter every time it is re-sharpened. It eventually gets to a point, around 3 times, that the blade is too short to correctly or effectively cut paper.

If you need a replacement blade, or just advice on sharpening a paper cutter, I highly recommend contacting our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129 or by filling out this form.

If for any reason you need new equipment, you can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

Have you ever run a picture or an important document through a pouch laminator only to have it come out with cloudy splotches all over it? It can be pretty frustrating, especially if it is something you really care about. So is there anything that you can do to fix the cloudy splotches? Here are a few tips.

You may have noticed, when you first place a document in a laminating pouch, that the film is translucent. That is because the glue, which lines the inside of the pouch, hasn’t been melted. Once melted, the glue becomes clear and stays that way. If the glue isn’t properly melted, some of that translucent cloudiness remains.

I would say 9 times out of 10, when cloudy splotches and spots appear, the laminator being used is running too cool. Some areas of the film melt and laminate properly, but the rest remains in an “unlaminated” state.

There are two things you can do to fix this problem. The first thing you can do is run your pouch through the laminator again and hope that a couple of passes will properly laminate the film. Your second option is to increase the heat of the laminator and run the pouch through. This should eliminate the cloudy spots.

If you are still noticing cloudy spots, even after adjusting the temperature or re-running the pouches through the laminator, your film may be too old or the laminator may be defective. If the film is too old, you’re probably out of luck and will need to buy new film. Unfortunately, the item you are laminating may be irreparably cloudy. I would certainly try at least running the pouch through another laminator before deeming the project a failure.

Some lower-end pouch laminators may require that you run the laminator through multiple times, every time. This is often the result of the laminator only having 2 rollers, which sometimes results in uneven heat distribution, or the laminator may simply have a week heating element.

For clean and clear results every time, I highly recommend using a laminator with 4 rollers or more. The more rollers used, the more evenly heat is distributed, which in turn produces great results.

You can find our entire selection of pouch laminators here and our entire selection of pouch laminating film here. If you feel your laminator may be defective, or in need of servicing, feel free to contact our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129. Good luck!

Precision, accuracy and reliability are all features you expect to find in a bill counter. You don’t want to have to deal with jams, breakdowns and other issues. You need a reliable machine. One bill counter we have come to find as reliable and dependable is the Cassida 5520 bill counter. This is my review.

Cassida currently makes several different bill counters, coin counters and counterfeit bill detectors. Cassida, along with other reputable manufacturers like Magner and Semacon, have developed a great reputation with customers and dealers. Many of Cassida’s bill counters include built-in counterfeit detection capabilities.

The Cassida 5520 is available in a UV (ultraviolet) and a UV / MG (ultraviolet & magnetic) version. The UV and MG capabilities are designed to scan bills for counterfeit properties while simultaneously counting them. The process literally takes milliseconds and the process is flawless. It is very impressive to see just how accurate this bill counter is.

This should give you an idea as to just how fast this bill counter operates. It runs at a speed of 1,300 bills per minute, which equals 21.6 bills a second. Considering the average human counts bills at a speed of about 1-3 bills per minute, this is a dramatic improvement. I can also tell you that this bill counter is leaps and bounds more accurate than a human.

The Cassida 5520 has a hopper capacity of 200 new bills, which usually equals about 100 used bills. As soon as the bills are counted, they can be removed and more bills added.

This bill counter features a few different counting methods. One is to count the bills and then reset as soon as another stack is added and the second method is to keep a continuous total of bills counted (until reset). Total numbers are easy to see in red on the built-in digital display. At the moment, the 5520 even comes with a remote display that can be plugged into the bill counter.

The Cassida 5520 also offers the option of batch counting, which means you can tell it to count 20 bills (your choice) and then stop. Once the bills are removed it will count another 20 bills. This is ideal for bundling bills in specific quantities (great for banks).

One downside is that this bill counter will not sort the bills. Few (less than 5%) machines are capable of sorting bills. If you need a bill counter that can also sort bills, you will need what’s known as a bill discriminator.

Not only does the 5520 count bills, but it can also be used to count checks, coupons and tickets. It can also be used to count foreign currencies. The only caveat is that the material being counted has to fit within 2″ x 4″ to 4″ x 7-1/3″ sizes.

Overall I have to say that the Cassida 5520 is a solid machine. It is portable, accurate and the build quality is great. It even includes a build in handle for added portability.

You can find the Cassida 5520 bill counter here and our entire selection of bill counters here.