Overview:
- The Rhino Tuff HD7500 is the only heavy duty 24″ interchangeable die modular binding punch on the market. In fact, it is the only modular binding punch on the market that is longer than 14″.
- It is designed specifically for offices, printers and organizations that need to bind large format documents with binding edges longer than fourteen inches.
- This punch is commonly used to punch map books, calendars, musical scores, blueprints, architectural designs and 11″ x 17″ paper along the seventeen inch side of the sheet.
- However, the HD7500 can also be used for any size of paper less than twenty four inches long. This makes this machine a great choice for organizations that need to bind a few large format jobs per year and punch standard sized documents the rest of the year.
- This punch is built with the same quality and many of the same great features that have made the Rhin-O-Tuff line of binding punches famous.
Strengths / Features:
- The most impressive thing about this punch is the twenty four inch punching throat. This is one of the only options for organizations that need to punch documents that are longer than fourteen inches in width. Each of the die sets for this machine includes a full 24″ of teeth. However any one of the punching pins can be removed to punch custom lengths of paper. Plus, in the rare case where users need to punch documents that are longer than 24″, the throat of this machine is open. This means that the HD7500 can be used to punch documents up to 48″ wide using a two step punching process.
- The most common application for this machine is for use in creating large format calendars with twin loop wire binding. However, there are more than twenty different punching dies available for the HD7500.
- This means that it is possible to use this machine for punching all of the different binding styles that your organization needs to use. Using the Rhino Tuff quick die change technology it is possible to switch punching patterns on this machine in less than thirty seconds. This gives your organization a huge amount of flexibility in binding your documents.
- Like other heavy duty modular binding punches from Rhin-O-Tuff this machine includes a great punching capacity. The fact that the HD-7500 is so wide means that it actually uses two motors to power the punching mechanism. These two motors make it possible to punch up to forty sheets of twenty pound paper at one time. Of course the punching capacity will vary depending on the hole pattern that you are using and the thickness of the paper that you are punching. However, this is a pretty impressive capacity and makes this machine a good candidate for high volume production environments.
- When you look at this machine you can tell that it built tough. It is built with high quality heavy duty steel components that are designed for production environments. In fact, the whole body of the HD-7500 is made of metal. This machine is designed not to break even when used to punch hundreds of thousands of sheets of paper. With that in mind, Rhin-O-Tuff and their parent company Performance Design Inc. back this machine with a one year warranty on the parts of this machine.
- The chip tray on this machine is huge. This means that it doesn’t need to be emptied as often and there is less chance that the chips will back up into the punch and cause performance problems.
- Although the document table on this machine is not necessarily that deep, there is a slide out table extension on the front of this machine. This isn’t important when punching standard sized documents but will be incredibly useful when punching large format sheets and blueprints using this machine.
Weaknesses / Limitations:
- The HD7500 used to be available in a vertical model. However, a few years ago Rhino Tuff discontinued the Vertical punch and converted all of the HD7500’s into horizontal punching machines. In many ways, the horizontal punching mechanism is easier to use for large format documents. However, the new design means that you cannot stack your finishing equipment onto the top of the machine. It also increased the size and weight of the machine. The HD-7500 now weighs in at a whopping 148lbs and measures 17″ x 32″ x 20″. This is a big machine and you will want to make sure you have a place to put it when it arrives.
- Although this machine offers 24″ punching, not all binding styles can be used to bind documents that are this long. Rhino-Tuff makes the HD8024 which is a twenty four inch wire closer that is designed to be paired with this machine for wire binding. They also make a couple of different machines for inserting spiral coil onto large format documents. However, there is currently no comb opener for binding documents longer than 16″ with plastic combs. Plus most of the binding supplies used for binding documents that are longer than fourteen inches will have to be special ordered. These are things to keep in mind.
- The HD7500 claims a punching capacity of up to forty sheets of paper. However, in testing this machine I found that the punching quality was very poor when punching the maximum number of sheets at a time. The holes were ragged and the sheets became welded together. For most hole patterns the punching quality wasn’t very good unless you were punching twenty five or less sheets of paper at a time.
Recommendation:
- If your organization needs to bind large format documents such as calendars, blueprints, sheet music, scores or plans then this machine is an excellent choice.
- The twenty four inch punching throat and heavy duty design of this machine make it ideal for a high volume production environment that needs to produce hundreds of documents per day.
- However, the size and cost of this machine may price some individuals out of the market. If you don’t need the 24″ punching throat, you can probably save yourself some space and money by purchasing either the GBC Magnapunch or the Rhin-O-Tuff HD7700. Auto cold drawing machine