Plastic Comb Binding Sketchbook

This method is also very simple, but it requires the use of a binding machine. If you have access to one, this one looks a bit more professional than the previous Rubber Band Spine Cardboard one. Plus, you can get several fun colors for the spine!

Again, you can do any size you like. I just like to do it larger so that students can add paper without difficulty.

• MATERIALS:
  1. (1) plastic comb binding strip (at least 3/8”, depending on how many pages you put in it)
  2. Copy paper (or drawing paper cut to 8 1/2” x 11”)
  3. (2) 8 1/2” x 11” sheets of heavy poster board (I used 100 lb tag board)
• TIME: two 50-minute class periods
• PROCEDURE:
  1. Punch holes into the sketchbook paper with the binding machine.
  2. Decorate.
     • Again, I always have the students design their sketchbook covers, but you can do it however you like.
  3. Laminate the Cover.
     • Kids can be pretty rough with their things. Laminating them helps them at least last the year…I don’t know beyond that…
  4. Assemble.
     • Place the cover face down into the binding machine, load the sketchbook paper, and add the back poster board piece.

• Pros
  1. Time. Easy and fast to assemble.
  2. Versatile. Easy to add extra paper or worksheets.
• Cons
  1. Cost-Effective. Requires a binding machine and plastic binding combs.
  2. Durability. The combs in the plastic binding tend to break after a while. There were even a couple of books that had the strip break in half before the end of the year.

I tried this method last year, and there were many things I really liked about the book and binding. But It was a combination of the spines continually breaking on some of the students who were…less careful, and the fact that our binding machine broke that made me switch to my last design.

If you try it out and let me know what you think!