Martin Yale Intimus 2020VS Variable Speed Heavy Duty Paper Folder Product Review

The Martin Yale 2020VS paper folder takes the great features of the 1217a Autofolder and builds on them by adding a variable speed control.These features make the Martin Yale 2020VS an excellent choice for medium to large mailrooms, professional print shops, churches and large organizations.

• The Martin Yale 2020VS paper folder takes the great features of the 1217a Autofolder and builds on them by adding a variable speed control.
• It is designed for folding a huge variety of paper sizes including letter, legal, 11" x 17", A4 and A3 sized paper. It can even fold many heavy duty cover stocks and index weight papers that will jam if you attempt to run them through other paper folding machines.
• These features make the Martin Yale 2020VS an excellent choice for medium to large mailrooms, professional print shops, churches and large organizations.

Strengths / Features:

• The Martin Yale 2020VS is capable of handling a huge variety of paper sizes. It can be set up to fold custom sized paper that is as small as 4" x 4" and can fold large documents printed on 11" x 17" and A3 sized sheets. This provides a huge amount of flexibility for producing almost any type of project imaginable with the 2020VS folder.
• For organizations that are looking to fold heavy cover weight paper and index stocks the 2020VS is one of the best folders available on the market. This machine has the same great heavy duty feed rollers as are included on the 1217a. These rollers help to ensure that heavy paper stocks feed smoothly through the folder. This allows the 2020vs to deal with stocks as thick as: 90lb cover, 135lb index and 165lb offset. The variable speed control and the large feed rollers also make the 2020vs better suited for handling coated stocks and glossy papers. If you need to run coated or glossy stocks with the 2020vs you will want to turn down the speed to reduce the chance of slippage and paper jams.
• Like the 1217a, the Martin Yale 2020vs has a maximum speed of 10,300 letter sized sheets per hour. However, the variable speed control allows you to slow the folder down to a speed of just 3000 sheets per hour when dealing with specialty papers. At top speed, the 1217a is perfect for high volume folding applications. However, it is nice to have the flexibility to slow things down when needed.
• The Martin Yale 2020-VS can also produce a huge selection of folding patterns. It can be used to produce a letter-fold, z-fold, half-fold, double parallel fold, cross-fold and baronial fold. Or it can be set up to produce custom sized paper folds if needed.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• In order to feed paper into the 2020vs variable speed paper folder you need to fan out the paper so that the stack of paper feeds into the machine on an angle. Fanning the paper can be a little bit tricky. If you fan the paper too much you may have feeding problems and if you don't fan it enough then you may end up with double feeds. After fanning the paper a few times you should get the hang of it.
• The Martin Yale 2020vs is a manual setup paper folding machine. This means that you will need to manually adjust the fold plates into the correct positions to change folding patterns. This can be a little bit difficult especially if you are looking for perfect flush and square folds. If the fold plates are even slightly out of alignment the paper may fold crooked or the folds may be either short or long. If you will need to regularly change folding patterns and your operators are not mechanically inclined, it may be a good idea to look at a larger electronic setup folder such as the Martin Yale 2051.
• Unfortunately, the 2020vs does not offer the ability to score or perforate sheets as part of the folding process. For this type of capability it is necessary to look at the larger 959 or 959af paper folding machines.

Recommendation:

• The 2020vs paper folder is ideal for professional print shops, churches, schools and mailrooms that are looking for a machine to handle all of their folding needs.
• This machine can handle heavy weight paper stocks, glossy and coated papers as well as large sheet sizes. This makes it ideal for production use and for organizations that demand versatility from their equipment.
• The only drawbacks to this machine are that it requires fanned paper, manual setup and cannot be used to perforate or score. If you can live with these minor limitations, then the Intimus 2020vs is for you.

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