Control Systems & PLC's

Coil Part

Akiles Roll-a-coil Electric Spiral Coil Inserter Review

Overview:

• The Akiles Roll-A-Coil is a high quality, inexpensive standalone spiral coil inserter that is designed for print shops, quick printers, binderies and other high volume coil binding users.
• Sometimes called a coil spinner or coil inserting machine, this machine is designed to help you spin your coils through the holes onto your document as part of the spiral binding process.
• Equipped with a foot pedal and a number of great features, the Roll-A-Coil offers one of the best bangs for your buck when compared to other pieces of coil inserting equipment.

Strengths / Features:

• When it comes to coil inserting equipment, the prices are all over the map. Some coil inserters can cost thousands of dollars. Many organizations on a budget have a hard time swallowing that type of cost after they have already spent thousands on a modular binding punch. With a cost of less than $250, the Akiles Roll-A-Coil is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Although it doesn't offer all of the features of other inserters, it is priced affordably enough that almost any company can afford it. In fact, many companies with manual or combination coil binding machines choose to purchase this machine to help increase productivity when binding documents with coil.
• Although the Roll-A-Coil is offered at a great price, that doesn't mean that it isn't a good quality piece of equipment. It has two eleven inch long spinning rollers that are designed to grip the spine of your document and spin it through the holes. It is ruggedly built with a heavy duty case and high quality components that are designed to offer excellent performance in production environments.
• This machine includes several features that are not found on all other coil binding machines. It has an alignment channel that is designed to help you form the spine of your book for inserting larger diameter coils. It also includes a pitch identifier to help you determine what pitch of coil that you have and has a document sizing guide to help you choose the right size of coil for your documents.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• The two rollers on the Akiles Roll-A-Coil are fixed. Many more expensive coil binding machines allow you to adjust the distance between the two moving rollers for use with larger diameter spines. Realistically, the Roll@Coil is best suited for inserting coils up to about 22mm (7/8") in diameter. It will most likely struggle to inserter larger diameter coils than this. However, even the most expensive coil inserters have difficulties with larger diameter spines.
• The rollers on the Roll-A-Coil are fairly small when compared to other coil inserters that are available on the market. Again, larger rollers are designed to make inserting larger diameter coils easier. As long as you are inserting smaller sized elements this shouldn't be an issue.
• The Roll A Coil is powered by an electric motor and driven by a clear plastic rubber belt. This belt is fairly high quality but over time will wear out. The belts only cost a few dollars and it is a really good idea to keep and extra one or two of them on hand in case they break. Unfortunately, this machine will not work without that belt.

Recommendation:

• The Akiles Roll-A-Coil is an excellent choice for high volume users that demand productivity on a budget.
• Although there are certainly higher quality coil inserters available on the market, they also cost a lot more money than this machine.
• The Roll A Coil has all of the most important features that are essential for a coil inserter and works wonderfully for smaller diameter books. However, users who need to bind thicker books may want to consider an inserter with larger adjustable rollers.

About the Author

If you need more information or would like to purchase the Akiles Roll-A-Coil Electric Spiral Coil Inserter or any of the other Color Coil Binding Machines that we carry please feel to visit our site or contact us with your questions.

This review was written by Jeff McRitchie who is the director of marketing for Mybinding.com. Jeff has written more than three hundred articles and more than two hundred reviews on Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers, 3-Ring Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Supplies, Paper Shredders and Paper Handling Equipment.

Solid state part of solid state tesla coil help?

OK, I have a Tesla coil made and functioning. I want to make it a solid state. I understand that the solid state part replaces the spark gap, correct? I need to know how to make or where to buy one of these nifty little circuits. Just a little side note, I have hardly stepped into the solid state relm, let alone look into it (far).

I built one of those. I used a 555 oscillator driving a power MOSFET which, in turn, drove 12 V (up to about 15 V) into an automobile ignition coil. The HV output of the ignition coil drove the primary of the Tesla coil without the spark gap -- the HV capacitor(s) is still necessary.

This guy has the same idea:

http://www.liquidfire.cc/high_voltage_generator_ignition-coil.php

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Building a Tesla Coil - Part 2 (A)