Folding heavy-duty card stock is tricky and you could say there is an art to it. The way you fold card stock will depend entirely on how much folding you plan on doing. I will offer you a few suggestions on folding thick card stock that will produce nice, clean and crisp folds that will look professional for any job.

Have you ever tried folding thick card stock by hand? How did it turn out? Perhaps you’re more talented than me, but when I fold card stock by hand, it usually turns out rough, uneven and the edges have an almost crumpled look. In other words, it looks like I folded it by hand. You probably want those edges straight, crisp and clean.

When it comes to folding heavy-duty card stock, there are three different “volumes” of folding that I like to categorize. You have your light-volume folding (1-10 sheets a day), medium-volume folding (10-200 sheets a day) and high-volume folding (200+ sheets a day).

For light-volume folding of heavy card stock, you can use a ruler as an edge and the dull side of scissors or the dull side of a knife to create a crease. The crease is the trick, once the crease has been established, you can easily manually fold the thick card stock.

For medium-volume folding of thick card stock, I recommend using a manual scoring machine. Scoring machines use a wheel with a blunt edge. This edge rolls along the paper and creases it. Once creased, the paper can be folded. You can see our manual paper scoring machines here.

For high-volume folding of card stock, you can use a paper-folding machine (found here). I have found, however, that heavy card stock (in excess of 110 # bond). Folding extremely thick card stock using a folding machine can create a jagged folded edge. For heavy card stock, I recommend using an automated creasing / scoring machine (found here).

Scoring machines (aka creasing machines) can also be used to fold laminated documents and some thin sheets of plastic. You can find our entire selection of paper scoring machines here. Many scoring machines can also be used to perforate or even slit paper.

If you are folding a unique type of material, or if you simply have some scoring questions, feel free to contact one of our paper handling specialists by calling 1-800-658-8788.

I have had people ask me if you can laminate folded paper (addressed here), but I recently had someone ask if you can fold laminated paper. I suppose this is the other side of the coin. So can it be done? You bet, but you’re going to need a special tool.

Have you ever heard of a paper scorer? Paper scoring machines are special machines designed to crease paper for folding. These machines are generally reserved for use on thick cardstock or laminated documents.

How does a paper scoring machine work? They use a fine edge (or rolling wheel), along with a lot of pressure, to crease the paper. Once a paper scoring machine has been used on laminated paper, there will be a long creased line along the document. This crease makes it easy to fold the document. The crease, or fold, is clean and non-wrinkled. The end results look great!

So in what kind of a situation would you need to fold a laminated document? An example would be a restaurant menu. Laminated menus look great, but once laminated, often need to be folded. Some restaurants bypass this and simply use a large non-folded laminated menu. If you want to fold that menu, however, you must use a paper scorer.

Traditional paper folding machines cannot handle laminated paper. Not only would the end results look horrible, most paper folding machines have a hard enough time handling glossy and coated paper.

Paper scoring machines come in manual and automatic designs. You can find our entire selection of paper scoring machines and creasers here. Good luck!

Finding the right paper perforating machine or scorer can be difficult. This is because there are so many options out there. If you need something for light-volume perforation and scoring, and don’t need a higher-end electric machine, you may want to consider using the Lassco-Wizer Score II paper perforator and scorer. This is my review.

Lassco-Wizer makes a wide variety of office equipment. This includes numbering machines, perforators, corner rounders, paper drills and more. Their perforator line includes both electric (Count Auto Pro Plus) and manual (Score II) perforators.

The Score II manual paper perforator and scorer is available in two versions. These versions are the W630 and the W635. These both pretty much the same machines, but are slightly different sizes. The W630 perforates and scores up to 19 1/2″ long and the W635 up to 25″ long. I have used both and they feel and operate exactly the same.

The first thing you may notice upon seeing these machines is that they look remarkably similar to a rotary paper trimmer. The truth is, they are mechanically very similar. This is because the perforating and scoring wheels sits in a head that slides along a bar. Sound familiar?

The perforator wheel used by the Score II creates 10 perforations per inch. This is enough to easily tear paper, but is not fine enough to be considered a micro-perf. This style of perforation should be good enough for coupons, tickets and promotional material.

The scoring wheel does a nice job of putting a strait, consistent crease down a sheet of paper. The score looks good and is easy to do.

Using this machine is pretty easy. Place your paper on the base, adjust the guide to where you want the perforation or score and roll the wheel along the paper. After one pass the job should be complete. The Scorre II can perforate and score paper from 16lb up to cover stock.

I have had people ask if multiple sheets can be perforated at a time. To be honest, I have heard mixed results. The machine is designed to perforate one sheet at a time, although I have had customers tell me they have been able to get away with multiple sheets. I cannot, however, guarantee that this will work.

A common problem that many customers experience is that the rail has to be flipped for scoring or perforating. Many people use the perf wheel with the scoring rail and vice versa. The score rail has an “S” on it and the perforating rail has a “P” on it. As long as everything is set up correctly, you should be good to go.

One thing I wish the Score II had is an alignment grid. There is no grid printed on the base of this machine. There is a guide, that slides along a ruler in inches.

As long as you realize that this perforator & scorer is manual, you should be plenty happy with it. Most complaints I have received are from people who wish it could perforate paper at a faster rate. Remember, this machine is completely manually operated.

I have used the Score II and really like it. The build quality is nice and replacement perforating wheels are available.

You can find the Lassco-Wizer W630 Score II paper perforator & scorer here and the W635 here. You can find our entire selection of paper perforators here.

I had someone recently ask me if it is possible to laminate a sheet of card stock or paper that has already been folded. This was in relation to restaurant menus, but can be applied to many other projects. The answer is fairly short and simple.

You can laminate paper that has already been folded, but you probably won’t be happy with the results. This is because the crease in folded paper creates an uneven surface. While this surface can be laminated, air will often get trapped under the lamination film and the end result will be pretty ugly.

Standard copy paper may come out just fine, but card stock is where you run into the biggest problems. This isn’t to say it will always turn out bad, but I can’t make any promises. The uneven ridge created by the fold is hard for the laminator to flatten out.

If you need to fold something that is laminated, I recommend using a paper scoring machine. These machines, sometimes called creasers, will crease the paper down the middle, making it easy to fold. The end result looks great.

So in relation to menus, I highly recommend laminating them first and then scoring them. You will be happy with the results.

You can find our laminators here and our paper scoring machines here. Still have questions about laminating and folding paper? Contact one of our specialists at 1-800-658-8788 or post your question in a comment.

Have a great day!

Are you in need of an automatic paper perforator, slitter and scorer? Before you decide to take the plunge and bye one, you should seriously consider looking at the Martin Yale 3800AP AutoPerf. I have used this machine and this is my review.

To begin with, the Martin Yale 3800AP is one of the most versatile paper perforators I have ever used. Not only does it perforate, but it can also be set up to score and slit paper. This is done by use of several powered wheels and bars. This is ideal for perforating and scoring brochures, checks, coupons, tickets and much more.

The Martin Yale 3800AP initially comes with a 10-tooth perf wheel and two scoring wheels. These wheels slide onto an electrically powered bar that spins, thus powering the perforating and scoring wheels. These wheels can be loosened and tightened to almost any position on the bar, making customized perforations and scoring a breeze.

You can buy additional perforating, scoring and slitting wheels. In fact, the 3800AP can be used with an optional 3 and 7 tooth perforating wheel. Slitting wheels make it very easy to cut paper down to a variety of sizes. You can mount several perforator, scoring and slitting wheels with ease.

So now we have the cutting, slitting and scoring basics down. I have used all three different types of cutting wheels and have to say that setup really is a breeze. This is a huge plus for the Martin Yale 3800AP. Many perforating and scoring machines out there have factory-installed wheels that cannot be removed or added.

The Martin Yale 3800AP AutoPerf can be used with paper as thin as 16lb. bond or as thick as 150lb. card stock. It can handle paper from 3 7/8 to 18-inches wide and 3 ½ to 22-inches long.  This is an excellent range for a perforating machine, which means the 3800AP can be used with most types of paper.

The build quality on the 3800AP is top-notch. It is heavy-duty, designed to be used on daily basis. The motor is rated at a speed of up to 12,000 sheets per minute (8 ½ x 11 paper). It weighs in at 85 pounds, which should give you a good idea just how well built this machine is.

Overall I have to say that I am very impressed with the 3800AP. This particular machine is shipped with emphasis on perforating, but it is available as the 3800FC if you would like to get the version that arrives with slitting wheels instead of perforating wheels.

You can find the Martin Yale 3800AP AutoPerf perforator here. You can find the slitting version 3800FC forms cutter here. You can find our entire selection of perforating machines here.