Rollabind/Circa system

August 23, 2007

I recently placed an order with Rollabind. They offer two types of punches - a portable punch ($29) and a desk punch ($60). The portable one was described as being capable of punching 3 pieces of paper and the desk one will do 8 pieces of paper. Since I'm cheap at heart, I ordered the portable one - thinking - "So what if I can only punch three sheets at a time? I'm retired. I have time."

The portable punch arrived today. It's a two-piece deal. There's a "paper guide" that holds the paper still with a magnet, and there's a square boxy punch that punches only three holes at a time. A full sheet of paper needs about 10 holes (I think) so this means I have to move the punch three times or more to do the whole side of the paper. I'm retired, but I'm not sure I have time or patience for this.

I went to Rollabind's website and took a closer look at the desk punch. It appears from the picture that it will punch all 10 (or more) holes on a side with one punch. If it does, it is worth the higher price.

Does anyone have a desk model? If so, please tell me how it works.

Judybug

August 23, 2007

My understanding is you are right on the money, Judy. The desk model will punch all the holes at once. That is a big reason that I went back to my FC Planner rather than diving into Rolla more heavily.

August 23, 2007

Does anyone have a desk model? If so, please tell me how it works.

Judybug

I have the desk punch purchased from Levenger. It works much like any other desk style paper punch. I used the Circa system quite a bit a couple of years ago but haven't messed with it lately. Do you have any specific questions I might be able to answer?

August 23, 2007

Thanks, BruceK and JediGamer. Glad to know the desk punch punches all the holes at one time. If Rollabind's website did a better job of describing these punches, I would have ordered the desk version to begin with. Now I'll have to ship this one back and exchange it - shipping at my expense, I'm sure. Oh, well . . .

Judybug

August 23, 2007

I have a Rollabind punch and it is certainly a heavy piece of kit. It should last for years. Another point that you may be unaware of is that you can remove the punches if you want to punch less holes, and therefore save on disks.

I bought mine in Poland as the punch alone in the UK was £60 (US$120). I got the desk punch and about 300 disks for a little less than £30. The guy who was seling them was only willing to ship to Europe though. Makes a change for us Brits to get a bargain!!

August 23, 2007

Hey Judy, if you're interested, I think that Levenger is hitting the streets with a new marketing program where they're basically putting click-through advertising that'll save you 15% on purchases of $50 or 75. If you were able to find one of those (let me know if you can't, and I'll see if I can help you), you might consider the Levenger desk punch along with a notebook (they're pushing them as a pair these days). I think it comes up around $80. At that rate, you're saving $12, which isn't terrible.

August 23, 2007

I have the Levenger version. It seems expensive, but in dollars per pound, it's a pretty good deal. It does punch all the holes at once.

August 23, 2007

OK, I ordered the desk punch today. Thanks for all of your input. My husband talked me into keeping the portable one - he's afraid if I send it back, I'll regret it. I don't know. My investment in the Rollabind system is now bigger than I anticipated so I hope I like it. My school-teacher daughter has various uses for 3 x 5 cards and says the portable punch will be just right for making holes at the end of a card and binding them together with the disks. Hmmm. Possibilities . . .

Judybug

August 27, 2007

Judybug,

I have the Levenger desktop punch (and have had it for years) and like it a lot. As Andy says, it is very substantial. The Rollabind/Circa system is all over the site at DIYPlanner.com, so you might want to take a look at all the possibilies available to you. Lots of great templates as well as advice and / or testimonials (both good and bad).

Not sure if this is still the case, but it's my understanding that the Rollabind punch may have 12 punches while the Levenger has 11. I think this is due to a lot of scrapbooking folks using the Rollabind system. (Scrapbooking paper is 12" x 12", so the size requires that extra punch.)

I love my whole Circa set up and use it a lot. The punch is especially handy for adding printouts, notes, etc., to my Circa notebooks.

September 1, 2007

My rollabind desk punch arrived this week. Today I finally got time to make a notebook. I custom printed some pages to keep track of people I'm swapping post cards with. I made the front cover out of some blue metalic scrapbooking card stock and the back cover out of some light weight chip board. It is so NIFTY!! I'm really pleased with it. The pages turn so easily! That is something I was a little bit worried about.

I want to thank all of you who answered questions and offered information about the rollabind/circa system.

Judybug