Some of the most common questions that we receive about punches are about the punching capacities of the different binding machines that we offer. Punching capacity can be a very useful tool to compare the various punches, but it can also be very misleading. When evaluating punching capacity, it is important to take into consideration a few key points:

- When evaluating a manual binding machine that has a high stated capacity, such as 20 or more pages per punch, it is also important to consider the manual effort that it takes to pull the lever to punch the stack of paper. The punch may be capable, but that does not mean that it will be easy to punch that many pages! A longer handle makes it much easier to punch through greater amounts of paper, but it is still a manual process.

- What style of punching are you doing? 3-hole punching has the highest capacity while 5:1 coil is the lowest. This is due to the large number of holes and how close together they are. All machines will vary based on the style of punching that you need. Coil binding systems and wire binding systems will always punch less than plastic comb and Velobind.

- The goal of punching a page is to cut a hole in the page, keeping its appearance and durability. When punching a large number of pages, you are actually pushing paper through paper-not cutting paper. The result is that the pages are stuck or "riveted" together and need to be separated. In addition, when punching a coil or wire pattern with several small holes that are close together, the paper strength is degraded between the holes. The result is that the pages could easily tear out of the book.

- Over-punching has a negative effect on your punch as well. Even though the motors are strong enough to handle the punch, it still has greater wear and tear on your system. Die sets (which are the actual punching pins) will probably be the first to give out; you will notice rougher edges on your punches and hanging chads left on the back of you pages.

- Clear covers should be punched in pairs only! Punching a stack of plastic covers is one of the easiest ways to break your punch. Punch them in sets of two or punch them collated in with your document. Another great option is to get prepunched clear covers, and eliminate the wear and tear on your machine all together.

- When punching for production, we have found that our highest volume users consistently grab the same amount of pages for every punch-regardless of punching style. You will find that you will faster in the long run if you train your self to take 15 to 20 sheets per lift. Should you always try to punch the maximum, you will find that you will abuse your system, mispunch pages due to over stuffing the punch slot, and be continuously adding or deleting pages from your punch lift. Grab a consistent stack of 15 to 20 sheets, and your punch will always be clean and consistent and you will get a much longer life from your punch and die sets.