We live in an often budget strapped world. Even the government is strapped for cash, just read the news. It should come as no surprise that many businesses are trying to stretch out their office equipment even longer before buying new machines. At ABC Office, we have one of the most skilled and trained Service Departments for fixing and repairing the office equipment you use most.

Our Service Department is able to provide you with advice, over-the-phone support, replacement manuals, help with local repairs, service contracts and more. Many of our manuals can be found here.  Our Service Department resources page can be found here. We offer product support for the following:

• Paper Shredders — This includes replacement shredder shafts / blades, gears, fuses, knobs, belts, circuit boards and more.
• Laminators – This includes silicon rollers, heating elements, buttons, fuses and circuit boards.
• Paper Cutters — This includes blade sharpening, springs, cutting sticks, motors, levers and more.
• Paper Folding Machines — This includes replacement rollers, folding plates, gears, motors, belts, sensors, fuses and circuit boards.
• Binding Machines — This includes replacement punching dies, handles, guides, knobs, levers, fuses, motors and more.

These are just a few of the machines we service. We also service bursters, check signers, shrink wrap machines, photo ID printers, digital duplicators, foil stamping machines, staplers, scales, letter openers, paper counters and much more.

You can contact our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129 or by filling out this form.

We also have a great selection of new office equipment for sale. You can find everything we offer by going here.

Do you package anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred items per day? Are you looking for a way to make your retail product look more professional? You may want to consider using something like the Traco Portable Deluxe SuperSealer. This I-Bar sealer is excellent for shrink-wrap packaging just about anything. I have used this system and this is my review.

Traco is a U.S. manufacturer of shrink-wrap machines, film, heat guns, heat sealers, shrink sleeves and much more. We have been working with them for well over a decade, so I can attest to the fact that they are a reputable company that will be able to provide support for their past, current and future products.

Traco currently manufactures two different SuperSealers. They make the Standard SuperSealer and the Deluxe SuperSealer. They are both very similar in use and operation, with the biggest difference being that the Deluxe version comes with a 50’ starter roll of centerfold shrink film and a repair kit. Combined, there are over 150,000 SuperSealers in use today.

Using the Traco Portable Deluxe SuperSealer (try saying that 3 times fast) is very easy to use and only requires a few steps.

• Step 1. First off you will want to be sure you have your roll of centerfold shrink film on the machine. The Traco SuperSealer has two rollers that spin on bearings on which sits the film. These two rollers help spin the centerfold roll and deploy the film. A small bar sits between the two flaps of the centerfold film, helping to keep it open, which in turn makes product insertion easy.
• Step 2. You will now want to insert your CD, DVD,  box, soap, pizza or other product into the open pocket of the centerfold film. Push the product all the way back so that it sits in the upper left corner of the film.
• Step 3. You can now bring down the I-bar of the sealer and seal the right side of the package. Once sealed, turn the product 90 degrees to the left and seal the other side shut.
• Step 4. Now that the entire product has been sealed in plastic, you can now take the heat gun and run it over the film. The heat will cause the film to contract. Be sure to heat up the front, back and sides. Don’t allow the heat to sit on any one part for too long as it will cause the film to tear open.

It really is that easy. I have seen people use this machine to seal fruit baskets, soap bars, DVDs, chocolate, pizza and much more. If you are packaging food, be sure to use food-safe Polyolefin film. The Deluxe SuperSealer will also work with PVC film.

The Traco Deluxe SuperSealer is currently available in 5 different sizes. These include 13″, 18″, 24″, 32″ and 40″. If you’re not sure which size you need, be aware that the larger sizes can use smaller widths of film. When it comes to shrink wrap machines, it is better to over estimate than under estimate.

This is a video demo of the Traco Standard SuperSealer. It is almost identical to the Deluxe version minus the starter roll of film, repair kit and an onboard assistance light that lets you know when the sealing is done.

Overall I am very impressed with this system. It is fast, effective, holds up well and is  great for low to medium-volume use. This machine is a best seller with our customers and the track record is excellent.

You can find the Traco Portable Deluxe SuperSealer and our entire selection of I-bar sealer shrink wrap systems here.

If you have ever worked in a bank or credit union, or have been in a position where you had to deal with checks, you are probably familiar with check certifiers. These devices are used to certify checks as they are cashed or deposited. This process usually involves a rubber stamp, which can be time consuming and sloppy. One great way to improve check-certifying efficiency is by using a machine like the Widmer CC-3 check certifier. This is my review.

Widmer is a well-known manufacturer of paper handling equipment. Products include time stamps, numbering machines, check signers, perforators, time clocks and much more. One thing I have always been impressed with Widmer products is the build quality. They are almost always made out of some sort of heavy-duty cast metal.

The CC-3 check certifier from Widmer is most frequently found in banks, credit unions and in businesses where checks are handled on regular basis. This particular machine is designed to replace traditional handheld rubber stamps. Here are a few reasons why:

• Rubber stamps can be easily lost.
• Handheld check certifiers often produce blurry results.
• Check certification often ends up crooked.
• Rubber stamp check certifiers take time.
• Most rubber stamps can’t produce tri-color impressions.

The CC-3 helps improve on just about all of these points. To begin with, it can easily sit on just about any desk. It only weighs in at 18 pounds, so it is heavy enough to be durable yet light enough to be moved around.

One reason rubber stamp check certifiers produce blurry results is because it is difficult to get the stamp head to hit the paper evenly. The CC-3 evenly applies pressure (electronically) throughout the entire stamping head. All points of the stamp hit the check, producing crisp results. It also uses a self-advancing ribbon, rather than an ink pad, which helps further clarify the text and numbers.

Registration with the CC-3 is straight and accurate every time. It is designed to make repetitive check certification quick and flawless. It incorporates an automatic trip switch that automatically stamps the check once inserted. This process keeps the stamp straight and dramatically improves check certification speeds.

The Widemer CC-3 check certifier can be used with tri-color ribbons for added security. The stamp inself produces a control number and a changeable date. I am including a photo of the check certification stamp in this post.

The overall build quality on the CC-3 is excellent. The heavy cast metal case holds up and the inner components are designed for daily continuous use. The case is secured with a lock and key. If you need to speed up your business’s check certification capabilities, I would definitely recommend the Widmer CC-3.

You can find the Widmer CC-3 check certifier here and our entire selection of money handling products here. Please feel free to call 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our customer service representatives with any questions you may have about this machine.

Perfect binding is one of the most professional book binding formats out there. This is the process used to bind paperback books. Whether you are using a cold glue or a hot glue perfect binding machine, glue is probably one of the most costly operational costs involved. At ABC Office, we offer glue for Duplo perfect binding machines and Standard perfect binding machines.

The most popular perfect binding glue we offer is our Standard Bind-Fast 5 glue pellets (found here). This glue can be purchased in a ½ gallon container or in a 50 lb box. This glue is in a pellet form, with each pellet being about the size of a small ball bearing (3-5mm). These pellets can easily be poured into thermal perfect binding machines, where they later melt into hot glue for binding purposes.

Having used this glue myself, I can attest to the quality of it. While I don’t bind paperback books, I do use our in-house Bind-Fast 5 all the time to bind pads of paper. The glue holds up well, is pliable enough not to crack, dries quickly and gets the job done right.

While the Bind-Fast 5 has been discontinued for several years, the clear adhesive glue seems to universally work on most thermal perfect binding machines. I have spoken with many customers that like the hot glue pellets we offer and continue to purchase them for their non-Bind-Fast 5 machines.

Another popular glue option is our adhesive glue for the Duplo DB-280 and DB-250 perfect binding machines (found here). This glue is available in a 50-pound package.

Regardless of what perfect binding machine you use or operate, we probably have the thermal glue pellets that you need. Our perfect binding machine glue is extremely affordable. Please feel free to contact one of our Binding Specialists at 1-800-658-8788 for answers to your perfect binding machine supply questions.

If you’ve handed bills and coins (and who hasn’t), then you are probably well aware of the amount of time it can take. As a kid I remember collecting pennies in a jar only to dump them on the carpet and counting them. Why did I think that was so fun? The process took at least an hour and the accuracy was shoddy at best. Money counters save businesses hundreds and thousands of hours of time.

Modern-day money counters consist of:

• Bill Counters - Quickly count and tally up bills. Counted data usually indicates total bills counted. Many can identify half notes, counterfeit bills, incorrect sizes and more. Most bill counters can batch count.
• Coin Counters – Coin counters quickly take multiple denominations of coins and sort them and count them. Most will provide you with a total quantity and value of coins counted. Many coin counters even include the ability to batch count, roll and bag coins.

These machines will take what usually takes hours and will complete the job in minutes. Not only are money counters fast, but they are also insurmountably more accurate than counting done by humans. If you count bills and coins on a daily basis, you should really consider buying one.

We have many customers that use money counters for counting tickets, coupons, paper and more. Just be sure your money counter can handle the sizes needed for counting.

Now that we have covered the main forms of automatic money counters, you should be aware that many bill counters also include the ability to detect counterfeit bills. This is an especially nice feature for businesses that handle money on a daily basis. If you already own a bill counter, but don’t it doesn’t have counterfeit detection, you may want to consider using a separate counterfeit bill detector.

Counterfeit bill detectors are also nice to have on hand for on-the-spot detection as a transaction occurs. Counterfeit bill detectors come in a wide range of designs and formats. Most bill counters will scan for the following:

Watermarks – Most bill counters have watermark features that can be easily seen when backlit with white light.
Magnetic Ink – Bills utilize magnetic ink that can be detected by equipped counterfeit detectors.
UV Bill Properties – U.S. bills have a line strategically placed that can be lit up with UV light. The position of this line will let you know what the value of the bill is.
Microscopic Features – There are microscopic features built into U.S. currency that can be picked up by a magnifying glass.
Fiber Properties – Legitimate U.S. bills use special fibers that react to specially-formulated counterfeit detection ink (pens).

Learn more about counterfeit bill detection by reading our guide found here. You can find our entire selection of counterfeit bill detectors here.

Hopefully these details will help you out with your money counter purchase. ABC Office has been selling money counters online for well over a decade. We have a lot of experience and can provide you with some much-needed advice. Please don’t hesitate to call one of our money counter specialists at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions.

If you are binding a book, whether it is coil, comb or wire, you have to select a specific supply diameter to finish the process. Many customers get a little frustrated not knowing what size of supply they should get. Comb, wire and coil binding supplies are typically sold in quantities of 100. So which diameter of comb, coil or wire should you use?

If you don’t do a lot of book binding, yet need to order supplies for your machine, you have a few options. We offer a capacity guide on our supplies that will give you an approximate amount of sheets that can be bound for any given diameter.

Is there a well-rounded diameter that you can use for a lot of stuff? I have found that most customers purchase a ¼” diameter element for typical report, presentation and booklet binding. The ¼” size can handle up to 20 sheets, yet doesn’t look funny when binding 10.

Here is a good list of binding supply diameters and their binding capacities:

• 3/16″ — Binds up to 12 sheets
• ¼” — Binds up 20 sheets.
• 5/16″ — binds up to 40 sheets.
• 3/8″ — Binds up to 55 sheets
• 7/16″ — binds up to 70 sheets
• ½” — binds up to 90 sheets
• 9/16″ — binds up to 100 sheets
• 5/8″ — binds up to 120 sheets
• ¾” — binds up to 150 sheets
• 7/8″ — binds up to 170 sheets
• 1″ — Binds up to 200 sheets
• 1 1/8″ — Binds up to 220 sheets
• 1 ¼” — Binds up to 230 sheets
• 1 ½” — Binds up to 290 sheets
• 1 ¾” — Binds up to 360 sheets
• 2″ — binds up to 425 sheets

These diameters and capacities apply to comb, wire and coil. These capacities are based on 20# paper, so if you are using card stock or clear covers you may need to scale that amount back a little.

Be aware that while you can use a larger-than-required diameter to bind fewer sheets, you don’t too few sheets as the end results may look odd. An example would be binding only 5 sheets using a 5/16″ binding element.

You can find our book binding supplies here:

• Comb Binding Supplies
• Wire Binding Supplies
• Coil Binding Supplies

Not only do we offer a great selection of book binding supplies, but we also offer an excellent selection of machines. If you need a machine, you can find our entire selection of book binding machines here.

Please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our book binding specialists. They are more than happy to help answer your questions.

I had a customer pose a really good question to me this morning. They asked me, “Do your twin loop wire binding supplies get thicker as the diameter increases?” I had never thought of that before and had to do a little research to find the answer.

According to this customer, they have purchased wire of varying gauge qualities, with some wire staying the same thickness even when the diameter increased. They claimed that with “cheaper” twin loop wire, the wire gauge was so pathetic that the books got all bent out of shape after only being used a few times.

I decided I needed to go out to the warehouse and investigate this for myself. I broke out a box of ¼” wire, ½” wire, 7/8″ wire and 1 ¼” wire. I broke out a micrometer (although the difference was visually evident) and can confirm that the gauge thickness of our wire does get thicker as the diameter increases.

I figured our wire had to get thicker as we carry the highest quality wire available for wire binding machines. The 7/8″ and 1 ¼” twin loop wire was dramatically thicker than the ¼” wire. This makes sense. The thicker the book, the more strain that is being put on the wire.

Not only is our twin loop wire (both 2:1 and 3:1 pitches) high quality stuff, but it is available to you at an excellent price. You can find our entire selection of twin loop wire supplies here and our large selection of wire binding machines here.

Good luck and happy binding!

A good deskside paper shredder should be capable of keeping up with daily paper shredding operations. It should be reliable, functional and easy to use. With several options available for deskside shredding, it can be tough to find a shredder that fits the bill (figuratively and literally). One paper shredder you may want to consider for your daily operations is the Formax FD 8202CC cross cut paper shredder. This is my review.

Formax is one of the big three manufacturers of office paper shredders. The currently make shredders designed for home office use all the way up to industrial use. Their shredders are known for being tough. The Formax FD 8202CC is their entry-level machine.

What is a deskside paper shredder? A deskside paper shredder is generally smaller than your average office shredder, typically designed to fit next to a desk (sometimes under a desk). They are typically designed for use by one person, although some higher-end machines (like this one) can be used by 2-3 people. The FD 8202CC is about as compact as a wastebasket, which is nice for portability and space.

The FD 8202CC isn’t designed for high-volume use, but it isn’t a cheap piece of plastic either. It is perfect for shredding bills, receipts, old documents and more. It is capable of taking your sensitive material and shredding it into tiny pieces of paper.

The Formax FD 8202CC shredder utilizes a Level 3 security level cut. The higher the security level, the tinier the particles. Shredders are rated on a scale of 1 to 6, with a Level 6 being capable of shredding top-secret documents. This shredder is compact enough to shred paper into 5/32″ x 1 1/8″. You should be aware that a Level 3 security level is more than enough to handle sensitive material and is the most common security level used by businesses.

While the FD 8202CC can be used to shred paper, it is versatile enough to shred other material as well. This includes CDs, DVDs and credit cards. A special flap folds down over the opening of this shredder, allowing for easy insertion of optical disks.

Many cross cut shredders require that staples and paper clips be removed prior to shredding, the Formax FD 8202CC can easily handle staples and paper clips without suffering any damage.

The Formax FD 8202 is packed with sensors, making shredding jobs easier. This includes an auto start sensor that detects paper as it is inserted, automatically starting the shredder. It also has an auto sensor that detects when the bin is full, automatically stopping the shredder (preventing potential damage).

In conclusion, this is a great compact paper shredder for deskside or home use. It is portable (only 7 pounds) and can shred up to 20 sheets of paper at a time!

You can find the Formax FD 8202CC cross cut paper shredder here and our entire selection of Formax paper shredders here. You can find our huge selection of office paper shredders here.

If you’re an electrician, or have worked with electrical wiring, you probably know that the lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire. For example, 16-gauge wire is actually significantly thinner than 10-gauge wire. This almost goes against common reasoning as higher numbers typically represent bigger or thicker. So is this the case with the gauge of shrink wrap film?

Shrink wrap film is commonly available in 60, 75 and 100 gauge thicknesses. As you might understand, many people wonder if 60 or 100 gauge film is the thickest. Shrink wrap film gauges, contrary to electrical wire gauges, are actually thicker as the number goes up. One-hundred gauge film is in fact thicker than 60 gauge shrink wrap film.

Hopefully this helps clarify some of the confusion out there. While we have established how shrink wrap gauges work, you should be aware that there are two primary different types of shrink wrap film. These are:

1. PVC Shrink Wrap Film
2. Polyolefin Shrink Wrap Film

While both PVC and Polyolefin shrink film gauges are literally the same in thickness, you should be aware that 75 gauge PVC and 75 gauge Polyolefin act very differently.

One of the biggest reasons people go with thicker PVC film is to prevent tearing or breaking of the film. This is because PVC film has a more brittle quality to it than Polyolefin film.

While people increase the film gauge with Polyolefin to help increase the packaging strength as well, Polyolefin film has an elastic-like stretchy quality to it. For this reason, 60 gauge Polyolefin film, while thinner, has just as good an integrity quality as 75 gauge PVC film. Simply put, you don’t need as thick a gauge of Polyolefin film to get the same results as 75 gauge PVC film.

I hope this helps you understand shrink wrap film in a little more detail. We have over 30 years experience with shrink wrap packaging, so please feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions regarding shrink wrap film or machines.

You can find our entire selection of shrink wrap film and replacement parts here and our entire selection of shrink wrap machines here.

If you were to ask me today which thickness of pouch laminating sheets is most popular, I would have to answer with the 5 mil laminating sheet. With so many different sizes available, why is it that this particular thickness is so popular? I’ll cover a few reasons why 5 mil laminating sheets may be what you want to use with your pouch laminator.

To begin with, laminating sheets are commonly available in four different thicknesses. These are 3 mil, 5 mil, 7 mil and 10 mil. On occasion, you may be able to find a 1.5 or a 15 mil laminating pouch, however, they are pretty rare and most people don’t want them.

So what does the term “mil” mean? It is a thousandth of an inch. A 5-mil pouch is 0.005 inches thick (one side). Both sides of a 5-mil pouch add up to 10 mils thick (0.010″). The smaller the mil thickness, the thinner the pouch. For this reason, 3 mil and 10 mil pouches are the least common sizes used by customers. There are two reasons for this.

Three mil laminating sheets aren’t quite as popular as 5 or 7 because many people think it is too thin, and 10 mils is too thick for many people’s taste. The 10-mil thickness also requires a laminator capable of handling that thickness.

Five-mil laminating pouches are popular simply because they provide enough stability along with a nice finished look, not to mention they cost less than 7 or 10-mil thicknesses. At ABC Office we offer 19 different laminating sheet sizes in a 5-mil thickness. They are as follows:

Clear Glossy 5 Mil Laminating Sheets (Standard Sizes)

• Business Card     —      (2 1/4″ x 3 3/4″)
• Credit Card     —    (2 1/8″ x 3 3/8″)
• Driver’s License     —      (2 3/8″ x 3 5/8″)
• IBM     —     (2 5/16″ x 3 1/4″)
• Key Card      —    (2 1/2″ x 3 7/8″)
• Military     —    (2 5/8″ x 3 7/8″)
• School Card     —     (2 1/2″ x 3 5/8″)
• Jumbo     —     (2 15/16″ x 4 1/8″)
• Luggage Tag (w/o Slot)     —     (2 1/2″ x 4 1/4″)
• Luggage Tag (w/ Slot)     —     (2 1/2″ x 4 1/4″)
• Index (File Card)    —      (3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″)
• Circulation Card     —    (3 15/16″ x 5 11/16″)
• Postal Card     —     (3 9/16″ x 5 5/16″)
• Extra Circulation Card     —     (3 15/16″ x 6 7/8″)
• 4″ x 6″     —    (4″ x 6″)

Clear Glossy 5 Mil Laminating Sheets (Large Sizes)

• 6″ x 9″ Laminating Sheets
• 9″ x 11 ½” Laminating Sheets
• 9″ x 14 ½” Laminating Sheets
• 12″ x 18″ Laminating Sheets

As you can see, there are a lot of options out there for 5 mil laminating sheets. Because we buy direct from the source, we are able to offer some of the best prices available online for 5 mil laminating sheets.

You can find our entire selection of laminating sheets here. Please feel free to contact one of our laminating experts at 1-800-658-8788 with answer to any questions you may have about pouch laminators or laminating sheets.