DIY Planner - 7 hole 'classic' punches in Australia - Comments

good to see more range

Gail B — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:10:21 -0400

now if we can get all the great circa stuff here I would be a happy (and yet, strangely unproductive) lass.

Letter paper in Oz

Katrina — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:14:44 -0400

Hi Kim,

Foolscap (or 'letter' as it's called in the USA) is still used for some obscure legal documents, which is why you can still buy foolscap sized manilla folders. Foolscap typewriter paper is still available, if you can find it. It's a lot lighter (thinner) than generic A4 office paper. Although the typewriter paper may not survive being put through a printer.

I think you're right about the bible paper. Even if we could get it, could we print on it without tearing it?

When I was using a ring binder, I used A5 airmail notepad paper to lighten my planner. I now use a moleskine diary for my personal 'stuff' and Outlook & a cheap $2 A5 diary for my work projects and tasks.

cheers
Katrina

P.S. I think Filofax's prices are because they're a UK company and we're getting the British version. So I'm guessing it's the 2+ Aussie dollars to the pound exchange rate and the shipping from Europe which explains the price in Australia. Although some of their things are getting cheaper

Thin paper

kimmason — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:52:47 -0400

Hi Katrina,
Yes, that's the one thing that I noticed about Filofax; their refills are thinner, stronger paper. I'm considering a Filofax for my next binder in a few years (it takes a while for a 7-ring leather binder to fall apart). They do make some very nice leather ones which are reasonably priced if you air-freight them from the USA. Also, as I currently use a 'classic' size binder, based on US Letter paper (which has a limited range here; everything in Australia is A4), I find the availability of US Letter paper to be limiting. The larger Filofax are A5, which means I could use the huge range of available A4 paper with simple cutting.

I live in Adelaide, so of course, range is limited (no Pepés Paperie here; W C Penfold & Officeworks is it)... luckily freight is cheap these days.

I suppose I could put all A5 in my current binder, but I'd have to replace the 'classic' tabs... think I'll keep bumbling along with the limited range of US Letter paper instead.

Someone really needs to find out where bible manufacturers source their paper... I've noticed that if you pick up a copy of the good-book, the paper is always very thin, but excellent quality. I suspect it's only used in book manufacture.

more Aussies

Katrina — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:09:57 -0400

Yay! Another Aussie!

Thanks for the update Kim.

Yes, I doubt that many people in Australia would have ring bound organisers if it wasn't for Collins-Debden.

By the way, I have seen other brands at David Jones and Pepe's Paperie. But both of their alternatives can be in the 'exotically expensive' category. I seem to remember seeing a personal sized Daytime for AU$200 but DJ's didn't import the refill papers, so it'd be a DayTimer with Collins-Debden refills.

Price is one of the reasons I moved to DIYing. But it's also weight, the Collins-Debden refills are all standard copy-paper weight so the planners get quite heavy. Unlike the much thinner, but much pricier, Filofax refills.

7 hole 'classic' punches in Australia

kimmason — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:26:33 -0400

Hi all,
After looking around for some time, I've finally found an affordable 7-hole punch for the 'classic' (8.5 x 5.5 inch; half US-letter) sized organiser paper in Australia.

Some background; in Australia, Collins-Debden and Filofax own the organiser market. Filofax appear determined to price themselves out of the Australian market (think 250% of US prices AFTER currency conversion; $240 US for an organiser that sells for $105 US on Amazon, and their refills cost approximately double that of Collins-Debden). Hence, I use a Debden DayPlanner; a 7 ring classic-sized binder.

After looking for some time, I noticed that Franklin-Covey have setup an online shop in Australia, and their metal 7-hole punch for the classic size is $23 AUS! Relatively cheap! I believe that the Franklin-Covey 7-ring classic binder has exactly the same ring configuration as the Debden classic 'DayPlanner'.

On purchase, I noted on the online payment that it went to Collins-Debden, so Debden obviously run the Franklin-Covey store here.

So there you have it; if you want affordable hole punches in Australia, go to Franklin-Covey... their 'classic' binders are the same as Debden, and I believe that all of their smaller models (e.g. personal) are the same ring configuration as Filofax (which are the same ring configuration as Debden; it's only the larger sizes that differ). The only thing they don't have covered is A5 Filofax, and I believe that you can do that by using a punch for the 'personal' size, flipped around so that it does 3 holes at a time.

D*I*Y Planner - 7 hole 'classic' punches in Australia - Comments

good to see more range

Letter paper in Oz

Thin paper

more Aussies

7 hole 'classic' punches in Australia

DIY Planner - 7 hole 'classic' punches in Australia - Comments