Guide to Paper Folding Machines – Use And Applications – Gadget Teacher
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Guide to Paper Folding Machines – Use And Applications

Written by Gadget Teacher

 

Paper cuts. Know ’em, hate ’em. But when the headaches of daily living get too onerous, technology is always there to save the day. Got a brochure you’d like to distribute to your clients? Have a thousand letters that need sending? There’s no need to get six interns to endlessly wrangle stationery all day when you can have a paper folding machine do it instead.

 folding machine are made of durable materials

 

new folding machines

In a world where so many things can be confusing and unindicative of their actual purpose, the folding machine is quite refreshingly honest about itself: It folds paper. Don’t be fooled by the unprepossessing name. It’s not what it is that defines the folding machine, but instead the uses it is put to, and the labour, time, and money it saves. So the question to keep in mind when considering your new folding machines is: “What can I do with it?”

Paper folding automated

It’s not just about folding paper. It’s about what that actually means. The very simplest is that once folded, your sheet of paper fits into an envelope. But there’s more. At the most basic, there’s brochures, invoices, and bills; these can be more easily and consistently folded, and look a great deal more professional. No more odd trial-and-error, fiddling about with rulers, or weird guidelines in your printed materials; just run up a few test sheets and you’re good to go.

 

new folding machines

 

Where this really counts is in labour saved. Folding a brochure the manual way means taking time out of your work day to make sure you’ve got it right. A folding machine lets you do clean folds en masse and quickly, and so making brochures, or invites to an event, or form letters, or invoices for your customers, become a far less onerous task. Between the choice of spending thirty minutes folding a letter to a customer to make sure it’s exactly right, versus just feeding that into the folding machine, I know where I am. And when you can start producing your own printed materials, you also free yourself from having to get them through printing companies.

So, with that in mind, let’s talk fold types. The two most commonly-used folds are letter folds (the C-shaped ones) and accordion folds (the Z-shaped ones). Likely these will make up the majority of your folding needs, and all machines can handle these. Other folds can be produced by adjusting the fold plates on your folding machine, though origami still remains beyond their capability.

Check your folding machine’s instruction manual to see what it can do. If you don’t have access to it, check your machine. If it’s the sort that needs you to manually adjust the fold plates, there’ll be a diagram to show you how to properly set it to yield a given fold. The more expensive types may be controlled by a knob, or automated. And of course, there’s always experimentation; you may find a particular oddball fold works best for your needs.

Manual types of folding machines

 

new folding machines

 

Folding machines on your desk?

There is one type of desktop paper folders, designed for few types of folds. Theirs characterize with low noise and reasonable price. Used mostly for folding paper for letters, The capability of the machine is designed to be used below 20 times a day(depends on the model). Used mostly in a small office environment or medium size business.

Folding without electricity

We cannot forget the father of today’s folding machines. Folding machines was working due to the strength of the human who operates it. Todays electrical resizing, and changing the type of folding has to be done manually and took so much more time. Till now you can find the “manual folding” services in smaller printing services.

Manual Paper Folding Machines

You can find the machines that work with electric power but still requires the human operator, for the adjusting in the setting. Any change in a type of folding has to be manually done, that’s why this types of machines are great for a medium printing company. With more than few folding types per day, it took to many time and its financially unprofitable Machine characterize with really fast working and can easily take a stack of paper. Depend on models its can stack with over 100 sheets.

Can I Use Glossy Paper?

That depends on what kind of machine you’ve bought, and more specifically, on its feed system. There are two kinds on the market: friction feed and air feed. Friction feed uses rubber wheels to pull paper in, whilst air feed systems use a pneumatic suction system. If you’re using glossy paper, better to go with air feed. Friction feed systems tend to be bad at handling slick or glossy paper, and machines that can work with such types are rare

. Bring a sample in to test the machine if you’re really unsure. Air feed systems can handle whatever paper you throw at them and can fold more sheets per day, but they’re larger, more expensive, and noisier than standard friction feed types. Consider the type of paper you need to guide your choice.

How Do I Use It?

new folding machines

Now that we’ve known what it does, the next thing to consider is actually using the thing. This assumes a standard friction-feed paper folding machine; to be absolutely sure, consult your machine’s instruction manual.

Familiarise Yourself.

Examine your machine, make sure everything’s where it should be. Check the feed tray, the fold plates, the exit tray. And of course, the controls: power switch, start and stop buttons, the knobs to fine-tune adjustments on the fold plates, and indicator lights for the most common problems.

Set The Fold Plates.

Remember, the fold plates are how we control what kind of fold we get out of our paper. Adjust them by whatever means your machine requires, whether manual or by a control input. If it’s manual, check the guide on the machine or in your manual to see what settings you need to produce a fold.

Feed The Beast.

Adjust the guides on the feed tray to properly accommodate the size of paper you’re using. Make sure to keep the friction wheels centered on the paper to avoid jamming. Then insert your paper, or card stock, or whatever stationery it is that requires the machine’s attention.

Test Your Fold.

This applies best if you’re still new to the machine. Depending on the model, there may be a ‘test’ button for such a purpose. If not, run it for just a second or so to get a few sheets through. This’ll let you see if your settings are fine, or if you need to adjust. Once any necessary adjustments are complete, let ‘er rip. (Figuratively.)

Conclusion

Where the printer starts, the paper folding machine finishes. The presentation is an important part of the style, after all, and the right fold can bring the right touch to your printed materials. It’s not origami, but it’s in the same spirit. And this way, you can do it much quicker, and with a lot less hassle.

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