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*The GBC four pin bind and debind tool is designed for use with GBC's four pin reclosable binding spines. It is a small hard plastic tool and includes features to help you bind and unbind your documents with four pin Velobind. Normally you will get one of these tools when you purchase a personal Velobind punch such as the V110e or V50. However users who have a larger hot knife binding system and want to bind documents with reclosable strips won't have one of these tools. Additionally, these tools are fairly small and can become lost or broken. In these cases, a replacement tool can be purchased.

Operation:

Binding documents with 4-pin Velobind strips is actually fairly easy. In fact, there are really four simple steps...

1. First you have to punch the holes in your document. You can use a small punch like the V110e or can use a larger machine that produces an eleven pin pattern (the four pin hole pattern will line up). You can even use pre-punched paper.

2. Next you need to insert the strip with the pins through the holes on your document.

3. Then you need to insert the receiving strip onto the back of your document making sure that the pins extend through the holes in the strip.

4. Finally you need to snap the pins into the channels on the back of the receiving strip.

The four pin debinder tool is really meant to help users with the fourth step. The smaller end of the tool has a rounded bullnose style edge. This part of the tool has an indent so that it will slide smoothly along the receiving strip during the binding process. In order to use this tool you simply place it on the receiving strip and quickly push the tool forward bending the excess pin over and snapping it into place. You will need to do this with each of the four pins.

The other side of the tool is designed to help you edit your documents that are bound with four pin reclosable binding strips. It has a small nook near the end of the tool and inside that nook there is a little knob. The nook is designed to be the same width as the binding strips and the knob is designed to grab onto the pin from your Velobind strip so that you can lift it up in order to debind your document. Trying to unsnap the pins from the receiving strip without this tool can be somewhat difficult.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

The Velobind four pin bind and debind tool is pretty easy to use and it can definitely help in assembling and editing your documents. However, it is only made out of plastic. Although it would be difficult to break the tool as a whole it is possible to break off the small debinding knob if you are not careful. Unfortunately, the tool is pretty much useless without the debinding knob. That just means that you need to be careful when you are lifting the pins from the receiving strip that you don't pry too hard.

The binding and debinding process is still fairly manual even when using this tool. Unfortunately, that is the nature of four pin Velobinding. The tool will help to save you time over trying to bend the pins over by hand. It will also provide a tighter bind. However, you still need to deal with each pin individually and it can take quite a bit of time.

Recommendation:

For organizations that are binding documents with reclosable four pin Velobind binding strips this tool is almost a necessity. Although it is possible to bind your documents by hand, the four pin bind and debinder tool will help increase productivity and make the binding process a lot easier. Just be careful with the debinding knob and you should be set to go.