New Binder at Virginia Tech

When students in Virginia Tech’s architectural and design courses want to bind their final projects together in an elegant portfolio, they now have a place to go. Printing Services recently installed a Sterling Digibinder, from Spiel Associates—a self-adjusting perfect binder made to handle digitally printed pages.

“It works like a charm,” remarks Catherine Chambers, manager of the 17-employee in-plant, located in Blacksburg, Va. It can even bind 81⁄2x11˝ books along the shorter edge, something the in-plant’s Standard Horizon BQ240 perfect binder (which is better suited for long runs) wasn’t able to do, she says.

In addition to keeping architecture and design students happy, the Digibinder will also reshape the in-plant’s course pack operation. Chambers says perfect binding them will be easier and less expensive than coil binding.

“It’s less labor intensive,” she notes. “It’s going to allow us to be more efficient in binding course packs.”

The Digibinder can bind books between two sheets and 21⁄4˝ thick. Its pneumatic clamp and nipper adjust automatically, and twin glue rollers ensure an even glue application, while a third metering roller smooths out the glue.

The in-plant used the Digibinder recently to bind 500 hardcover books for the Inn at Virginia Tech, which wanted to place a nice, yet inexpensive, book about the university in each of its guest rooms.

“It turned out very nice,” says Chambers.

Printing Services is in the process of moving the campus post office from a leased space downtown into the in-plant’s 27,000-square-foot facility (in the town’s old Kmart building).