All About Plastic Comb Binding

Plastic comb binding is a traditional, economical, and simple binding method. Made of PVC Plastic, the combs consist of a spine of round rings that spread open for sheet inserting. The rings fit into rectangular holes along a binding edge. The standard length of a binding comb is 11" and it has 19 rings. Additional and custom length are available. Plastic GBC Comb Binding is prefect for those who will need to edit their documents, as the bindings can be easily opened and closed. Several different diameters / sheet capacities are available ranging from 3/16" up to 2" to bind up to 850 pages (425 sheets of 20 lb. bond paper). Combs are round in sizes 3/16" up to 1". 1-1/4" and larger combs are oval shaped with 3 locks to hold rings together. The comb spines can be imprinted with titles, company names, logos, and more.

Plastic Comb Advantages:

• Widely available
• Inexpensive
• Printing of spine for customization
• Can add or remove pages
• Can reuse spine after removed from book
• Can be cut in house to any length
• Facing pages align
• Wide range of diameters

Plastic Comb Limitations:

• Fewer standard color choices
• Pages cannot be turned all the way around (360°)
• Pages slightly step up when turned

Plastic Comb Applications:

• Brochures
• Reports
• Manuals
• Calendars
• Notebooks
• Marketing material
• Photo albums
• Scrapbooks
• and More...

What You Need to Bind with Plastic Comb:

• Plastic Comb Binding Machine with Comb Opener
• Plastic Comb Binding Supplies / GBC Binder Combs
• Presentation Covers

How to Bind with Plastic Comb:

① Position the paper guide on your binding machine based on your desired paper size. Gather your printed sheets and insert the allotted amount of paper into the opening. When the paper is fully inserted, slide the stack to the left until it makes contact with the paper guide. To make sure all of the edges of the sheets are flush, tap the sides of the stack. Activate the punching by using the pull handle, push button, or foot pedal on your binding machine.
② Place the Plastic Comb in the Comb Opener with the wide portion of the spine facing away from you -- this should ensure that the Comb opens toward you. Pull the handle to open the Comb.
③ Place the holes of your stack over the Comb teeth and push the handle back into original position to close and secure the Comb to your stack of paper. Remove your finished book.

About the Author • Mallory Morsa is the product expert and content specialist at Binding101, and has been a valued team member since 2008. She started her career here in customer service, moved onto sales supervisor, product management, and then onto content. She takes a hands-on approach to products, and truly gets to know how every item works before she writes about them, with a goal to give you all of the honest information you need to make a confident buying decision. She has a bachelor's degree with a focus on management and marketing, and has been a writer, photographer, and videographer for many years. In her free time, she loves to read by the pool, volunteer at the local animal shelter in the kitten nursery, and snuggle her three furbabies while she binge watches Netflix.