Can anyone out there in commercial printing land tell me what the proper name is for the machines that fold brochures, pamphlets, etc.?
Sometimes it is the the obvious answer.
Yup, a folder. Mr. S and I (25 years’ combined experience in commercial printing) concur.
It occurs to me that “paper folder” might be a difficult term to search on, because it will also return the sort of folder that you put paper in, which is a much more common usage then the sort of folder that folds paper.
** Paper-folding machines…?**
** Paper-folding machines!**
Next Question?
I tried Googling “bindery folding machine” and got lots of relevant hits. I didn’t work in the bindery very often, so I can’t recall specific makes, but the Google hits will probably help. You could also try the Web sites of printing companies (Quad Graphics?) and see if they have technical info.
At most of the engineering firms where I’ve worked that kept large document control and drawing reproduction centers, the folding machines were the usual culprits when we encountered the smell of wood smoke and scorched paper in the hallways.
“Damn, George. What’s that smell? Is the place burning down? Should I pull the fire alarm?”
“No, Bill. It’s just the folding machine – it’s jammed again.”
Don’t know why those things tended to get smokey when they jammed. I guess it’s all the high-speed rollers and creasers… one place had a machine that could fold 40 E-size drawings a minute into nice, tidy 8.5 by 11 fan-out packages.