Fellowes Thermal Binding Machine, Helios 60, Platinum/Graphite (5219501)

OK, review time...I have only been using this binder off-and-on for a few short weeks now. And I have only used it to bind about 10 or 12 projects so far. But I have learned a few things while using it that I think are important. 1. The machine is only as good as the materials you use in it. 2. That burning smell goes away after a few uses...or maybe your nose just adapts to it. 3. Reading the directions every time you use the device will cut down on mistakes. There are only 5 steps. Pay attention to them. 4. Go back and re-read #1. That is the most important thing I can tell you. This machine is great. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. It is simple to use. Follow the steps each time and it will work. Having said that, pay close attention to what you use in it. Does this impact the review for this machine? Absolutely not. But I think you should know about it when purchasing this equipment. I use the Fellowes binding supplies as well as others that work for this sort of machine. Regardless of supplies, I recommend purchasing a good stapler that will staple through the amount of paper you are binding. I staple AND bind using the machine and that makes all the difference in the world. Otherwise I personally feel that the glue might not hold as well as I would like - and that is NOT a failing of this machine by any means. The binding machine does exactly what it is supposed to do, and does it well. But if you make a cake using subpar ingredients and then bake it, do you blame the oven when it comes out bad?

I'm going to save tons of money since now I don't have to take my small books to be bound at the store and can do it from home. I tried it out and it works just as advertised and was easy to set up and operate.

For the price, this is excellent. Works better than expected and feels well-made. Only minor complaint is that it could come in more color options. Just being honest.

Machine is very easy to use and very compact for desktop use. I made books and many people commented on how nice they looked. The binding really works great. I kept flipping through the pages to ensure that the glue from the presentation covers stuck to the sheets. They did! For a small, inexpensive machine, it truly does produce. I personally heated each book twice (my ocd), just to make sure it would hold.

Bought thermal binding glue strips for binding my own paperback volumes. My books are only about 40/50 pages, so it only takes 1/4 of one of these strips (cut long-ways with a utility knife) to bind a book. In fact, they are a tiny bit longer than my books are tall, so I can put together the ends I trim off to make a 5th book out of a single strip. That ends up being about $0.20/book for glue. Not bad! I am using 11x17 cover stock parchment (printed on an Epson WF7610) to print the covers, and this Fellowes thermal binder to bind them. Don't make the mistake of trying to print covers for an 8x10 book on a smaller printer, and make sure the printer can print on thick stock. Make sure the glue strips don't leak out the ends of the book spine, or it will mess up your thermal binder. I use the top of a butter knife (you can buy a folding bone if you want to spend money) to score the edges of the spine to get a sharp, straight edge. Finally, use a stack paper cutter to trim the edges of the books so they have that clean-cut, professional look.

This was a waste buy. 50% of the pages did not seal and within a few days of use, the next 50% came apart.

If you have already used these machines, than you know what you are getting. I liked it, but for my purposes, I went back to the spiral wire bound instead. The pages did separate later and at least 1/2" to 3/4" from the edge are used to secure the glue. If all your pages are 1" margin from the edge, no problem, but less than that, you might have issues reading the pages.

I've been searching for something like this for a long time. I have one of those "comb bind" binders and I really hate that thing but had figured there was just nothing else. Those would "bind" up and mess the pages up and I was just sick of them. I finally found this and was a bit skeptical, but it worked great for me. I had even considered spending several thousands of dollars as I need professional looking results for my clients. Well, this did it and for less than 200 bucks. Looks professional and so far my 80 page sample bind has held together for a couple of months and I've used it like a study manual quite a bit. So, it may not "be" professional or quite as good as some of them but its great for my high dollar clients.

Excellent quality and provides professional results.

Este es mi segundo producto fellowes, el primero es una engargoladora muy bonita y muy útil por cierto. Esta encuadernadora la compré por varias razones; precio, disponibilidad de amazon mx, prime, y por su apariencia también pues otras están muy sencillas o feas y otras de plano parecen hechas en casa con herramientas rudimentarias. Es un producto que en fotografía se ve más pequeño pero cuando la recibí y desempaqué me di cuenta que es muy ancha y a mi en lo personal me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más compacta aunque cambiara un poco el diseño, es muy ligera y parece que no tiene partes de metal por el peso, cuando no se está utilizando se cierra y no ocupa espacio verticalmente y es bonita En cuanto a la operación pues es muy sencilla, en la parte inferior izquierda tiene unas guías en donde se indican los ajustes para encuadernar cualquier proyecto de hasta 300 hojas en el caso de la helios 30 y 600 en la helios 60, emite un sonido cuando se selecciona el nivel y tiempo, y también cuando termina el ciclo de calentamiento para sacar el documento y dejarlo en la parte trasera para enfriar por 5 minutos. Las portadas térmicas de la misma marca son un poco caras por el momento, pero espero que pronto tengan disponibles otras marcas o incluso las tiras de pegamento para poder usar cualquier portada como estás disponibles en amazon usa. El documento terminado tiene una apariencia muy profesional, limpia y elegante, no se compara para nada con los otros métodos de encuadernado o engargolado, ya sea el espiral metálico o los de plástico, la recomiendo mucho para las personas exigentes en cuanto a la calidad y presentación de sus proyectos. Si en el transcurso de los meses surge nueva información la publicaré como actualizaciones.

Dear Amazon We have contacted Fellowes directly about our faulty product which is dead out of box and not working. They said that you hold the warranty. Although it is beyond the 30 days return, they said that you'd accept the faulty product and replace it with a new one because they couldn't troubleshoot it with us. Please can you respond as soon as possible as this is needed for a key event! Thank you! D Hanlon

Product arrived will packaged. I was pleasantly surprised when I open the box. This is a high quality and attractive machine that will serve my purposes very nicely.

Funciona muy bien y la entrega fue en la fecha programada. Después de usarla, debo decir que una vez terminado el trabajo, se despega facilmente