Disc binding?

[Ausmumof3]

Anyone use a disc binding system?  They seem like they would solve some of my Binding problems but I can also see pages falling out and discs getting lost?

[ktgrok]

I find it works well if you use thick enough paper - 28# works. 20# does not work. 

[Ausmumof3]

17 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I assume you mean like this?

Yes... so pretty!

[ktgrok]

Oh, and you need to use the right size rings. You can't have it partially filled or it is all floppy. 

[Katy]

Yes, it's great for a planner or checklist that you want to fully open onto itself.  I have two "Planners."  A Filofax I take with me with monthly calendars 2-3 years out.  It's great for scheduling appointments far in advance, and it has every occasion that's out of the house in it. The second is a disc-bound notebook I print myself that's basically my to-do lists, organized into a table.  It's weekly.  The left side is to-do's (a blank square, a chores square, a workout square, a menu square).  The right side is a weekly gratitude journal on top and a sort of weekly review to do at the end of the week at the bottom.  It's great for something I tote around with me most of the day.  It's not good for long-term daily use documents IMO.  The tabs pop out, the paper gets bent.

Oh, if you go with it invest the money in a better punch than the happy planner one.  I've heard good things about the staples version and the circa version.

[Katy]

Oh, if you want to try it without the investment you could always print your own, laminate front and back covers (or use cardboard), 3-hole punch it, and use binder rings to keep it together.  It will be floppy but you could get a good feel of if you'd like that sort of flexible binding or not.

[vonfirmath]

I LOVE disc bound systems. But I do find I am lazy about doing the punching when there are a LOT of pages to add, etc.

 

[Ausmumof3]

I am wanting to use it for school curriculum for kids rather than for myself.  Due to shipping costs we mostly buy PDFs and print.  I’ve considered a binding machine over the years but cost for a metal spiral binder is prohibitive and I doubt the plastic oneS will be durable enough.  So we mostly use three ring binders but they really take up too much space over multiple subjects.

I trust myself to not destroy a disc bound planner but I’m not sure about my eight year old using it daily for math for example.

[ktgrok]

2 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

I am wanting to use it for school curriculum for kids rather than for myself.  Due to shipping costs we mostly buy PDFs and print.  I’ve considered a binding machine over the years but cost for a metal spiral binder is prohibitive and I doubt the plastic oneS will be durable enough.  So we mostly use three ring binders but they really take up too much space over multiple subjects.

I trust myself to not destroy a disc bound planner but I’m not sure about my eight year old using it daily for math for example.

The plastic spirals are pretty durable. 

[Ausmumof3]

4 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

The plastic spirals are pretty durable. 

Hmm maybe that’s what I need to do then.  

[Katy]

Plastic spirals definitely last longer than disc binding.

[Melissa in Australia]

What I use and love is Arnos fasteners
 

they hold the pages beautifully and you can add or remove pages at will

[vonfirmath]

22 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

The plastic spirals are pretty durable. 

When I was newly married, I did a scan job for the national flood insurance program where we tore apart a lot of reports, scanned them in, then put them back together.  The spiral binding held up to a LOT of abuse (Some of the documentation went back decades!) and was pretty easy to rebind after this process. 

[Melissa in Australia]

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/arnos-3-piece-fasteners-50-pack-es42692

[Carrie12345]

I love disc systems and use them for all sorts of things, but I think the Proclick is SOOOO much better for kids’ curriculum stuff.  The only drawback is that I never found the largest spines to be affordable unless we’re talking per piece in a huge order.  I would up making multiple smaller packets with the cheaper spines.

We have tried kids’ school stuff in discs. It wasn’t *horrible, but the kids are definitely a lot rougher on them than I am.  I can’t say I’ve had pages fall out of mine, but they’ve managed to do some real damage to theirs.

I do use heavier paper for disc binding most of the time. Regular does work, but it doesn’t turn as smoothly or stand up to as much rearranging. Regular paper in the Proclick has always been just fine.  

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

I love disc systems and use them for all sorts of things, but I think the Proclick is SOOOO much better for kids’ curriculum stuff.  The only drawback is that I never found the largest spines to be affordable unless we’re talking per piece in a huge order.  I would up making multiple smaller packets with the cheaper spines.

We have tried kids’ school stuff in discs. It wasn’t *horrible, but the kids are definitely a lot rougher on them than I am.  I can’t say I’ve had pages fall out of mine, but they’ve managed to do some real damage to theirs.

I do use heavier paper for disc binding most of the time. Regular does work, but it doesn’t turn as smoothly or stand up to as much rearranging. Regular paper in the Proclick has always been just fine.  

Yup, I have disc binding stuff and proclick stuff. My complaint is that they don't make really big proclick spines. The largest is 110 pages, and that's using 20# paper, which I don't use. 

But you can use regular plastic spirals, so for anything too big to use proclick with I use a plastic spiral/coil thing. But I prefer proclick spines so I can replace pages if need be - my kids tend to "mess up" and want a new page. Otherwise I'd just use plastic coils. Plus the plastic coils come in all sorts of pretty colors! Etsy has ones where you can mix and match by the individual coil. 

[Wheres Toto]

10 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

I find it works well if you use thick enough paper - 28# works. 20# does not work. 

Definitely this.  I have a Happy Planner and I like to print my own pages.    It works okay.   I need something I can fold back and have it open to the page I need. 

I also bought a package of these:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZD22J3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was looking at binders that fold back to stay open and the reviews were awful and they seemed awkward. I needed something for my classes that I could have open to a certain class without taking up too much space and the rings have been working great.  I laminated a front and back cover and have tabs inside.   I've used them for full size or half size booklets so far.  I am considering changing my Happy Planner discs to this but I just printed and punched pages for August through January and I don't really want to redo them. 

[Ausmumof3]

2 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

.... I have never heard of this in my life.  Didn’t even know it was a thing?! When I read the title I was thinking “how does one bind a CD?”

That was my exact thought when I first saw it as well.

[Katy]

2 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

.... I have never heard of this in my life.  Didn’t even know it was a thing?! When I read the title I was thinking “how does one bind a CD?”

 

Clearly, you're not a planner nerd!

[kbutton]

If you want to use discs for curriculum, I think you'd almost have to use it for finished pages only. If you have a heavy cover, it would probably work, but only if you don't mind that it won't be super neat. My older son used a disc bound planner successfully.

That said, my younger kid's proclick books look quite ratty. The holes hold up though.