Spiral Binding or Coil binding is a very popular book binding style for creating reports, documents, proposals and presentations. Spiral binding is known by a number of names including spiral coil, color coil, colorcoil, ez-coil, plastic coil, coilbind and plastikoil. Documents bound with spiral binding / coil binding have the ability to open flat on a desk and offer 360 degree rotation for note taking- a applicable binding for manuals and notebooks. Spiral Binding is durable and is an excellent choice for documents. Spiral binding / coil binding elements are readily available in many colors and sizes.

Spiral Binding / Coil Binding Hole Patterns:

	The common hole / punch pattern is 4:1 pitch (4 holes per 1") spiral binding; or sometimes referred to as 6mm. 4:1 means there are four holes per inch on the binding edge of the document. The holes / punch pattern for this style are usually either round or oval shaped. Elements for binding documents with 4:1 pitch spiral coil are available in sizes ranging from 6mm up to 50mm in diameter.  Allowing binding documents that are up to two inches.
	Not as common as 4:1 pitch spiral / coil, some prefer to use 5:1 pitch (5 holes per 1") spiral binding / coil or referred to 5mm they interchange. With five holes per inch, 5:1 pitch spiral / coil is tightly bound and provides a cleaner appearance. The limiting factor with 5:1 or 5mm pitch is that it only binds up to 25mm- not a good choice for larger documents as they are more difficult to bind function as a document.
	3:1 pitch (3 holes per 1") spiral binding / coil is less common. Designed for use with the hole pattern used in Wire Binding (twin loop, double loop) or with GBC Proclick. 3:1 pitch spiral coil is easier to use for large diameter books because there are less holes / punch patterns to run the spiral / coil through. Spiral binding elements for this hole pattern are available in sizes ranging from 6mm up to 50mm.
	2.5:1 pitch coil is also known a 0.400 pitch spiral / coil and requires a hole / punch pattern that has 2.5 holes every inch along the binding edge. Most users choose this hole / punch pattern that is produced for 2:1 pitch Wire Binding. 2.5:1 spiral coil uses a larger gauge plastic filament diameter and is designed for binding larger documents. Spiral / coil in this pitch pattern are offered in diameters; 20mm thru 56mm.

Spiral Binding / Coil Binding Lengths:  An added benefit of spiral coil binding is that the supplies are available many lengths to match your binding edge. The standard 12" length is the most popular spiral binding for 11" documents. This spiral / coil is put into an eleven inch document and the excess length of coil is cut and crimped at each end of the book. Binderies and print shops often times choose spiral binding /coil in 36" lengths for the flexibility to bind various document sizes.

Spiral Binding / Coil Binding Colors:  Spiral / coil binding supplies are available in a variety of colors. Spiral / coil binding is a great choice that allows the customer to highlight / accent a document with a desired color.

Spiral Binding / Coil Binding Diameters:  Spiral binding / Coil binding elements are typically measured in millimeters (mm) with inches being a close estimate to the actual mm size (6mm is very close to 1/4" but not exactly). Spiral binding is available in sizes from 6mm [1/4"] thru 56mm depending on the pitch (hole spacing of the document) of spiral that you choose.

Spiral Binding / Coil Binding Equipment:  It requires three pieces of equipment for binding documents with spiral binding / coil binding. A paper punch is needed to punch the holes along the binding edge of the document. A spiral / coil inserter is required to spin the spiral / coil through the holes- although above 35mm it is done manually. To complete the process spiral / coil crimping pliers or a crimping machine  is needed to cut and crimp the spiral / coil ends.  This completes the document by trimming the ends and securing the spiral element in the document.