Renz thumb cut punch TC 20

Many different types of collected papers can be bound using the wire binding machine: presentations, sample books, catalogues, books, photo albums, calendars, etc. In the process, the creative possibilities are almost unlimited for the planned covers or pages because every kind of paper, cardboard materials or plastic films can be punched and bound.

The machines can bind paper with widths up to 360 mm. If smaller sizes need to be punched and bound, individual punching dies can be deactivated in order to avoid having any holes which overlap the page border. The punches are designed for use on paper, cardboard (up to 2 mm) and thin plastic films (up to about 0.8 mm). Thinner aluminium sheets should only be punched when absolutely necessary because the punches can be damaged. Thicker sheets and soft or elastic materials cannot be punched with these machines.

The punched paper is placed in the open binding element on the binding console and pushed under the closing bar which will compress the spiral. The paper stack to be bound can be up to 34 mm high on the eco-machine (2:1 pitch); for the SRW machine (3:1 pitch) it can only be 13.5 mm because it is not technically possible to produce a binding element with this pitch with a bigger diameter.

The designations for the hole pitch are somewhat confusing: the pitch, for instance, is 1 : 1 when the width of the hole is approximately the same size as the width of the space between the holes. The designation, however, is based on the total length of the hole plus the width of space in between the holes. In the case of the 2 : 1 pitch, the length is ½ inch (12.7 mm); for the 3 : 1 pitch (preferred by architects) it is 1/3 inch (8.47 mm).

Many different things can be bound with the binding elements. The pre-punched plastic HOLDER-STRIP can be used for combining bound documents. The Modulor product line has many versatile and less austere materials available which are great for use in the machines : rigid-PVC films, polypropylene, polycarbonate, PET-G, colour filter films, handicrafts and decoration films, photo mounting board, coloured drawing paper, grey board, Finnboard, vellum paper, stronger Japanese paper, cardboards laminated with wood veneer paper, felt, cork or self-adhesive films and many more. In short, let the possibilities wash over your imagination. Leaf through our catalogue and design your own unique books and folders. If you are unsure whether a certain material can be punched, don´t hesitate to simply ask us!

The so-called thumb hole is a semi-circular shaped punch hole which is familiar because of its use on calendar pages which can be folded over to the back. When turning the page over, the hanger piece, which otherwise would be in the way, slips through the thumb hole.

The thumb cut punch is the tool for easily making those kinds of holes by hand. When used in combination with the PUNCH/WIRE BINDING MACHINE SRW 3:1, you can easily make small numbers of calendars of professional quality.

In the process, the calendar pages should first be punched in the punch/wire binding machine – for this work we recommend the machine with the 3:1 pitch because its holes match the size of the thumb holes perfectly. The thumb hole should then be punched and the calendar pages bound with the punch/wire binding machine, whereby the hanger should be placed in the spirals before closing it up.