subject: Unibind Xu638 Binding Machine Review [print this page] As one of the highest-capacity thermal binding machines on the market, the Unibind XU638 is a great machine for use in print shops, binderies, small publishing houses, and large corporations who regularly bind their own books and reports. Capable of binding up to 48 books at a time, the XU638 also works with all of the supplies that are available from Unibind. Here we will take a close look at the XU638's advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
1.) The XU638 is an extraordinarily quick and easy to use binding system. There is no warm-up time, and the entire binding process takes less than one minute.
2.) With its six heating elements, the XU638 is designed for heavy use, and to bind a large number of books in a short amount of time. For thinner books (1mm), it is possible to bind up to 48 books simultaneously. Even if you are binding books that are an inch and a half thick, you can bind six at a time. That, my friends, is some high-capacity binding.
3.) The XU638's heating units work independently of each other, which makes it possible to load one heating unit while another is in use. This increases productivity greatly, seeing as how this machine works so quickly that it is at times difficult to keep up with.
4.) As stated above, all of Unibind's supplies work with the XU638. This gives users a huge amount of flexibility in the types of documents they can bind, including Unibind's unique and elegant SteelBook, Steelback, SteelCrystal, SteelMat, and Photobook covers.
5.) There is no better look than that of a perfect bound book, and that is what the Unibind XU638 offers. Unibind in particular, with its use of steel spines, offers the most durable, rugged and permanent binding systems available anywhere.
Disadvantages:
1.) For such a high capacity, professional grade binding system, it is a little bit of a mystery why Unibind didn't include a cooling rack with the XU638, especially when you consider that most of their smaller machines come with one. You will need to find a place to allow the documents to cool, such as a library book cart, or one of Unibind's book stands.
2.) The XU638 is a bit limited regarding document sizes. Unibind's supplies are available in standard eleven inch and eight and a half inch sizes for landscape binding projects. There are a few other sizes available in their Photobook line, but for odd or custom sized projects, the XU638 may not be the best fit. Custom sized supplies can be ordered from Unibind but may take months to be produced since all covers are currently produced in Belgium and shipped to the United States on boats.
3.) As with any thermal binding system, the XU638 has trouble with heavily-coated or high-gloss pages. There are some workarounds, the best solution being to place a couple staples near the edge (and within the spine so as not to be seen), but this, of course lengthens production time.
4.) As far as book thickness, the XU638 tops out at one and a half inches. If you want to bind thicker books, you will have to look elsewhere.
Recommendation:
As one of the most elegant, fast, and easy-to-use binding systems out there, the XU638 is a great choice for businesses that do a lot of book binding. Higher volume users may want to consider the Unibind ST1025. Lower volume users who don't need to bind a large number of documents at a time may want to consider the Unibind XU138, XU238 or XU338.
by: Jeffrey McRitchie
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