Managing director Alun Joseph

Digital printer DTP has become one of the first companies in the UK to install the new Fastbind PUREVA XT, an EVA and PUR perfect binder from Ashgate Automation.

Edinburgh print company DTP had successfully been using the Fastbind Elite XT table-top perfect binder for three years, and was pleased enough with it for most of its binding work, but it did not have the PUR facility, which is preferable for some jobs.

It would accept perfect bound orders, but didn’t always have total confidence in the product to tell all of its clients that the service was available, according to managing director Alun Joseph.

Consequently, the firm was interested to read in the trade press that Ashgate Automation had launched the Fastbind PUREVA XT machine at an attractive price. Designed and built with the short run, digital printer in mind, the PUREVA XT is a compact, table-top binder that produces both soft and hard cover binding, using a choice of standard EVA or PUR interchangeable hot melt cartridges, depending upon the job.  

Mr Joseph explained: ‘One particular book which we produce regularly is a 368 page hard-back book printed on 170 gsm silk. We were using the Fastbind Elite but we wanted to see what the PUREVA could do using PUR glue on a book which is more than an inch thick.’

Mr Joseph sent the book to Ashgate as a trial. ‘We were impressed with the results compared to the standard EVA, and when they installed and demonstrated the machine, we realised how easy and how reliable it was going to be in the future.’

Built on the same chassis as the Fastbind Elite XT, virtually any binding job up to SRA3 size or A4 landscape format, and up to 45 mm thick, can be accommodated by using the flexibility and superior binding strength of PUR glue, or regular EVA glue for everyday jobs.  

‘From a production point of view, it makes sense wherever possible to batch the PUR jobs but it only takes a couple of minutes to change cartridges and re-melt the EVA glue,’ said Mr Joseph. ‘Typically each job ranges between one to 50 books. The PUR glue comes in small pellets which we store in a vacuum sealed bag. We simply take out what we need so there is virtually no wastage. Even when using the EVA glue, it is quicker and easier thanks to a sturdier build quality and much improved system for the roughing and gluing heads. It self-adjusts for book thickness from one to 1000 pages, depending on paper stock.’

The PUREVA uses an electronic adjustable temperature control with single button operation when switching between glue types. It also has a totally new kind of rail mechanism for the glue applicator. The applicator glides smoothly over the book block with almost no resistance. For ease of use there is a large handle in front of the applicator.  

DTP, which has standardised on Ricoh digital presses, is no stranger to photobook production. ‘We were early adopters, introducing our own brand of photobook, but as the market became more competitive and the recession came, we diversified,’ Mr Joseph explained.

‘We sold our automated casemaking and binding kit and when we bought the Fastbind Elite XT we moved away from low margin, consumer products to the more profitable added value end of the market. The PUR option gives us a lot more flexibility in what we can offer clients in hardback and perfect bound books and a lot more confidence when we send out one-off photo books that need to last a lifetime.

‘The benefits that the PUREVA binder brings are fantastic. We are already making our clients aware of the service and providing them with perfect and hard-back binding as alternatives. PUR is still a small part of our business but we expect it grow quickly and for the investment to pay for itself within the first year.’