wirebinder

Wirebinder, or wire binding, is a binding system that uses a continuous metal wire spine to bind sheets of paper along a binding edge. Sheets are punched with a line of evenly spaced holes, and a pre-formed wire spine is threaded through the holes. The wire is closed at the ends with a crimping tool, producing a series of loops that hold the pages together. The most common formats are twin-loop or double-loop wire binding, sometimes referred to as Wire-O binding.

Binding can be performed with manual or electric machines. After binding, the document can lie flat on a surface and the pages can rotate a full 360 degrees, which is convenient for reading, note-taking, or presenting. The system accepts a range of spine sizes to accommodate different page counts.

Materials and sizes vary, but wires are typically metal such as steel or aluminum and may be coated to resist corrosion. Spines come in different diameters to match the number of pages, and finishes can affect durability and appearance. The binding edge is relatively strong and can be used for reports, manuals, catalogs, and other professional documents.

Advantages include a durable, professional look, the ability to lie flat and rotate, and a relatively clean, modern appearance. Limitations include higher cost than some plastic bindings, less ease for frequent re-edits, and a fixed spine size once crimped. Related binding methods include coil binding and plastic comb binding.