Business cards make an impression. It’s not just about the free lunch. Business cards are perfect for trade shows, meetings and much more. Did you know making business cards is actually pretty easy? It is. Simply print out your business cards, using your own printer, and cut them down to size. A great way to cut them down is by using the CardMate.

From start to finish, you can literally create several business cards in less than a minute. The CardMate makes this possible. Simply place the printed cards in the cutter and turn the handle. The machine will do the rest. Although the CardMate is manually operated, it is remarkably fast. I have used this little machine myself. It even works with card stock.

Here is a video demo of the CardMate in action:

You can find the CardMate business card cutter here.

Paper folders play an important role in many aspects of a business’ daily operations. They are used to fold mailers, bills, invoices and much more. Although many of these paper folders are beasts, able to withstand a lot of use, all paper shredders require some type of maintenance.

Here is a list of some of the most common maintenance steps you should be taking and a list of the most common problems associated with paper folders.

Clean the rollers - The rubber rollers found in a paper folder get very dirty after a while. Why is this? It is because paper dust and ink from the folded paper start to stick to the rubber rollers. This causes paper to slip on the rollers, causing paper jams.

Use rubber cleaner rejuvenator to clean the rollers. Not only does this clean, but it also re-hydrates the rollers. Many people have asked me if they can use rubbing alcohol to achieve the same results. The answer is a huge no. Rubbing alcohol will dry out the rollers and cause them to crack.

Turn off the motor – If your paper folder doesn’t have an “auto off” function, be sure to turn off the motor after the job is done. This will help prevent unnecessary motor wear.

Surge protector - After having suffered some electronics losses myself as a result of power surges, it isn’t a bad idea to put your mid to high-end paper folder on a surge protector.

Folding plates – Make sure the folding plates are securely in place. A lot of paper jams result from incorrectly seated folding plates.

Static electricity – Static electricity can cause sheets of paper to stick together, resulting in paper jams. Some paper folders have built in components to channel away the static electricity. If static electricity continues to be a problem for you, we do sell static eliminator spray that will eliminate this problem.

Paper Jams – What should you do if you get a paper jam? If the paper is easily accessible, try pulling out the paper. NEVER use scissors or sharp objects to “fish” out the paper. This could very likely cause damage to the rubber rollers. Replacing the rubber rollers is no easy task.

If you cannot access the paper, you can try to open the case of the machine (at your own risk) to access the jammed paper. Very rarely does a paper folder have to be opened. If you aren’t mechanically inclined, or are nervous about operating on a paper folder, you can always call our service technicians at 1-800-658-8788 and ask them for tips and advice. You can also send in your machines to us for repair, should the need arise.

You can find our entire line of paper folders here.

At ABC Office, we are always looking for new and better ways to make our site easier to navigate and use. Federal, state and local governments are valued customers here at ABC Office, and in an effort to make government purchases faster and more convenient, we now have a newly re-designed government resources index available.

This index covers a wide range of topics  including GSA pricing, purchase orders, I.M.P.A.C. Cards, SmartPay Cards and more. We also offer the government the option of receiving three different official quotes for bidding purposes. We are more than happy to accommodate any of our customers and can provide any quotes, paperwork or other documentation required prior to making a purchase.

Also be aware that ABC Office has its own service department, which means we can fully service our equipment and can offer service contracts with machine purchases. You can visit our newly re-designed government resources page by clicking here.

Paper folders are an important part of any business, copy shop, church or school that folds paper on a regular basis. Even an entry-level paper folder can fold faster than a human by a factor of five. Finding the right paper folder can be a difficult task, and choosing the wrong paper folder can be a nightmare.

We have come up with a list of the top 10 best paper folders in existence. This list focuses on paper folders that use friction to pull paper into the machine and paper folders that use folding plates. This list is based on customer popularity and customers satisfaction. Be aware that the paper folder you choose should be tailored around the volume of paper you will be folding, which means the number one paper folder may not work for you.

Top Ten Best Paper Folders (Friction Feed Edition):

1. MBM 207M Paper Folder
2. Intelli-Fold 102AF Paper Folder
3. Intelli-Fold 202AF Paper Folder
4. Duplo DF-755 Paper Folder
5. MBM 307A Paper Folder
6. Intimus 2051 SmartFold Paper Folder
7. Techko LF283B Paper Folder
8. Formax FD 320 Paper Folder
9. Duplo DF-915 Paper Folder
10. Martin Yale 1217A Paper Folder

We get a lot of questions from customers curious about what a foil fuser is. It certainly has a catchy name. It may bring up images of a fancy weapon from a “B” sci-fi movie, or perhaps a time travel device found in an H.G. Wells novel. Although not quite as fancy as that, foil fusers are pretty fun to use and the end results look great!

Foil fusers, in a nutshell, make text and images look metallic and shiny. They help lay down a thin layer of colored foil onto documents, business cards, awards, certificates and more. This is all done with heat. The roll of foil used in a foil fuser is designed to bond with toner when heat is applied.

The special foil used in a foil fuser allows you to print an image or text on a toner-based printer for foil fusing. Once printed, the document is run through the machine where the foil is neatly applied to the toner. The end result looks great. Many of our customers like to use foil fusers for awards and certificates. They are also popular for use with business cards.

What if you don’t want the entire document foil fused? You have a couple of options. You can print and foil fuse everything you want foiled and then run the document through a printer a second time to print additional “non-foiled” text.

Another option is to print the document on a toner-based printer and then on an ink-based printer. When the document is run through the foil fuser, the toner will only stick to the toner. The ink-based print is left alone.

Many people ask what the difference is between a foil fuser and a foil stamper (aka hot stamper). A foil stamper does not use toner for foiling. With a foil stamper, the foil is applied directly to the object by use of aluminum letter dies that literally stamp the foil onto the surface. Foil stampers are more commonly used for applying text to photographs, leather, books, pencils, napkins and other “non-paper” objects.

You can see a detailed review and demonstration of the Model 1200 foil fuser by going here.

Do you remember those old dot matrix printers that were so loud you almost had to wear earplugs? They used a ribbon, like a typewriter, that cycled while printing. One of the most annoying things was the paper they used. It has what I liked to call “tractor-feed” holes along the edges. I don’t know if that was the correct term for the paper, but that’s what I called it. I think it is called computer form paper.

I remember trying to load that paper into the printer, trying to get both sides to line up. If you didn’t get the sides lined up, the paper would be gobbled up and you had a serious jam on your hands. If you were lucky enough to get the paper loaded correctly you would print out your job, again waiting for a few minutes as the screeching print head did its thing. You then had to tear the sheet of from the printer. After that you would tear the sides off. The final product looked like a normal sheet of paper.

Weren’t you glad when printers were created that took cut sheet (individual sheets) paper? You simply opened up the package of paper and plopped it in the printer. We would never go back to the old computer paper would we? Believe it or not, people still use that tractor-feed paper. A lot of people still use that paper. Banks, schools and other businesses use this paper every day. Many businesses print their checks on this style of paper. The paper is inexpensive and the printers are cheap. But what about all the tearing and ripping apart?

Machines have actually been created to tear this paper apart for you. They are called bursters. You put your paper into the machine and it pulls the papers apart. It also cuts the side tractor-feed off the paper. The end result is a single sheet of usable, readable and functional paper. Bursters do this quickly and handle a wide variety of paper sizes and thicknessess. Feel free to go take a look and see what one of these machines look like here: Forms Bursters.

If you need any additional information on bursters, take a look at our site, http://www.abcoffice.com, or call one of our sales associates, (800) 658-8788.

We had an interesting call the other day from a customer that was trying to arrange papers into some kind of sequential format. They would get together in a group and peel one sheet of paper of the top of a stack, put it in order and staple it. During some larger projects, this would go on deep into the night. This is also commonly called a “collating party”. I remember doing this when I was in grade school for tests. I believe I even remember collating stacks of paper in college.

Before working for ABC Office, I had no idea the technology even existed, but there are machines (collators) specifically designed to do this for you. It does the same thing in a fraction of the time. Collators are easy to setup and use. They may seem a little pricey up front, but the amount of time out save is well worth it. Not only do you save time, but you don’t have to pay people to collate papers. I like to think of it as an investment.

Some collators can take up to 20 stacks of paper, collate them and staple them in the corner. Many collators can also be interfaced with a bookletmaker, allowing you to create booklets on the fly. Doing this stuff in-house can save you a lot of cash, especially when you look at how much it costs to do this stuff at a copy center. I personally use a collator and paper folder right here sales floor for making flyers and brochures.

Many collators can be interfaced with booklet makers for streamlined operations. Paper is placed in the collator, sheets are peeled off of each tray and are fed into the booklet maker.  The booklet maker then folds these sheets, staples them along the spine and the finished booklet comes out the other side. This process is perfect for creating manuals, booklets and much more.

You should be aware that most collators do not work well with extremely slick, coated or glossy paper. This is because a lot of friction is involved in the collating process. Slick paper causes those friction rollers to slip, resulting in a jam.

If you need any additional info on collators, take a look at our site http://www.abcoffice.com , or call one of
our sales associates, (800) 658-8788.