Carl Neo Paper Punch (For Making Spiral Notebooks)

[mooshi]

Hello!

 

I currently use the Rollbind system to make my notebooks. I mainly only use this system twice each year (once a semester) to make notebooks for the school year.

 

It's pretty cool. But to be honest, I don't really move the pages around to make the system worthwhile. I also am not a huge fan of the "mushroom" cutouts. This lead to the Rollabind system gathering dust for the past year.

 

I saw the Carl Neo Gauge punches at Jetpens this week (see here) and thought that might be a better option, as I actually do like spiral notebooks.

 

Has anybody had any experience with these? Where might I get the spirals for them? I thought about reusing the spirals from older notebooks, but I couldn't find any that have 26 or 30 holes.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Thank you for your input! I look forward to hearing them.

[Plume145]

I don't think the Neo is for spiral binding so much as it is for Japanese-style 26- or 30-hole binders (example). These are like western binders in that they have rings you open to (re)move or add papers except there's 26 or 30 of these rings instead of just 2, 3, 4, or the Filofax 6. The ones I have seen over the years, the rings also tend to be narrower in proportion with the binder than 'western' binders - 'ours' are rarely under 1" thick at the spine, 'theirs' are rarely over that. And they mostly seem to come in B-series sizes, which seem to be popular in Japan for stationery, in their infinite good taste in all things stationery :-) - mainly B5. I have seen A5, I actually used to own one, but it doesn't seem that common.

 

My experience with mine was pretty good; it handled like a wire-bound notebook but had the versatility and refillability *groan* of a binder. It would have been even better if I'd had the punch, because while the paper included was fiiiiine, refills were hard to track down and adding your own (including documents like class handouts) was impossible. Which is why it fell into disuse and now that the punch is available and I could really put it to work, I have no clue where it is, if it's even in my possession still. Bummer.

 

If you want a wire binding like the notebooks you can pick up anywhere labeled 'spiral binding' or 'wire-bound' or 'wiro binding' and the like (such as this or this), the tool you need is either a good copy shop with friendly, knowledgeable staff, or failing that a home binding machine like those marketed to hobby papercrafters (scrapbookers in particular). I know of two: the Zutter Bind-It-All (I kid you not; this IS the name) and The Cinch by We R Memory Keepers (I kid you not, etc)

 

Both work just like the pro binding machine at the copy shop in that first you use one side to drill the holes (a few sheets at a time), then you stack the lot, arrange it in the other section with the open wire binding threaded through the holes, and operate the machine to squeeze the wire rings shut. The Zutter is teensy so it works in four-inch lengths, meaning you have to line up 2+ lengths for an A5 notebook; it has square holes, takes only the double-wire style of binding and is baby pink. The Cinch is larger and does about 12-13" of round holes at a time and takes both double wires and actual plastic spirals (and is blue).

 

I've had the Bind-It-All for over a year. I haven't managed to suss it out, because every time I have a project I chicken out of doing the holes because I freak at the thought of how easy it is to position them wrong and end up with a ruined project, so in the time I've had it I've finished 6 projects, all at the copy shop (and dodged a few more by figuring out another way to make them). I really, really wish I'd saved up for the cinch or skipped out altogether

 

So if you didn't use the switcheroo aspect of rollabind, you can probably skip the Neo and go for either the copy shop (which saves you money too) or either machine (which doesn't save you money but does make it possible to attractively and professionally bind school projects even if you're running perilously close to deadline *ahem*)

Edited September 7, 2012 by Plume145

[mooshi]

Thank you very much for your input!

 

That really helped me a lot with trying to figure things out. I'll have to further research whether or not I would want a spiral binding thing at home. A lot of it looks heavy duty. For now, I guess I can deal with the Rollabind stuff.

 

Thank you again! Much appreciated.

 

I'll have to ask my Japanese friend to see if there are any budget friendly versions of the Neo that they can bring back to the states. It definitely looks like something I'm interested in if I can find a good source of those binder things in more styles than JetPens offers.

[Plume145]

oooh, you lucky sonofagun, you got a Japanese friend who's willing to shop & haul for you *jealous*

 

 

Glad I helped clear it up for you some. I've done a lot of geeking out over bindings and making your own notebooks without actually having to sew them, it was time someone benefitted from that! hehe

 

yes, most of the binding stuff is pretty full-on hehe. The only ones that aren't that I'm aware of are the hobby market machines. Still sturdy, but not as full-on. On the plus side, if you want to look these up, you're in luck because the scrapbooking crowd put out enough videos, blogs, and reviews with tons of detail, examples, and tips that they make us pen & stationery geeks look like slackers And if in doubt, most of them are chatty and approachable too, so you'll be able to ask. So you should have plenty of material to help you make a decision

[FPFan]

Personally, I'd pass on that ilittle time consuming punch and take the paper you want to use to a printer (Professional, not a Kinko's type place) who offers spiral binding. For a nominal fee they will punch the paper for you in their large punch machine and then you can buy the spiral rings from an office supply store and bind them yourself. Or just let the printer bind them for you. It still come out cheaper when you have already supplied the quality/quantity of paper you want to use.

 

A few years back I wanted a sketchbook bound on the short end as opposed to the long edge, but no one made them in the Arches Watercolor paper I wanted. So I bought me a bunch of large sheets of paper, hand tore them to the size I wanted and took them to the local printer. I made four of them with a larger number of pages than I could have bought them ready made. And asside from all else I had the fun of doing the project and could also have the brag fractor that I "made them myself."

[ObserveClosely]

You could also look into this Proclick system. The cheapest punch appears to be about seventy bucks. The only draw-back I can see is that the seventy-dollar punching machine is not hefty enough to punch good rigid cover stock. I don't know if Kinkos can punch covers with this exact pattern. If so, you could get the covers made at Kinkos and punch and bind the innards at home.

[rroossinck]

Personally, I'd pass on that ilittle time consuming punch and take the paper you want to use to a printer (Professional, not a Kinko's type place) who offers spiral binding. For a nominal fee they will punch the paper for you in their large punch machine and then you can buy the spiral rings from an office supply store and bind them yourself. Or just let the printer bind them for you. It still come out cheaper when you have already supplied the quality/quantity of paper you want to use.

What's the major differentiation between a Kinko's and a "Professional" type place, as far as binding services are concerned? Is there a difference in the materials used?

[chiaroscuro]

+1 for the Proclick. The spines lay flat, open easily when you want and stay closed when they should, and they last forever. They're also available in various sizes. My hand-operated Proclick does perforate thick plastic covers -- albeit with some force. I think they look nicer and more conventional than the disc binding systems I've seen (those look silly to me; these look like normal spines). You can use whatever paper and/or custom forms and covers you like. You can even add dividers and pockets. It can be a bit time consuming, but you'll get exactly what you want.

 

For the record, I don't work for GBC, hehe (no affiliation whatsoever, in fact. I'm just happy to have finally found a way to make customized notebooks and manuals that I'm satisfied with without having to buy a printing press. I wasted a lot of time trying a bunch of things before I got the Proclick)