Tag: 6 ring

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A Less Expensive Entry To The World of A5 Ring Binders

As I recently got my A5 Plotter, I have started the trial and error phase of seeing how and what I want to use in the Plotter and in what order. Part of this is looking into the variety of brands that are out there to find the right options, and not necessarily lock myself into a single brand.

As luck would have it, right after I got my Plotter, my local store The Gentleman Stationer posted about having just received a new offering from Laconic that was a binder and pre punched 6 ring inserts. Since I am just getting into the 6 ring A5 world, I picked up a variety of the inserts as well as a binder to see how they might be of use. The inserts that I got are Monthly, Weekly, Meeting and My Life. There are a few other options like Spreadsheet, but I didn’t think the other formats would be of use to me at this time. One big perk of these inserts is that they are undated, so they offer much more flexibility when it comes to calendars. This is going to be great for me, as I don’t have to commit to a years worth of calendar inserts if I end up not using the A5 for calendar long term.

Part of moving into the A5 is the variety of accessories. I mentioned in my Plotter video that I was on the hunt for a binder to store my extra pages, and this Laconic I think is going to fit that need. The ring mechanism is easy to open and it holds plenty of pages, so this is going to be how I start for paper storage, as I think this notebook will still be useful if I find a better option in the future. For now, it is filled with my blank sheets of the various insert styles, and with this being as inexpensive as it is, I could see getting as second one in the future to use for used pages vs unused.

I mention in the video that my initial hole punch ended up working decently, but it was punching with a different margin to the holes when compared to the Plotter paper. I was able to get a recommendation from a friend who is already into the Plotter system, and I ended up picking up a Bira Adjustable 6 Hole Punch from Amazon. So far, it seems to be a much closer margin which is what I was looking for.

I mention in the video that my A5 Plotter that I got initially was having issues with the tabs to open the rings, so I contacted Dromgoole’s and they did a warranty return. I have to say I am glad that I reached out as my replacement arrived and the rings opening are a night and day difference.

The tabs were sitting flat and never came up to allow the rings to open.
One of the rings never did fully close, so that was confirmation to me that the mechanism was faulty.

All this to say, it never hurts to reach out if you get something new and it doesn’t seem right. There are always one of issues that can slip by quality checks on any product.

I look forward to continuing this journey into the A5 Plotter world and will continue to look for other accessories and inserts to let me fully customize this setup and use experience.

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Moving Into The Plotter World

Earlier this year, I ventured into the world of Hobonici by getting a Weeks, and I had no idea that I happened to be choosing a loaded gun of sorts, as I had no idea the I would happen to be entering into a paper battle and struggle that many people have experienced with the new paper formulation in some of the Hobonici planners. The bleed through was too much for me to use with most pens that I tried, so I put that planner on the shelf and started to look into what my options were for the rest of the year.

After college, I was using a Filofax Executive size 6 ring planner, and I still had the cover, as well as a second new one that I got when the bookstore I worked at was clearing them out. My wife ordered some some custom Filofax inserts earlier in the year, and put them in that NOS cover, but after they arrived, she realized that she needed a larger format, so those refills were sitting on a shelf, so I ended up taking them over for the rest of the year. I moved the remaining year of inserts into my proven old cover, and ended up ordering a couple of bible size plotter accessories like the pen loop and divider with elastic to use alongside the inserts. This was working pretty well, but the inside of the close to 20 year old cover was never meant for this type of duration it seems, and all of the inside liner was flaking apart and leaving a trail everywhere, so knowing that my proof of concept for that format worked, I made the move to get an actual Plotter cover.

I started with the black horsehair bible size cover, and after using it for a couple of weeks, I really liked the idea of having a ring system in the A5 size as well. When I interviewed Lisa aka Olive Octopus, I really liked how she had put the disk bound system to use for have a great way for side by side paper comparison, so I wanted to do something similar with all of the A5 size papers that I already had. With this in mind, I ordered the A5 cover in the US exclusive Shiranami color. I got the necessary accessories with it as well, such as the pen loop, elastic band, project manager folders and the zippered case. A local pen club friend gave me some A5 paper samples, so I also picked up a pad of the Plotter dot grid and 2mm grid papers to use in addition to generic A5 looseleaf papers.

Armed with a hole punch, I added in some Life bank paper and You-Sari to start, and that paper selection will continue over time as I get into the Plotter system more. There are still some other accessory items that I am looking into such as paper storage when it is not in the rings as well as calendar inserts for limited use in the A5, and inserts for the Bible size for 2026. I do appreciate that due to the somewhat standard 6 ring system, I am not bound to only using items from the Plotter brand, so I will be able to search to find the right option for me regardless of what brand releases the product, and that is part of the fun of this hobby, finding the right fit for how you intend to use it.