Are you looking for an effective and efficient way to speed up your in-house paper folding operations? One great way to do this is to use a paper folding machine. These machines can be used to fold letters, brochures, pamphlets and much more. One paper folding machine that has been around for some time, that you may want to consider buying, is the Martin Yale 1217A AutoFolder folding machine. I have used this machine personally on many occasions and had the chance to film a video demo.

To begin with, the Martin Yale 1217A is an automated folding machine that requires manual setup. Manual setup? Don’t let that scare you off. It literally takes minutes to set up and no additional adjustments are required unless you need to create a different type of fold. Let me explain.

While a motor and multiple silicon wheels are used in the folding process, a total of two folding plates play one of the most critical roles in the process. As the paper passes through the machine, it literally bounces off these two plates, deflecting the paper back into the machine for folding by the silicon rollers.

The length of these plates determines the fold. You can manually adjust the length of the plates by sliding a bar forward or backward. This bar, located on the plates, can be locked into place by use of a thumb screw. These plates will allow you to create a letter fold, half fold, Z-fold, double parallel fold, right angle fold and baronial fold. The 1217A AutoFolder can also create several custom folds.

This is a video demo of me using the Martin Yale 1217A folding machine:

Overall I like the 1217A. The build quality is nice, it deals nicely with statically-charged paper and the end results look great. My only quibble with this machine is the feed rollers. You have to pre-fan the paper prior to placing it in the machine. Non-fanned paper will cause the machine to jam. Most modern paper folding machines actually require that the paper not be fanned prior to placement in the feed tray. That’s nice.

A great affordable alternative to the Martin Yale 1217A is the Intelli-Fold DE-172AF (no pre-fanning required). If you don’t need to fold 11″ x 17″ paper, the Intelli-Fold DE-102AF and Intelli-Fold DE-112AF are also great alternatives.

You can find the Martin Yale 1217A AutoFolder folding machine here and our entire selection of paper folding machines here.

Have you ever wondered how those tiny little instructional sheets get folded up prior to placement in a bottle or box? This is done using a special type of machine commonly referred to as a pharmaceutical folding machine. As a kid, when assembling a new bicycle or other toy, I actually thought people manually folded those tiny instructions. As an adult, I realize that highly complex machines are used to do the job. If your business or manufacturing plant needs a machine, consider using the Intelli-Fold DEF-304VC pharmaceutical folding machine with vertical stacker. This is my review.

Most paper folding machines utilize two folding plates to create anything from a letter fold to an engineering fold. Machines with two folding plates are limited to 2 total creases the folded document. Additional folds can be created, on some machines, by running the material through twice.

Pharmaceutical folding machines have 4 folding plates. This dramatically increases the folding possibilities. The folding process, created by 4-plate machines, is often referred to as miniature folding or mini folding. This is because these machines can take a larger sheet of paper and fold it down into something small for placement in tight places or small packages. This includes pharmaceutical bottles and packaging.

While many standard folding machines create 6-8 common fold jobs out of the box, the Intelli-Fold DF-304VC can create 16 common folds along with a wide range of custom folds. You can disable 2 of the 4 plates, however, to create common folds as well.

The Intelli-Fold DF-304VC can take a sheet of paper at fold it down into something that is only 1″ wide. It folded down in another direction by utilizing the built-in scoring wheel. The end results are tiny instructional sheets that can conveniently be placed in a box or bottle.

The DF-304VC literally takes just seconds to complete a folding operation, versus minutes that it would take someone to manually do the same job. The motor on the DF-304VC runs at a whopping speed of 12,000 sheets per hour. To the best of my knowledge, there are no other 4-plate pharmaceutical folding machines capable of running at those speeds.

Each of the four folding plates is manually adjusted. It only takes about 30-60 seconds to adjust each plate (by a trained individual), making setup pretty fast. Once set, up to 500 sheets of 20# paper can be placed in the tray and the machine can be turned on. A friction roller is used to pull in paper and fold it. It can even be set up for batch folding purposes.

The Intelli-Fold DF-304VC uses a vertical stacker to take folded paper and tightly stack it for organizational purposes. The stacker is pretty impressive and far more efficient than a traditional exit conveyor. Be aware that the vertical stacker, with its own independent motor, must be turned on prior to turning on the folding machine itself.

One thing that really impresses me about the DF-304VC is the wide range of paper sizes it accepts. It can take paper ranging in size from 2 3/8″ x 2 3/4″ up to 11 ¼” x 17 3/4″. Again, few other pharmaceutical folding machines can do this.

As is the case with Intelli-Fold folding machines (by Intelli-Zone), the DF-304VC features an excellent build quality. All materials are designed for continuous operation. The folding plates, machine frame and many other components are made out of metal. The blue-gray design looks classy and blends in well with existing office equipment.

If you own a pharmaceutical manufacturing or distribution company, something like the DF-304VC is probably just what you need. This machine is dependable, reliable and available at a great price (considering what it does).

You can find the Intelli-Fold DEF-304VC pharmaceutical folding machine here and our entire selection of paper folding machines here.

Considering this is a family sophisticated machine, you may have questions that this article doesn’t cover. Please feel free to speak with one of our paper folding specialists by calling 1-800-658-8788.

We also offer setup and training on this machine (optional). To check on setup and training rates and availability, please feel free to contact our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129 or by filling out this form.

Happy folding!

Guillotine paper cutters, as is the case with any machine with a sharp blade, will eventually become dull. While some brands of guillotines can be re-sharpened, even those cutters’ blades will have to be changed after being re-sharpened 2-3 times. Just because your blade is dull doesn’t mean you have to throw it away. Get a replacement blade!

At ABC Office, we offer replacement blades for all the guillotine paper cutters we offer. This includes models that may be discontinued. We try to keep replacement blades on the corresponding cutter’s product page. We currently sell guillotine cutters made by Martin Yale, Premier, Dahle and Kutrimmer (MBM).

You can find our guillotine paper cutters, by brand, at the following links:

• Martin Yale / Premier Guillotine Cutters
• Dahle Guillotine Cutters
• Kutrimmer (MBM) Guillotine Cutters

Our Service Department is more than happy to answer your questions about replacing guillotine blades. If you don’t see a model we have listed, but need a replacement blade, give us a call! We may still be able to help. You can reach our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129 or by filling out this form.

If for any reason your cutter has given up the ghost and needs to be replaced, you can find our entire selection of guillotine paper cutters here.

If you run, operate or work for a casino, you’re probably well aware of the fact that decks of playing cards cannot be re-used. This is primarily due to the fact that casinos use new decks as old decks run the possibility of being tampered with. Used face cards usually have to be cancelled. We offer two types of machines that many casinos use to cancel their playing cards.

The card-canceling machine you use will depend entirely on the volume of cards you need to cancel per day. Regardless of which method of card canceling you choose, our machine will make the process efficient and permanent.

Card Canceling Machines

Light to Medium-Volume Card Canceling Machine – If you only need to cancel a few hundred decks of cards per day, I highly recommend using a machine like the FP-1 (B) heavy-duty single hole punch (found here). Simply place your deck of face cards under the punch and pull the handle. The FP-1 has a 300-sheet capacity (1″ thickness) and can easily handle a single deck of cards in a single pass. It is easy to use and requires little effort to operate. It is made from heavy-duty cast metal that has a reputation for holding up for years. Replacement punching bits are available.

Medium to High-Volume Card Canceling Machine – If you are canceling hundreds to thousands of decks of cards per day, most of our casino customers use a single-spindle paper drill. These drills, available with various diameters, can be used to put a hole right through a deck of cards (center, corner or wherever). Many of our single-hole paper drills can drill through multiple decks of cards at a time. You can find our entire selection of single-hole paper drills here.

Both of these methods are effective and fast and quickly punching holes through and rendering cancelled decks of cards. Our Casino customers enjoy using both of these methods to cancel cards and both have an excellent track record for getting the job done.

Please feel free to call one of our paper punch / drill experts at 1-800-658-8788 for answers to your questions regarding canceling decks of cards.

If you handle a lot of paper, perhaps hundreds of sheets at a time, you may be familiar with stack paper cutters. Stack cutters quickly cut paper down into smaller, more manageable sizes. One great example of a stack cutter is the MBM Triumph 4315 stack paper cutter. This is my review.

MBM (by IDEAL) is the largest and most prominent manufacturer of paper cutters in the United States. Their line of cutters includes rotary trimmers, guillotine cutters and stack cutters. They also manufacturer a huge line of paper shredders under the name of Destroyit. All these products feature precision German engineering and are made in Germany. Needless today, MBM products have a great reputation.

The MBM Triumph 4315 is what’s known as a semi-automatic stack cutter. This is because it utilizes both manual and electric functions. It is also designed for medium-volume use. You will find the 4315 in copy centers, print shops and in businesses that handle, print and cut paper on a regular basis.

As mentioned earlier, the Triumph 4315 is semi automatic. The cutting process is all electric. A motor, enclosed in the cutter, powers a German Solingen steel blade. Manual operation involves adjusting the backstop and engaging the clamp.

Solingen steel is considered by many to be the highest grade of steel available in the world. Knives, kitchen blades and other high-end cutting products are made from Solingen steel. The Solingen blade in the Triumph 4315 is not only excellent quality, but it is also razor sharp. It is designed to hold an edge for a long time. Don’t worry, however, about once it becomes dull. The cutting knife can be re-sharpened.

The manual backstop on the 4315 us adjusted by turning a hand crank located on the front of the machine. This hand crank turns a spindle that pulls the backstop forward or pushes it back. Measurements, based on the position of the backstop, are displayed on the front of the machine via a digital display. This can be toggled between inches or centimeters, depending on your preference.

Have I mentioned that this thing is accurate? This isn’t only because of the razor-sharp blade or the precision backstop. It also utilizes an LED optical cutting line. This line is calibrated with the blade, displaying to the operator exactly where the blade will make the cut. This is excellent for “eyeballing” cuts.

While I still recommend exercising safety, the Triumph 4315 is an extremely safe cutter. It utilizes a combination of clear plastic guards that prevent use when open. These guards protect all cutting aspects of the machine. The front of the machine also requires a key, a safety switch to be turned on and two-handed operation for activating the cutter. It is safe all the way around.

This is a video of the Triumph 4315 and other MBM stack cutters in action:

The MBM Triumph 4315 does not have the ability to store custom jobs, but calibrations and adjustments take just seconds. Because neither the clamp nor the backstop is electric, it isn’t recommended for high-volume cutting. It can still easily, however, handle repetitive cutting throughout the day without skipping a beat.

I highly recommend using this stack paper cutter for your cutting jobs up to 16 7/8″ wide and up to 1 ½” thick. You won’t be disappointed.

You can find the MBM Triumph 4315 stack paper cutter here and our entire selection of stack paper cutters here.

Please feel free to speak with one of our stack paper cutter specialists, regarding any questions, by calling 1-800-658-8788.

If you’re sitting on the fence regarding purchasing a paper shredder, let me give you 10 good reasons why you need one. While some of these reasons may seem obvious, you may not be familiar with these others.

To begin with, I can attest to the fact that I personally use a shredder at my office and feel it is an important part of any company’s business operations. While shredders are often in abundance at the office, they can also be used to dispose of sensitive material (often in abundance) at home.

Here are 10 good reasons why you should use a paper shredder:

1. It’s the Law - Federal laws such as FACTA (read more) and HIPAA (read more) require that certain types of material be shredded. Failure to do so can warrant some hefty fines and penalties.
2. Protect Your Customers – When disposing of customer, client or patient information, it should be shredded. Information such as a name, date of birth, social security number, address and other personal information can quickly turn into a headache for your customer if it falls into the wrong hands.
3. Protect Your Employees – While we often think of protecting customer information, we often forget about employees. Human Resources and other business departments often handle sensitive employee information that should be properly shredded when no longer needed.
4. Dumpster Diving - It is legal in most US states to go dumpster diving. This is the process of sifting through garbage. While many people are simply looking for junk they consider valuable, other people have more nefarious plans that involve identity theft.
5. Convenience – A shredder, placed next to a desk or in a centralized location, makes disposal of paper documents easy. Because shredded paper is more compact than crumpled paper, fewer bag changes are required.
6. Environmentally Friendly – I have sold paper shredders to customers who had environmentally friendly ideas in mind. Some of these include creating mulch for a garden, bedding for a rodent and packaging for shipped products. These types of shredder uses usually involve a strip cut shredder and non-sensitive documents. Most paper shredders now use energy efficient technology.
7. Saves Money – Shredding sensitive data now will save you a lot of money later down the road. Someone applying for a credit card or a bank account under your name can cost you a lot more later down the road than the price of a shredder now.
8. Information Management - While not all discarded information contains sensitive individual data, many businesses don’t want plans, ideas and other information falling into the wrong hands, such as a competitor. It is also important for many world governments and militaries to shred sensitive data and information.
9. Destroys More than Paper - Many modern shredders destroy more than just paper. Many can be used to shred CDs, DVDs, credit cards, floppy disks and more.
10. It’s Fun! - Let’s all be honest. Shredding can be fun. There’s something the way a shredder works that is both intriguing and enjoyable.

I hope these 10 points have helped you understand just how important it is to use a paper shredder. At ABC Office we offer over a hundred different models of paper shredders. You can find our entire selection of paper shredders here.

Please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 for answers to your paper shredder questions. Please feel free to also chime in with any comments or thoughts on paper shredders.

If you’re not a bindery, or an office that binds dozens to hundreds of books a day, you may be fine with a binding machine that’s a little lower key. This may be 1-10 books a day. If this sounds like you, consider looking at the Intelli-Bind IB150 comb binding machine from Intelli-Zone. This is my review.

Intelli-Bind (by Intelli-Zone) is one of the most affordable and feature-per-dollar lines of binding machines available. Intelli-Bind binding machines cover the comb, wire and comb binding machine lines of bookbinding.

The Intelli-Bind IB150 is one of the cheapest (as in price) binding machines available online. As of this review, it costs just $52. While inexpensive, it can still be used to bind a 2″ book. It really finds its place with those who only need to bind a few books a day.

Using the Intelli-Bind IB150 is pretty straightforward. Take your paper, place it in the horizontal punch and pull the handle. The IB150 can punch 12 sheets of paper, although I would probably keep that around 6-8 sheets. Once the holes are punched, you can place your comb element in the comb opener fingers. Once the comb is opened, your punched paper can be inserted and the comb can then be closed. Voila! You have a bound booklet.

The Intelli-Bind IB150 can be used to bind presentations, reports, booklets and more. I have seen people use the IB150 to create cookbooks, phone directories, promotional literature and more. While the punching capacity isn’t extremely high, it can be used to punch report covers, clear covers and card stock (1 sheet at a time).

The Intelli-Bind IB150, unlike many similarly priced machines, can be used by lefties or righties. This is because it utilizes a “U” shaped handle that can be used from just about any angle. It can also be used by both hands, for faster paper punching. Just be careful that you don’t get over confident and start punching more paper than the machine can handle. That’s a quick rout to a broken machine.

This machine is fairly light, weighing in at 13 pounds shipped. What’s nice about the weight is that this machine can easily be picked up and moved around. This is especially nice if you need to store the binding machine and break it out every so often for the occasional job.

I have to say that I wish it had disengageable punching pins, however, if you are only binding letter-size presentations (8 ½” x 11″) you should be fine. It is designed to work with 19-ring plastic binding combs.

The build quality on the IB150 is actually pretty good. While it does have a plastic shell, a lot of the internal components are made out of metal. If treated well, and used to bind high-volumes of books, this machine should easily hold up for some time. I also have to mention that it looks pretty nice as well.

You can find the Intelli-Bind IB150 comb binding machine here and our entire selection of Intelli-Bind book binding machines here. We also carry a great selection of other binding machines found here.

Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any book binding questions.

A professional and customer-oriented business will use a paper shredder when handling sensitive documents. A good reliable office shredder should meet a few solid requirements. This includes reliability, high sheet capacity, a good security level and the ability to shred paper on a continuous basis. One shredder that hits every one of these marks is the MBM Destroyit 2404 paper shredder. This is my review.

If you’ve read any of my paper shredder reviews, you probably know that I am a huge fan of Destroyit paper shredders. I have personally used dozens of different paper shredders and the German engineered Destroyit paper shredders continue to do exactly what I need. Destroyit, by MBM, makes shredders in sizes that range from deskside to industrial designs.

The MBM Destroyit 2404 is available in two different designs. This includes a strip cut and a cross cut model. While the cross cut version is by far the most popular, the strip cut is still a great shredder. The biggest differences between the two are the sheet capacity and the security level.

MBM Destroyit 2404 Sheet Capacities:

• 2404 Strip Cut: 19 to 22 sheets of paper at a security level 2 (3/16″ wide strips).
• 2404 Cross Cut: 9-11 sheets of paper at a security level 3 (3/32″ x 5/8″ particles).

The Destroyit 2404 features a 9 ½” wide opening for paper. This is wide enough to handle envelopes, letter-size and legal-size documents, receipts and much more. It can even be used to shred wider computer forms paper if they are first folded in half. The powerful ¾ horsepower motor doesn’t stutter, handling fed paper with gusto.

This shredder is extremely easy to operate. The “Easy Switch” rocks back and forth to turn the shredder on, put it in reverse and turn it off. A series of color codes and backlit symbols let you know exactly what’s going on.

The Destroyit 2404 is almost completely automated. A built-in photo cell detects paper, turning the shredder on and off by itself. Sensors also let you know when the bag is full and the door is open. For a deskside shredder, these features are all welcome.

This is a video of the MBM Destroyit 2404 in use:

One of my favorite features of the Destroyit 2404 is the large 13-gallon shred bin. This is a fairly large and significant capacity for a deskside shredder. This means fewer bag changes for you.

The shredder itself is made from high quality components. This includes hardened steel cutting shafts that are covered by a lifetime warranty. The shredder head sits in a noise absorbing wooden cabinet that sits on casters and the gars are all enclosed in a dust-proof housing, which significantly extends the life of the shredder. The motor is thermally protected for continuous use (no need to worry about overheating).

In conclusion, I have to say that the Destroyit 2404 (Cross Cut or Strip Cut) is a great choice for use in the office. While it is a deskside shredder, multiple people can easily use it throughout the day. I highly recommend this shredder.

You can find the MBM Destroyit 2404 paper shredder here and our entire selection of Destroyit paper shredders here. We also offer a great selection of other paper shredders here.

Paper shredders, by nature, can be messy machines. Two of the most common errors people make, that contributes to the mess, is either not using a shredder bag or an incorrectly sized shredder bag. Many people attempt, usually unsuccessfully, to use a garbage bag with their shredder. A correctly fitting shredder bag can make all the difference in the world.

The right shredder bag will help cut down on paper trapping gaps, will improve bag change cleanliness and speed and should help cut down on dusting and particles floating around in the air. If a shredder bag isn’t available for your model of shredder, any bag is better than nothing.

At ABC Office we carry shredder bags for all major office paper shredder manufactures. Here is a list of our shredder bags sorted by brand:

• Dahle Shredder Bags
• Destroyit Shredder Bags
• Fellowes Shredder Bags
• Formax Shredder Bags
• HSM Shredder Bags
• Intimus Shredder Bags
• Kobra Shredder Bags
• Rexel Shredder Bags

If you don’t see bags listed for your model of shredder, chances are pretty good that we can still get them for you. Simply call one of our paper shredder experts at 1-800-658-8788 and they should be able to help. You can find our entire selection of paper shredders here.

The subject line of this article was taken directly from someone experiencing problems with their shredder. In fact, there are literally dozens of people every day complaining online that their shredders are overheating. Here are just a few comments taken directly from Twitter over the last few days:

• Darn paper shredder keeps overheating… >=(
• Shredder overheated forgot to bring my programming book to study
• shredder finally overheated
• Too much shredding happening. Overheated the shredder. Half a bag of items still to go. Already filled half a yard trash bag!
• i overheated the shredder whoopsie
• The shredder over heated so im just laying on my bed as it cools down.
• The shredder over heated.
• The paper shredder keeps over-heating.
• Shredding 13 years worth of stuff is a daunting job for a little shredder. Poor thing keeps overheating on me.

So what exactly causes a paper shredder to overheat? The culprit is the motor and a safety sensor. As a shredder is used, the motor begins to generate a lot of heat. As a fail-safe, many cheaper shredders will shut the motor off after it gets too hot. This is done to prevent permanent damage to the shredder (such as melting plastic, etc). Most shredders will let you know that the shredder is in “overheated” mode.

Overheating is typically an issue that only occurs with “cheap” department store shredders. Most of these shredders are designed for light use, and when used for more, begin to overheat. I have read many manuals for “cheap” shredder that mention the shredder should be left off for 30 minutes after 30 minutes of use.

If you work in an office, or do serious shredding on a regular basis, an overheating shredder simply does not cut it (pardon the pun). Business operations simply cannot wait 30 minutes to begin shredding again. Most businesses need a shredder that can be used continuously.

Most business shredders use what’s known a continuous-duty motor. The motors used in these shredders are thermally protected, designed to quickly dissipate heat and keep on shredding. A continuous duty shredder doesn’t need to be turned off for cooling down.

Over 90% of the paper shredders we offer feature continuous duty motors. Brands such as Destroyit, Formax, Intimus, Dahle and Kobra all utilize continuous duty motors. You can find our entire selection of continuous duty paper shredders here.

Are you having a bad experience with your shredder or simply have a question about continuous duty motors? Post your questions in a comment! I would love to hear from you.

You are also more than welcome to call one of our paper shredder specialists at 1-800-658-8788 with any paper shredder questions.