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Shopping for Velobind Binding strips can be very confusing. Many people have seen the Velobind product but don’t realize that there are actually several types of Velobind strips. However, when you go to buy Velobind strips you are expected to know what kind you need. This article is designed to provide a quick overview of the four main types of Velobind Strips.

1. Velobind Hot Knife (11 Pin): The first type of Velobind strip is hot knife strips. These 11 pin hot knife strips are used by the Velobind System One , Velobind System Two and Velobind System Three Pro. The Velobind Machine takes the comb (the part with the pins sticking out) and rivets it to the receiving strip using heat. This provides a permanent and secure bind with an extremely professional look. These strips are available in a number of different colors and can also be purchase in 8.5" lengths and in 14" lengths for legal sized binding.

2. 4 Pin Recloseable Velobind: The second most common type of Velobind strip is the 4 pin Recloseable Velobind strip. These four pin strips are designed for use with the GBC Velobind V110e punch and with the Velobind V50 punch (now discontinued). With GBC 4 Pin Recloseable Velobind Strips the excess part of the comb simply snaps into the back of the receiving strip making it easy to edit your books and documents later. Four pin Velobind strips offer the look and feel of GBC Velobind without the need to purchase an expensive new hotknife Velobind machine.

3. 6 Pin Recloseable Velobind: Six Pin GBC Velobind binding strips were designed for use with the now discontinued GBC Personal Velobind System. These strips consist of a comb with six small pins that snap into the receiving strip (just like the four pin Velobind strips).

4. Velobind One Eleven Strips: GBC One Eleven Velobind Strips are designed for ues with the One Eleven 111 Velobinder. These manual compression Velobind strips have unique serrated binding prongs to ensure a permanent and secure bind. GBC One Eleven Binding strips are available in black only and in two different sizes.

In addition to these four different types of Velobind Strips GBC also makes SureBind strips which work in an identical fashion to the Velobind 11 Pin Hot Knife strips but have ten pins designed to line up with the hole pattern for comb binding. These strips are less common than traditional Velobind strips and are slightly wider.

One of the things that users like the most about GBC Velobind / SureBind strip binding systems is their security. Law offices, government agencies and accountants choose this binding style because it is permanent and tamper resistant. However, the security that these binding systems provide can become a problem if you ever need to add or delete pages from your document. For this reason, GBC has developed a Velobind / SureBind debinder tool. This specialized tool is equipped with a razor blade that helps you to safely remove the binding strips from your documents. Here are five simple steps to help you use your Velobind Debinder tool:

1. Place the document face down on a surface. The Velobind strip should be at your right with the formed rivet heads up.

2. Holding the document in place with the left hand and using the debinder with the right hand, insert the blade between the strip and the document cover. Make certain that the Debinder tool is snug against the right edge of the document to provide shearing leverage. Pull the Velobind Debinder tool towards you until it contacts the first stud.

3. With the debindder snug against the right side of the document and continuing to pull towards you, swing the handle of the Debinder to the right, away from the document. This automatically shears the first stud.

4. Move the Debinder to the next stud, swing to shear, pull to the next stud, swing to shear, pull to the next stud and so on. For rapid debinding, the Debinder can be pulled toward the user in one continuous motion after the first stud has been sheared. This does require a fairly strong hand, and extreme caution should be used with this method to avoid tearing the coverstock.

5. Remove the plastic strips, and debinding is complete. If you need to rebind the document you will need to use a new binding strip since the old one has been cut.

Attempting to Debind GBC Velobind and Surebind documents without the GBC Velobind Debinder tool can be very dangerous because such a sharp blade is required. If you have a Velobind machine you should definitely consider owning a Debinder tool for your office. However, it is important to note that this tool is not designed for use with 4 pin or 6 pin Velobind Strips which are Recloseable and can be reused.

SureBind was designed to be compatible with GBC Plastic Comb Binding systems. This means paper and covers can be punched on any GBC Plastic Comb Binding punch, and bound using the SureBind System; which increases production by gaining higher punching capabilities, and allowing two operators to work at the same time.

SureBind strips were designed to fit or align with the rectangular holes produced by a Plastic Comb Binding punch. The SureBind strips fit through every other hole of the 19 hole punched paper. The first pin is located at the end of the first hole and the second pin is located at the beginning of the third hole. These posts take the "play" out of the document and keep it from moving between the strips after being bound. All other posts fall in the center of the rectangular holes. Take a piece of paper punched with the rectangular holes and feed a SureBind strip through the holes to see exactly how it aligns.

You already know how to punch paper with all of GBC’s plastic binding machines, so the actual punching should not be a problem. However, you do have to make some very important adjustments on the plastic binding unit before you punch the paper to be used with Surebind.

First, adjust the Side Guide on the Comb Binding machine so that the 19 holes are perfectly centered on your 11" sheet.

Next, adjust the Back Guide Depth setting on the Comb Binding unit to the middle setting. Note: To increase the productivity of the binding unit, only use ten punch pins for SureBind. This allows you to increase the thickness of the lift you are punching, because you are using fewer dies, creating les pressure and stress on the internal parts of the punch. You can increase the punching capacity from 10% to 50%, depending on which GBC punch you are using. If you start punching with hole #1, pull the punch pins out on dies #2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 as they are not needed. Be aware, not all GBC plastic comb binding machines allow access to all 22 die pins. Always start disengaging pins by starting with what would be the 2nd die pin, and start pulling out every other pin that is accessible to you.

After you have made the necessary adjustments on the Binding Machine you are using, punch the documents for binding with SureBind, and bind it with SureBind strips. If you have any difficulties, just call us and ask us for help. MyBinding carries the full GBC line of Plastic Comb Binding Machines, SureBind Binding Machines and SureBind supplies.