ProClick? or not to ProClick... which one you like

[homeschoolkitty]

Hello there, I was reading that so many of you like ProClick binding systems over the regular comb version... I'd like to know the differencess. which on you have and how big a book you have made with it. I cannot pay $200 for one, but I am gettting tired of binders... Where do you get your "combs"?

 

Is there a machine that cuts and binds?

 

Thank you!

 

K

[TraceyS/FL]

ProClick is more like a spiral bind than a comb bind. Where it will really shine is in the bigger "rings".

 

I have a comb binder somewhere, and I get my combs in a box from my old place of work - I would never buy them nor the machine, because I much prefer my Circa punch & disks, or I would get the ProClick.

 

However, it is a luxury item, and you can get things bound at Staples/Office _____ a lot of times for the money. The proclick as the added advantage of being able to be opened up and reused and added too, but I gathered from another thread it wasn't something you would want to do on a daily basis. That cured me of my "need" for now. With my Circa I can add and remove easily.

 

So I guess I'm asking, how do you expect to USE the books you make as a replacement for the binders?? Do you gather material once a year, or are you adding and subtracting weekly/monthly?

[boscopup]

Comb binding is annoying. I hate comb binding. Proclick is more like a regular spiral binding (you can even use 3:1 pitch regular spiral binding if you want). It will lay flat when opened, and you can open it up and bring one side around to the other like a regular notebook.

 

I agree with the PP that you can also have an office supply store do your binding. I think it's usually $2-3 maybe? I got the Proclick when it was on sale, and I got a lifetime supply of spines when they were mega-on-sale.

[Giraffe]

I just made my first book with the British version of ProClick and have to say its wonderful, but Tracey is right: it's not something you add and subtract to with abandon. I bound my printed PDF Miquon Orange book that we will carry with us everywhere this summer. I anticipate I will dismantle it for cold storage when done, but not modify it otherwise.

 

It's a LOT lighter than a binder, and easier for DD to manage, but if you are constantly adding and removing pages from your binders you might reconsider.

[Ecclecticmum]

I love my pro-click (and I abhor spiral & comb binding. Comb Binding always rips or the comb flicks out and falls apart. Spiral, the ends of it rub against the corners of the paper leaving it looking ragged, its not stable, put it on a shelf and its likely to flop/curve.)

 

I tore up my Konos volume and pro-clicked it into books by trait. I take the lot out of the binding to photocopy it, and pro-click the copy. This is the only time i take it out of the binding (becuase i mark up my pages big-tme, so by the time i finish the trait, it will be a big mess, but i still have the original unmarked in case i want to come back to that unit or need to read it. With the other spines, i only open them if i have forgotten a page or need to add an extra page.

 

If i needed to constantly open and close them, i would stick to binders or manilla folders (which i do for some subjects)

[NittanyJen]

I have the Fellowes comb binder, and I love it! The books lie perfectly flat, and it is super easy to open them back up again to add pages when you need to.

 

My particular model can make a book of up to 150 pages, though I have combs down to as small as 1/4" as well. It is super easy to use, and I have had no trouble with books falling apart or combs ripping open-- and my boys simply TOUCH a 3-ring binder and pages seem to explode in all directions, so they are not gentle with them. I do laminate my covers to make them a little more durable (and the binder has no difficulty punching holes through card stock or laminated pages, either).

 

The only reason a comb-bound book would fail to lie flat would be if you stuffed it too full; they are designed to lie flat or even be flipped around, just like a spiral-bound book. Locally, our Staples and Office Max are far more expensive to do the binding for you if you create many books.

 

I saw mine on sale on Amazon, and our local Staples store honored the price, so I picked it up for $64, for the model that binds 150 pages and cuts 12 at a time (I think it retails normally at $100). I get the combs at Staples, BJ's, or on Amazon, wherever the price is best.

 

I just put together a 137 sheet book, and it took me about five minutes to do all of the cover laminating, hole punching and assembling, possibly less than that, and I expect to use this book for a little more than a year.

[MyLittleWonders]

I used a comb binding machine for a long time and debated what to buy when the hole-cutters were beginning to dull. After reading a lot of threads, I went with the ProClick and love it. I love how things lie flat and I love how we can open it up to rearrange/add/subtract pages as needed. We haven't had a problem with opening/closing too many times; granted our books aren't very old yet, but one of my boys, especially, loves to zip and unzip his writing book. So far, so good. I bought mine on Amazon, but MyBinding sells them too, plus a 5/8" binding, and 3:1 pitch spirals for bigger projects.

[homeschoolkitty]

thanks for the answers. I want to mainly contain finished work and art. maybe the MathUSee workbook so that it is easier to copy for my kids. and some other teacher manuals. so the art and the language arts notebooks would be often opened.

[Amy Jo]

I have the wire binder from MyBinding - it was less than half the price of a Proclick, and I'm happy with it so far. It won't make big books, but that's okay - small books are less to haul around or potentially ruin/lose. If you have only a few books I'd try Staples. I may consider a Proclick for next year, but what I have works for now.

 

I've not had good luck with comb bound books, they break too easily. I actually like my wire binder over the books I've had spiral bound. It seems sturdier - stands up better. That may be just because they are thinner books.