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binders, hole punches, proclick?


jeninok
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DS is a lefty, with some writing delays, dysgraphia, and downright fussiness issues when it comes to his workbooks and materials. I know many people have discussed these tools before, but I've got lefty specific questions :)

 

I am generally happy to oblige being a lefty myself and understanding the difficulty when a book won't lay flat, or has weird too tight binding and is hard to use. I even ended up cutting is CLE math books in half, hole punching them and putting them in a binder :)

 

My problem is that I keep breaking the standard 10 dollar hole punches, and papers have to be pulled out of the binders to be written on, which means they can easily become totally lost, or add to the ever growing piles of papers in our school area.

 

I am trying to decide between a heavy duty 50 + dollar range hole punch, or something like the proclick?

 

Or maybe just a better paper cutter and trying to be organized enough with my printing and ordering to take everything to staples to have it bound?

 

What do you guys use as covers for the spirals you create? Surely not just paper :confused:

 

What are the combs like?

 

Are they sturdy enough to stand up to 11 year old careless boy abuse?

 

What about being pokey for someone who will be laying their hands across them? I personally hate the ones that are thick plastic with the overlay thing, those feel bad when you have to lay your hand/arm across them :D

 

Do the books lay flat when folded out, what about when folded back in half ?

 

 

Thanks for getting this far! I am really trying to watch my spending, so I want to make sure I get what will work best for us!!!

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LOVE my proclick! I use cardstock for the covers generally, sometimes I laminate cardstock for the covers. However, bc they fold all the way around, I have found that my children usually put the book away right on the page they just finished so the covers rarely even are seen!

 

If you use the appropriate size spine (ie, make sure it is full) you shouldn't have any more fussiness than you would with a spiral notebook.

 

Another thing I love about the proclick is that you can open the spine and add more pages! I also reuse them if it's a workbook that I don't want to keep, I trash the pages and reuse the spine. I'm sure there is a limit on how many times you can open and close them before wearing them out but I haven't hit that yet!

 

HTH!

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I used to be a Staples Better Binder addict but since I got the ProClick, I've used nothing else. I sometimes even re-bind our workbooks with the ProClick so they lie flat. As for covers, I use the ProClick covers (transparent cover and black back), but for more economical use, also use cardstock or decorative scrapbook type paper.

 

Like the previous poster, we store our ProClick spiral books on the page we left off on, as they lie flat so nicely. :)

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I am looking at Mybinding.com in their GBC binding machines...those are the Proclick right??

 

I am not sure I understand the pricing on these machines, why is the small manual 5 paper capacity one, only like 10 dollars less than an electric one that will punch up to 15 pages at a time.

 

I feel like it is worth it to spend a little more to get one that punches more at one time, I tend to confuse myself using a regular 3 hole punch and end up with weird or wrong sided punches as it is. :D

 

Also, anyone recommend a good cutter for workbooks and such; I tend to make a mess of the edges of the page when I rip the glue or bindings apart.

(Maybe I am just doing it wrong)

Edited by jeninok
Grammar!!
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Oh, here's a blog post I did with pictures of ProClick'd books that might give you a better idea of how they look.

 

Oooooh that totally convinced me!

 

I have DS's Memoria Press Ancient Men of Greece workbook and text sitting right next to me. The urge to rip the bindings and spiral them is nearly overpowering :lol:

 

I see you are using the P50 model, I wonder how that varies from the C55

http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/44369/GBC-CombBind-C55-Comb-Binding-Machine-7708900

 

And one more ridiculous question..... Is it possible to both bind them using the Proclick, and then 3 hole punch them so I could keep them in a binder?

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I love my proclick too! I make packets of worksheets for my five year old and packets of coloring pages for both DS 5 and DS3 and they stand up to a decent amount of rough handling from them.

 

For things for me or DD that I want to look nice, I have discovered you can punch an overhead projector sheet (remember those? We happened to have an old box from years ago lying around), and that makes a nice clear cover. I also often use either plain card stock or laminated card stock for the back (or the front if I don't want a clear front).

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Yes, you can 3 hole punch something and pro-click it. I do that sometimes with papers I want to store in a binder.

 

I use pocket folders for covers sometimes. You have to cut them in half and take a little off the top for them to fit into the pro-click machine, but they're great.

 

Another option with binding is to bind the book at the top. This makes the turning pages a little distracting, but we've done that when ds (who is not a lefty) needed more writing space on the page.

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I see you are using the P50 model, I wonder how that varies from the C55

http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/44369/GBC-CombBind-C55-Comb-Binding-Machine-7708900

 

The link above is a comb binding machine. These have a different number of holes per sheet (maybe they're 2:1 while proclick is 3:1) and the pages fall out much more easily due to the flimsy nature of the combs. I loathe my comb binder (probably because my extreme excitement was swiftly followed by extreme disappointment).

 

So I recently bit the bullet and my proclick spines will be arriving on Monday! However, I didn't buy the P50 but instead got a papermonster 3:1 binder that should not only also punch the holes to fit the proclick spines put should be able to handle thin wire binding projects. If you're unsure about proclick, you can buy starter sets that don't require any machinery (I got one on Amazon on sale, so watch the price, it does fall).

 

ETA: The title in the starter kit is incorrect (notice the bad review at the bottom of the Amazon page). Each starter kit only has enough material for 2 wbs, not 5.

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I bought a manual 3:1 pitch binding machine from mybinding.com and I am so happy that I did it. I don't think that I could do just a couple of pages at a time with the proclick and since my kids are in 3rd/4th grade I knew I would be using this for a long time and I wanted it to last. I am VERY fortunate about having an amazing library in our town (no need to buy books) I felt that I could splurge on the binding machine.

 

Here are the reasons why I decided to spend the extra money:

 

1. ability to punch more pages at once with ease (15-20 pages at a time)

2. disengagable dies so there are no half holes punched

3. greater than 100 pages can be bound together (using spirals).

4. different types of binding methods could be used:

a. spirals (coils)

b. proclick

c. twin loop wire

5. can punch through very thick paper (card stock) with ease

6. can adjust the depth of the holes on the paper so that when more pages are bound the pages can be turned easily to lay flat.

 

For covers I use old folders. I have some cool looking folders that have been used with fun patterns on them. I just cut off the tab tops and have a great covers. Add a label to the center and it makes a great workbook. These folders are a little larger than the paper but it protects the paper well.

 

I use my old photo cutter with a new blade and it works well to cut paper.

 

I have really enjoyed having my SOTW activity book bound--I made a book out of the questions/literature selections and I made each of my children a book of the student maps. Because the student maps are bound we always pull out our map books when we read SOTW and it has been great (and easy) for reinforcing geography. Plus I don't mind taking my teacher section with me to the library b/c it is so much smaller.

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I bought a manual 3:1 pitch binding machine from mybinding.com and I am so happy that I did it. I don't think that I could do just a couple of pages at a time with the proclick and since my kids are in 3rd/4th grade I knew I would be using this for a long time and I wanted it to last. I am VERY fortunate about having an amazing library in our town (no need to buy books) I felt that I could splurge on the binding machine.

 

Here are the reasons why I decided to spend the extra money:

 

1. ability to punch more pages at once with ease (15-20 pages at a time)

2. disengagable dies so there are no half holes punched

3. greater than 100 pages can be bound together (using spirals).

4. different types of binding methods could be used:

a. spirals (coils)

b. proclick

c. twin loop wire

5. can punch through very thick paper (card stock) with ease

6. can adjust the depth of the holes on the paper so that when more pages are bound the pages can be turned easily to lay flat.

 

For covers I use old folders. I have some cool looking folders that have been used with fun patterns on them. I just cut off the tab tops and have a great covers. Add a label to the center and it makes a great workbook. These folders are a little larger than the paper but it protects the paper well.

 

I use my old photo cutter with a new blade and it works well to cut paper.

 

I have really enjoyed having my SOTW activity book bound--I made a book out of the questions/literature selections and I made each of my children a book of the student maps. Because the student maps are bound we always pull out our map books when we read SOTW and it has been great (and easy) for reinforcing geography. Plus I don't mind taking my teacher section with me to the library b/c it is so much smaller.

 

 

Could you link which one you bought? I'm trying to decide if the proclick will be good for us or if I want to upgrade a bit. :D

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Here's the link: http://www.mybinding.com/.sc/ms/dd/ee/26712/Tamerica-TW3100-3-1-Pitch-Twin-Loop-Wire-Binding-Machine#cms_0

 

I did a lot of comparison shopping before I bought it to make sure I got the right machine and I am really, really happy with it.

 

Price wise it was definitely an upgrade from the Proclick and it is not as easy to store (it weighs almost 40 pounds!) but it sits on my supply cabinet in the basement where it is out of the way, yet accessible if I need it. If I'm doing a lot of stuff I carry it upstairs and my binding work on the kitchen island. I know that I will be using it over the next 10 years so to me it was a wise investment.

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  • 5 months later...

Hi Michelle! I sent you a message but wondered if you might be "subscribed" to this thread so maybe it would be a better way to contact you... I was wondering if you use the proclick spines interchangeably with wire coil spines with your binder? I was looking at it and it looks like it's a "double wire loop" type and has square holes, and *it* says you can't use double wire loop interchangeably with wire coil types - I don't see why you couldn't though and was wondering what your experience has been. Do the square holes on your machine make a difference as far as easily turning the pages that you've noticed?

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