I would like to make some small notepads for my daughters and wonder if anyone knows if there is a product to use to hold the sheets together at the top. If you have a "homemade" suggestion, that would be better. Thanks so much.
I used to work at Kinko's and we would "pad' things all the time. We had a device that would put a lot of pressure on a stack of paper, compressing it down slightly. We would do a whole stack at a time, separating every 50 or so with brown chipboard. Then we would paint "padding compound" onto the edge. This compound was white and felt and smelled suspiciously like regular white Elmer's glue. The device had fans that would dry the glue for about 15 minutes. Then we would separate the pads with a dull knife, leaving a chipboard back.
I have never tried it myself but I believe that if you weighted down the stack of paper with bricks or something heavy and then painted it with Elmer's, it would work just as good. I might do a first light coat, let it dry for an hour or so and then add a second coat. Use a butter knife to separate the pads. Make sure the papers on the padding edge is lined up as straight and smooth as possible. Also, don't try to do more than about 100 sheets at time or it will break apart, it's just too tall.
Good luck,
Jess (07/20/2007)
By Jess
I stitch the top together with a nice thread. No glues and no chemicals are needed this way and it looks very nice. (07/20/2007)
By Enci
It's kinda pricey but the Bind-it-All works great. Check it out online.
By Bonnie (07/23/2007)
Like the others, I've used rubber cement, though I've found that it can sometimes be messy or not hold together perfectly.
I don't know if this will work for you, but at work, I take 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheets that have printing on one side, cut them into quarters, turn them over, and just keep them in a small box (with the lid removed). When I need a piece of scratch paper, I just grab one off the top. (07/23/2007)
By Chief Family Officer
SCHOOL GLUE! When my kids were little and would bring home all sorts of papers, I would take a stack, blank side-up, cut into 4's, and use plain ole' school glue on one end, liberally. Just weight down the pad right up to the glued side with a few heavy books and wait half a day, and you have a note pad! You can always clean up the ends, and make it as pretty as you need. (07/24/2007)
By Kim
I use a hot glue gun. It works great! I wouldn't recommend for smaller children. (07/24/2007)
By Jill
I get the spiral notebooks when they are 10 cents a piece ( at Walmart before school starts). I then cut the spiral in the middle and hand cut the pages with scissors. I end up with two notepads at 5 cents a piece. (07/26/2007)
Simply use a hole puncher to punch holes into the paper. Then use either yarn or thread to keep the paper together. It works great!! And you can use different colors of thread or yarn to make it a little different. (07/31/2007)
By
Rubber band your paper together or clothespin tight...then paint rubber cement on edge........for a watercolor painting pad I paint all four edges and leave one small spot to stick a knife into to separate the page....good luck (08/17/2007)
By Carol
http://www.thecraftypc.com/not.html
It is actually notepad adhesive, and it is awesome! (09/30/2007)
By Melanie.
Can you tell me if compression is used right at the edge where the paper is to be bound or should the paper be compressed further down allowing the glue or rubber cement to enter a little on the paper?
(05/18/2008)
By gerri
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