A very popular and heavy duty spiral coil binding machine

A very popular and heavy duty spiral coil
binding machine, the Akiles CoilMac M is aimed at small or medium sized
businesses and organizations who want the ability to create their own
booklets using ColorCoil. In the following brief review/overview, we
will take a look at the various features of this machine and give you
what we consider to be some of its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

1. The
   first thing we noticed and appreciated about this machine is that it's
   built like the proverbial tank. That is no surprise for an Akiles
   machine, but we found that the CoilMac M was of especially high quality
   construction. The body and all of the major components are made of
   metal, and we see no reason why this machine wouldn't last you for
   years without the need for repair or maintenance.
2. The four
   to one pitch ratio that the CoilMac M features is one of the more
   versatile pitches on the spiral coil binding world. With this ratio,
   you will be able to bind a range of documents from six millimeters
   (about a quarter inch) to as large as fifty millimeters (two inches).
   You will want to get some experience under your belt, however, before
   you attempt to bind books that are larger than one inch. Still, it is
   important to keep in mind that supplies for spiral coil binding in
   these size ranges are easy to find, and are available in somewhere
   approaching sixty colors, so you can hardly find a more versatile
   binding system to work with.
3. At 17 pages per lift, the CoilMac M has a pretty decent punching capacity for a medium-use machine of this type.
4. The
   CoilMac M includes five disengageable dies that allow for the punching
   of all of the most common sized of paper, from letter, to legal, to A4
   and A5.

Weaknesses:

1. Though there
   is an inserting table that makes hand insertion of the coils a little
   bit easier, you should be aware that there is no electric coil inserter
   included on the CoilMac M. The binding process goes much more quickly
   with electric inserters, so if you think that you will need one, you'll
   have to take a look at either purchasing a standalone unit, or stepping
   up to the CoilMac ECI.
2. Because they are so important to
   finishing the binding process, we were a little disappointed to find
   that the CoilMac M does not come with crimping pliers. You will find
   that cutting and crimping the end of your coils is near impossible
   without them, and inexperienced users especially should be made aware
   of this fact. All in all, it is only about a thirty dollar value that
   is missing from the machine, but make sure that you order a pair of
   these pliers when you order the CoilMac M.
3. Though, as we
   mentioned above, the CoilMac M has some disengageable dies that will
   get you through the vast majority of jobs, the fact that they are not
   all disengageable will make it unlikely that you will be able to
   effectively process documents that are of irregular or custom size. For
   most users, this won't be a problem. We just thought you should know.