One thing that has changed since I last used Personal Size (full-time) is that my collection of different organisers in that size has grown, different models, brands and ring sizes.
Personal size I think has the largest range of ring sizes available. They go from 11-13mm in slimline size. Through 15-16mm in compact. 23-26mm in regular size rings, and the biggest are 30mm in internal diameter.
Most if not all Slimline organisers don't have a clasp, some don't even have a pen loop, so they will slip into a jacket pocket easily. I do have a DeVille organiser that is like a Slimline in design, no clasp or pen loop, but it comes with 15mm rings which is unusual but a useful addition in my collection.
As the ring size increases the overall size of the organiser increases along with the weight. This especially applies to the two-part organisers such as my Gillio Mia Cara and Moterm Versa, both Personal Size, but quite a size compared to say a regular Malden.
Detailed research on ring capacity.
Doing some research, I found this table in one of the Filofax catalogues.
Organiser Size Capacity (Sheets) A5, Personal Zip A5 Clasp 270 Personal Clasp 250 200 Compact 150 Slimline, Mini 120 Slimline, Mini 105
It does list the capacity in terms of the number of sheets of paper, but I assume that is 70gsm sheets of paper. My own inserts are printed on 80gsm paper so the capacity will obviously be less.
A slightly more accurate method is to measure the thickness of your stack of pages. Krause give paper capacities for their different ring sizes:
The ring capacity is given in the specification sheet as a thickness of paper on the rings. Krause quote their rings by the external diameter, were as we normally quote the internal diameter. The letters and numbers in () are the Kruse model numbers which you will find on page 21 of the catalogue in the link above.- Pocket (PER152/06/20) - 20 mm internal diameter - Paper capacity 14mm
- Personal (PER171/06/25) - 25mm internal diameter - Paper capacity 19mm
- Personal (PER171/06/30) - 30mm internal diameter - Paper capacity 24mm
- A5 (PER216/06/25) - 25mm internal diameter - Paper capacity 19mm
- A5 (PER216/06/30) - 30mm internal diameter - Paper capacity 24mm
So as a rule-of-thumb, take the ring internal diameter in milli-meters and subtract 6 mm and you have the paper capacity in milli-meters. You should be able to apply this rule-of-thumb to any brand of organiser with similar size rings.
Putting this information to use.
I've measured the total thickness of my diary inserts plus other pages that I intend to carry. I've also tried them in various organisers in my collection. 12 months of the diary inserts on their own will just about fit in a 15mm organiser such as the De Villiers or Holborn Compact the later having a pen loop and clasp
Larger ring Filofax organisers with 23mm rings can take all of my diary inserts and a parred down selection of additional pages. 26 and 30 mm ring organisers can take the full set of pages.
If I cut down how many months of diary pages I carry and may be use a year planner for the rest of the year then 13 or even 11mm Slimline organisers can be utilised.
Therefore I have plenty of scope to try out most of the organisers I have in my cupboard!
As you might be able to tell, I'm quite looking forward to trying out Personal Size again.
For the paper capacity, especially with small rings, more details matter.
ReplyDeleteThe rings of organisers usually have an oval cross-section. In particular, the oval shape horizontally thinner allows more tilt or the pages when paging through. Smaller ring sizes have thinner cross-sections. Espacially the rings of Bible Slim 11mm are more like M2 or Mini rings.
In general, a larger punch diameter allows easier flipping, but also allows more wiggle, especially with thin ring wires. The oval ring shape being wider along the spine line allows less vertical wiggle, while at the same time allowing more page tilt for easier flipping.
An important characteristic is the punch distance from the paper edge. With smaller rings, pages at opposite position of the rings should never touch, in best case including wiggle. That means page at the left pushed to the right, page at the right pushed to the left do not overlap in the middle.
Hans
Yes, the 'punch margin' becomes rather important for smaller diameter rings. I started with old P5 Pocket binders, with 7/16" (11mm) rings, and these need holes punched quite close to the edge, and, as you say, smaller holes, otherwise the pages slop about.
DeleteMy insert generation scripts use 4.5 mm 'punch margin' (edge of page to centre of hole) for Mini, Pocket & Personal pages, and 6 mm for A6. All values are set by the page size selection, and can be changed quite easily in the script.
The difficulty comes when punching, since most punches have a 'throat' that is rather deep, and will result in too large a 'punch margin'. And very few punches are available with hole size less than 5.5mm. The throat depth can be addressed by inserting the pages fully, and then bringing them out a little, or using a shim placein the back of the throat. Or by using a manual hollow-core punch... I use 4mm diameter holes for my Pocket & Mini binders.
The spreadsheet in which I record my binder collection has entries for ring width, thickness, internal & external diameter...
I really need to take a look at your work. I bought the Postscript Language Reference manual more than 25 years ago, but never used it. After initially moving from LaTeX to TeX for all kinds of typesetting, I created my inserts with MS Word.
DeleteYour descriptions really convinced me that PS is they way to go if you know some script language to process input and postscript.
For punching, I used dedicated paper drills in a regular drill press. This is possible if you follow some safety rules, and know that you need to remove the drill waste in time. The paper drills themselves are incredibly cheap, the machines would be extremely expensive.
Hans
I used LaTeX to create reports in the late 80's (including a data sheet for an ASIC I designed). It's more versatile for typesetting, which is what it is intended for, though we moved to WordPerfect, then Word, and I stopped using LaTeX. But I have continued to use PostScript for figures, and more structured documents (which, realistically, most inserts are; they are very rarely freeform text documents).
DeleteI don't usually write native PostScript (except for figures), but I generally create a set of procedures, and then write an AWK script to generate the PostScript. Or, in the case of some inserts, and AWK script to create a document definition file (in my own simple format), and then use another AWK script to process that file to create the PostScript (document composition). And then some more AWK scripts to do imposition to print & stack ready copy. ps2pdf is used to create PDF versions, though it substitutes 'nearest' open source fonts for those included in the PostScript Language Reference implementation. You're welcome to the scripting system, if you're up to messing with Linux & scripts...
I found a Lihit 2001 paper drill cheap on eBay; the new 4mm drill bit cost more than the Lihit itself... Interesting to hear you use it in a drill press, because I've been discussing that recently with UKDave... The gentle chamfer on the shaft concerned me for alignment in a chuck. There are big, manual punches available, too; we had one at work, though it was for A4, and not adjustable.
The paper drills for Hang/Nagel machines have a cylindrical fitting of different diameters, regular drills of up to 10mm drill size use 11mm fittings. The common sizes of 4-8mm are about 15 Euro, sometimes you can find a box full of used ones on ebay. A "simple" Citoborma 111 drilling machine is about 2000 Euro, though.
DeleteA photo of my setup is at the bottom of that page:
https://www.hjreggel.net/office/mini_combo_en.html
The main drawback is that the dril bit has to be removed from time to time to remove the drill waste. This will be automatically collected into a waste box with dedicated paper drilling machines.
Hans
Good to hear simple cylindrical bits are available. I confess it took me a while, looking for a fastening mechanism for the Lihit, until I found out it relied on a friction fit with a taper. Removing bits requires a bit of brute force...
DeleteI foresee me spending some hours going through your website; looks excellent, thanks.
Yes, I know these fittings, in German they are called "Normkonus", and I looked up that it is called "Morse taper" or "Machine taper".
DeleteI still would like to have a manually operated device that uses the Hang/Nagel drill bits for small paper stacks - without the need for setting up the drill press.
As a side note: For Hang/Nagel machines there are Triple-Drill heads that are attached to a single spindle, having three mounts at 3/4" spacing. Like this, the insert industry is able to dril six holes on a Two-Spindle machine.
I spotted an 'Iram 16' 4-head drill on eBay back in September, complete with Filofax 3-drill heads. It's still available, and now £500 cheaper. Colection only...
DeleteOh, then you could drill Deskfax inserts in one go, if three triple-heads would be supplied. I hope you know about the total weight?
ReplyDeleteI once spotted a Citoborma 111 in good condition (including drills and drill sharpener) for 180 Euro. It took me two days to decide it would be worth the 900km single-distance drive, but at that time it was already sold. How stupid of me to think that long.