post bound book assembly help

[dsnygrl2003]

I have been scrapbooking for years and have always used 3 ring binder style albums because my books tend to be large and bulky. I usually scrap a whole trips like a cruise and it ends up being at least 50 pages (100 if you count front and back) plus I use lots of pop ups etc. I just finished an album that took me a year and a half to complete and bought a post bound album so that my 2 page spreads actually looked good together instead of spread out in the 3 ring binder type. Here is the problem. 4 adults have tried to get it together and we still can't make it work right. We had added the extra posts but the plastic protectors are pulling and making the pages pucker and not lay flat. They do not seem tight though and wiggle alot on the spine area Its just not sturdy like a book). I also have searched the internet and can not find info on what to do with the cardboard spacers. What are they for? Do you need them for every page or do you add them rendomly through out the book? Help I want this to be done but I can't seem to make it work. Is there a site with instructions or can someone walk me through what the problem might be.

 

[angelmom]

the cardboard spacers go randomly in the book to try to adjust the space in the spine to expand as you make the pages bulky. It's hard to get a book with lots of stuff to lay flat. Did you add more extentions to the posts also? There is something that is plastic straps that you can buy and put in the book so you don't have to use the metal posts. I can't remember what they are called, but I'm sure someone here will know.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

the cardboard goes in between every 5 pages, they don't have enough in a package though so I cut my own from the backs of used note pads.

the straps replace the posts but I have used them and have not been really happy.
here is a link to the straps, you can buy them at Michaels too:
http://www.archivalusa.com/k2sl.html

one of the girls here uses bolts from the hardware store and is pretty happy with that too.

 

[dsnygrl2003]

Thanks for the tips. Now that I know what to do with the spacers, I will see if that helps. One more question on the posts, is it better to fill the pages so that they are right up to the top of the posts or should there be a certain amount of room left between the height of the pages and the top of the posts? I'm not even sure if my question makes sense but I hope you now what I mean, should the pages be tight or loose? Now I know why I have always used 3 ring binder albums, much easier.

 

[Faerie]

I have never ever gotten a post bound to lay flat without puckering - even in 10 page albums

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Thanks for the tips. Now that I know what to do with the spacers, I will see if that helps. One more question on the posts, is it better to fill the pages so that they are right up to the top of the posts or should there be a certain amount of room left between the height of the pages and the top of the posts? I'm not even sure if my question makes sense but I hope you now what I mean, should the pages be tight or loose? Now I know why I have always used 3 ring binder albums, much easier.

I don't think it really matters, I tend to fill it up as much as possible so the covers don't wiggle so much.

I have never ever gotten a post bound to lay flat without puckering - even in 10 page albums

I think a lot of it has to do with how heavy the page protectors are. I like the ones from WDW and another brand, I'll lave to find the name. Anyway they are really heavy and don't pucker.

 

[Faerie]

My WDW Album is the worst culprit. I have bad luck with supplies - before the CAD I coudn't set an eyelet to save my life. The hammer never worked for me

 

[dsnygrl2003]

Farie, even a 10 page album puckering, oh no, I may be going to get a 3 ring binder after all. I used to work in Tamarac many years ago, I am from Sunrise. I will post my results tonight after we take it apart again and add the spacers. The page protectors I am using are the hobby Lobby brand so I can't tell what weight they are compared to others since they are the same ones I used in my other albums. My friend who was trying to help me uses strap bound albums and swears by them but from what I have read, you can only use the sheets that come in the albums and the refills and not colored card stock, is this true? All hers were done on the papers that came with them, I use colored papers and cardstocks in mine.

 

[dsnygrl2003]

Well, I tried the spacers and they did work a little. We then added and subtracted posts to see if that helped but it was still bending up my pages so I gave up and moved it to a 3 ring binder album. Not as pretty and there are about 5 2 page layouts with pictures cut in half that don't work great but I could not see messing up pages that I worked so hard on by messing with this anymore. I looked a a 8 1/2 by 11 album that I have not used yet and another post bound album that I have not used yet and noticed the page protectors are different than the ones I was using. The ones in those albums have a sealed area where the holes are about 1/2 an inch in. Then there is another sealed area that is another 1/2 inch wide, then the true 12X12 page. The ones I was using had the sealed 1/2 inch area where the holes are then a space before the page which was only 11 3/4. I did cut all my papers to match the 11/34 size when I was making them but I wonder if not having the extra sealed area which acts as a fold is causing the problem. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Faerie]

My first albums were CM which are strapbound - I don't use them anymore. I love the 3 ring.

 

[disneyamy]

If you use the page protectors from CTMH they don't pucker. But, I bet you can find some like it that are easier to come by. They have a 1/2" "Spacer" between where it is bound and where your page actually begins. It makes the book lay better and lay flatter. (more flat?... hmmm... I need to talk to my second grader for a quick grammar refresher!)

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I think I have some of those, with the spacer thingy. Guess I'm lucky whe i comes to books, I haven't really had a problem. I just with the covers didn't wobble so much when you put a lot of pages in. The disney album (from WDW) is the worst so I stopped buying those.