The Akiles FlexiPunch E is a heavy duty electric binding punch that is designed to give you four different binding options. We took a look at this machine and compiled a list of what we consider to be its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths:
1. The FlexiPunch E is an electric punch, and as such has a really nice punching capacity of about 20 pages per cycle. The punching motor is very heavy duty, meaning that you will always have more than enough power to do the job in every punch pattern and die set. For those of you who are stepping up from a manual machine, you will find this process so much easier that you will wonder why you ever waited this long to upgrade.
2. One of the great things about this machine is that it can be operated with a foot pedal. This means that you can hold the papers you are punching with both hands, which helps greatly with punch accuracy.
3. The FlexiPunch E is big on versatility too. On this one machine, you will be able to do four different styles of binding: plastic comb, 4:1 wire coil, and 2:1 and 3:1 pitch wire binding. The die sets are very easy to change; you don t need any sort of tool, and the whole process takes less than a minute.
4. All of the pins on the FlexiPunch E are fully disengageable. What this means to you is that you will be able to punch a bind all different sizes of paper without having to worry that there will be incomplete holes on the ends of your document. The FlexiPunch E also features an open throat design so that if you want to punch and bind documents that are longer than the 12 that it is designed for, you can accomplish that with a fairly easy two punch process.
5. Another great feature of the FlexiPunch E is the adjustable depth of punch margin control. With this, you can always be assured that your documents are punched the proper distance from the edge of the paper as is appropriate for the thickness of the book. The depth of the punch and binding is important to the functionality and durability of the book. Thicker books should be punched further in from the edge, and thinner books more toward the edge.
6. The FlexiPunch E has a really nice automatic anti jam system that electronically detects a potential overfeed or jam, stops the mechanism and retracts the punching pins. This will save you a lot of trouble, not to mention the possibility of downtime due to a service call.
Weaknesses:
1. The FlexiPunch E is a very heavy duty machine that is made of all metal, and would be seem to be made to last you a good number of years. That being said, Akiles offers only a one year warranty on this machine.
2. Though as we stated before, the FlexiPunch E can be used to punch documents longer than 12 with a two punch process. If you are going to be punching large amounts of documents that will need to be punched twice, you should be aware that you will be working a little bit more slowly than if you were punching and binding letter and A4 sized sheets.
3. This system is capable of producing four different hole patterns. However, when you buy the machine it will only come with one punching die. You will have to purchase the other die sets separately. However, the good news is, the die sets are extremely reasonable in price.
4. This system is just a punch and does not include a comb opener, wire closer or coil inserter. You will need to buy one of those pieces of finishing equipment to finish your documents.
Author Resource:-
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for http://www.mybinding.com .He has written over 500 articles on binding machines,binding covers,binders,laminators,binding supplies,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,index tabs, and shredders.
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