• The GBC 16DB is a standalone manual plastic comb opener that is ideal for print shops, binderies and other high volume users.
• It is an ideal companion for your GBC interchangeable die modular binding punch or your fixed die modular comb binding punch.
• Using this machine along with a high quality electric punch can help to increase productivity by allowing one person to punch while another binds.

Strengths / Features:

• The 16DB is capable of opening plastic comb binding spines of all sizes. It can be used to open combs as small as 3/16" and as large as 2" in diameter. It is compatible with both round cerlox style combs and oval surelox style combs.
• The 16DB is sixteen inches in length. This makes it compatible with many different sizes of plastic combs. It can be used to open 19 ring combs for letter sized documents, 15 ring combs for landscape binding, 21 ring spines for A4 binding and 24 ring combs for legal sized binding.
• This comb opener is specifically designed to sit on top of your GBC modular binding punch. The 16DB can be used while it is sitting on the top of your punch or can easily be set to the side so that one user can punch documents while another user opens the combs and finishes your books.
• The machine also has a side control knob that allows you to set the comb opener for a specific size of comb. This feature is helpful for increasing productivity when binding numerous documents that are all one size.
• The 16DB is also made completely of metal. Its heavy duty construction makes it ideal for high volume users and production environments. This machine is the most common plastic comb opener used by printers and binderies across the United States.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• The 16DB is easy to use and excellent for many production environments. However, for office environments and extremely high volume users the GBC PB2600 offers an electric plastic comb opening option. That machine is faster and easier to use than the 16DB but is also considerably more expensive.
• This machine is only 16 inches in length which makes it ideal for opening combs that are up to that length. However, users who need to bind seventeen inch long documents will find that the handle on this machine gets in the way. For this application, users will either need to insert the last few comb loops by hand or find a different comb opener.
• Like the other pieces of GBC modular binding equipment, the 16DB only comes with a 90 day warranty. Most other comb openers come with a one year warranty. However, I have never seen one of these machines break so this probably won't be an issue.

Recommendation:

• The GBC 16DB is a high quality modular plastic comb opening machine that is ideal for printers, binderies, copy shops and other high volume users.
• This machine can handle all of the different sizes of combs that are available on the market and can bind documents as long as sixteen inches in length.
• Its simple design and heavy duty construction has helped to make the 16DB one of the most popular modular comb openers available on the market. There is no better manual comb opener available anywhere than GBC 16DB.