Wire-O binding is a cost-effective method of binding documents commonly used in North America. Documents are punched with holes and a C-shaped spine made of flexible wire is inserted. The spine is then closed manually or automatically using a lever. Similar to Wire-O binding is 19-loop wire, which is no longer commonly used. Wire-O binding machines can be purchased online or in office supply stores for personal or business use.
Wire-O binding, also called wire binding and Double-O binding, is a method of binding documents. This binding method is inexpensive and is typically used in North America to bind items such as books, brochures, calendars, spiral bounds, day planners, and other small readers.
There are a few things to know about Wire-O Binding before buying a machine or binding anything. To bind a book using the Wire-O binding method, the document is inserted into the machine and holes are punched in one side, similar to a large three-hole punch. Some binding machines make three holes per inch (2.5 cm) and some two holes per inch. These are called pitch ratios and are referred to as Pitch 2:1 or Pitch 3:1. Holes can be square, round or rectangular, but most often they are round.
If the Wire-O Binder is a personal use machine and the document to be bound is large, the machine may not be able to punch all the pages of the document at once. To combat this, users typically break the document into smaller sections and punch those sections one at a time.
After the pages are punched in the Wire-O Binder, they are removed and a C-shaped spine is inserted into the device. The spine is made of flexible wire. The punched pages are placed in numerical order on one end of the C-shaped spine as the spine is positioned in the Wire-O Binder.
If the machine being used is a home machine, the user manually closes the C-shaped spine, reshaping the spine into an “O” and effectively binding the document. The spine is typically closed by pulling a lever. For larger, commercial machines, most of the binding process is done automatically. After a document is bound using this process, it can be placed on a table top or opened 360 degrees.
Another binding method similar to Wire-O binding but no longer commonly used is called 19-loop wire, which was designed to be used with a comb binding machine rather than a wire binding machine. The company that distributed these 19-loop cables was taken over and the product was discontinued. The method has since fallen out of ordinary use. This type of bond was typically called a Spiral-O bond.
Wire-O binding is common and goes by many other names. In addition to Wire-O binding, wire binding, and double-o binding, the process may also be called wire binding, double loop wire, loop wire, and double loop wire. Machines for personal use are easily found and can be purchased online through various companies or from office supply stores.
Personal binders are typically manual and small enough to fit on a desk. Larger binders are often purchased for business use when larger documents need to be bound and larger quantities are distributed. These can also be found online for purchase and are usually electric and work faster than manual machines.
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