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Have you ever wanted to remove some pages from a wire-bound notebook but without actually tearing them out? For instance, maybe because you don't want the fluffed out bits and there's no micro-perforation, or maybe you wish you could bind them in a different order or move them to a different notebook? So far you could only pry the coil apart or just cut it with pliers, but that left you with an unuseable notebook. Well, it turns out that some designers over in Japan maybe got tired of that and created a little tool that neatly opens out the coil evenly from end to end, so when you have removed the pages you want, you can use any wire-binding machine to clamp the wire coil shut again and continue to use your notebook. Here it is in action: It's made by Lihit Lab, and so far the only place I know of to get it is Rakuten; just search for Lihit N-1811 (that's the product code - thanks again to gsalazar for helping me find that!!) To be honest, I think it might be possible to get the same result using one of those tools for opening packages, like this one (as suggested by FPNer Michael/my63 on the thread I created asking for help on where to get this tool ) That one would be cheaper and easier to obtain outside Japan, but it's probably a bit unwieldy - bulkier and heavier. Also, most of these things will have a little piece of blade in that notch; that might give some trouble as well. If anyone has one of these, will you try it and post the results?

I went to Jetpens to reorder a kokuyo inspiracion (my favorite notebook to use as a refill for the lihit lab twist rings system) and to my horror they don't stock it anymore!! I couldn't even find it on Rakuten, so I suspect it may have been discontinued So now I need your help to replace it! For the general info, here's the old description on Jetpens. And here are the parts that mattered to me: - page size and hole pattern: they're identical to the lihit lab twist ring system (a 3:1 pitch, for binding geeks). This is a must-have - without this there's no point - color and page layout: off-white (cream and ivory would be ok too, just no bright-white), 5mm grid type, but faint (fine and light in color) so it organizes the page without overwhelming the writing. Please, no dot pads - I know many people love them and are excited to recommend them, but I really don't get along with them and would be grateful if you could help me avoid the confusion of having to sort dot-pad recommendations from grid ones :-) - available from a retailer with sane int'l shipping. The inspiracion also had microperforated pages, but since the Lihit is a binder system that's not critical (the neat edge was nice to have when I wanted to give someone a page, but I wouldn't sacrifice the other stuff for microperf'ed pages ) I also liked that the grid pattern extended to cover the whole page, no margins. But I can live with a frame/box style grid, as long as otherwise there's nothing to prevent me from using it in both portrait and landscape mode ) Can you guys think of anything that fits the bill? Or alternatively, just a good place to buy Inspiracion notebooks? At this point I could even stock up and buy several, which should make the shipping situation a bit easier hopefully! thanks!!