Thank you to Hans for this guest post, it follows on from a comment posted on a recent Free For All Tuesday.
Regular Organisers are available up to Letter (11"x8½") or A4 size, but these largest formats are uncommon.
Large Format Ringbinders, also called Ring Portfolios, start at 8½" for the long edge, with this size being unusually small. The regular range starts at 11", the largest format that I know of is 36"x24".
These portfolios are intended to carry artwork of any kind (e.g. paintings, technical/architectural/regular drawings, posters) for presentation or storage purposes. Therefore, clear pockets are the standard type of insert.
Simple versions use standard 3-Ring US Letter size mechanics with 4¼" ring spacing. Depending on the width of the portfolio, one, two, or three of these mechanics are used at a certain appropriate distance. The largest format that I know of is intended for A1 or 34" width. However, the three mechanics with nine rings in total are not able to carry the weight of ten clear pockets. I would not recommend using portfolios based on these standard 3-Ring mechanics.
Good quality Ring Portfolios are based on a ½" spacing, where in most cases groups of rings at 1" distance are used. Up to a certain size, there are portfolios with full-width ½" spaced ring mechanics available. The clear pockets are always fully punched at ½" spacing, so they will fit any ring pattern derived from this base pitch.
You can see examples for ring and hole configurations in the XXL section of my hole spacing overview:
https://www.hjreggel.net/office/lochraster_en.html#LARGE
Below is a photo of a 36"x24" Ring Portfolio, with a 14"x11" Ring Portfolio and a Slim Personal Filofax as size comparison.
The outer dimensions of the 36" Portfolio are 98x69cm, while the 14" Portfolio measures 42x37 cm. The clear pockets of 36½"x25" outer dimensions are designed to hold 36"x24" (914x609mm) sheets. Fully opened, the portfolio is almost 1.5m² in size.
The photo below shows the Portfolio in opened state, with the 14" Portfolio opened, and again the Slim Personal Filofax as size reference.
At the top you can see the two ring mechanics mounted side-by-side with three rivets each. The mechanics use two groups of eight 1" spaced rings with 1½" distance between the two groups. The center distance between the rings of the two mechanics is 2", being the smallest possible distance mounted side by side. That makes a total of 32 rings, while the clear pockets have a total of 71 punch holes at ½" spacing.
The 14" Portfolio uses one ring mechanic with two groups of six rings at 2½" distance between the two groups of rings. The clear pockets have a total of 28 punch holes at ½" spacing.
The 36" Ring Portfolio is an Itoya Profolio Poster Binder 36x24 with what I would call „soft shell“. There is a plastic stiffener inside a fabric coating.
The 14" Ring Portfolio is a Prat Start 14x11 with "hard shell".
Both are zippered, and use a simple ring mechanics without tabs or lock mechanism.
Other Ring Portfolios use the vertical Pull-Open / Push-Close tabs, or the Pinch-to-Open X-Tabs. Some models feature lock-sliders on the baseplate, but this is a rare option.
As mentioned above, the default type of insert are clear pockets. If you would like to create custom inserts, any regular punching device for the 2:1 pitch standard (½" Pitch) would be suitable. With 1" or wider spaced rings, you could also use an adjustable hole punch, like the Leitz Akto 5114. A suitable hole format would be circular with 6-8mm diameter. For the 36" Ring Portfolio, you would have to punch four times at matching offsets. Punching would even be possible with the 6" model of "The Cinch", where you'd have to punch up to six times.
Oh, I almost forgot: With 34" and 36" Portfolios, there is a special challenge: With a body height of 65-69 cm, you can't carry these by the top handle dangling at your stretched arm. And you can't reach around the body to carry it fully under your arm. Therefore, my 34“ Prat Portfolio has an additional handle in the middle of one side, allowing it to be carried under your arm. For the 36" Portfolio, the grip height for the top handle is about 72cm high, so you have to carry it with your elbow angled to avoid scraping along the floor.
In case you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Hans
Imagine those as a diary! Month per page would be quite feasible, but desk space might be a bit of a problem!!
Thank you again Hans
