Basics about Binders

You’ve all bought binders of one sort or the other from the large office supply stores. The big stores are producing their own private label vinyl binders. (common brand name binders are Avery, Wilson Jones and Cardinal) These binders are typically offered with a clear face (front, spine and back) to insert a pre-printed cover. This type of binder is typically known as a “Vue-Binder”.  The metal binder mechanism is called the “ring metal”. Private label products are generally lighter duty (thinner chip board) and utilize a lightweight ring metal. The basic store-available binder has a tough time lasting an entire middle school year. This type of product is made of vinyl (including vinyl softeners) and chip board. The vinyl is heat sealed using hi-frequency sonic welding equipment.  If you review the below image you’ll see the exposed holes that allow for the rivets to be fastened and the clear cover.

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The pre-manufactured binder is an economical solution for standard binder quantities up to 100 to 200 pieces. If you poke around enough, you can find a 1” view style 3 ring white binder for $1.50 each plus shipping. But enough about standard vinyl binders.


Above 200 units you’ll find custom binders become more affordable and can be manufactured using higher quality ring metal, wider ring size/style choices, vinyl color choices and pocket choices. Additional options include fully wrapped covers (turned edge).

For higher quality and longer lasting binders with branding options, consider the following project I recently completed:

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This construction is turned edge style (like a case-bound book) utilizing a “Euro-style” hinge. This type of hinge is a single continuous piece of chip board (rather than 3 piece construction) and thus is heavier duty. The cover is traditionally printed and film laminated. When applying the cover wrap, hot moist glue is applied to the wrap, the edges are folded over (turned) and smoothed.



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The inside wrap is glued and mounted in such a way as to cover the outside wrap. Once the binder is wrapped, holes are punched for the ring metal. Rivets are inserted from the back and the ring metal is installed over the rivets. The rivets are then fastened. In the above picture you can see the heavy duty score lines required for Euro-style binders. You can also see the “d-ring” metal mechanism.

The below picture shows the exposed rivets. If you desire hidden rivets, the rivets are installed before the cover is wrapped. Once the cover is fully wrapped, the ring metal is installed and the rivets are then fastened. When using a hidden style rivet, some minor marking of the outside cover will occur because an anvil is utilized as a support base for the rivet.

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Ring metal is available in different sizes (ie 1”, 1-1/2”, 2” capacity) and ring style. The style is either “round” or “straight d-ring” or “slanted d-ring”. A “slanted d-ring” style was specified for the Brown Jordan binder. Slanted d-ring mechanisms allow a predictable slant of the contents for easier reading. And since D-ring style binders are fastened on the back cover, the spine artwork is left undisturbed.

Most ring metal is also available with thumb boosters, facilitating the frequent opening and closing of the mechanism. Specifying a mechanism without a thumb booster provides a more lean look for binders that won’t see frequent operation. You certainly wouldn’t specify a ring metal without boosters for a school binder. The boosters are used to properly open and close a binder without distorting the metal rings.

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The first image above shows a close-up of a slanted d-ring style mechanism with thumb boosters. The second image shows a D-ring mechanism without boosters. The third image shows the ring metal after powder coating. You can have the mechanism powder coated for color matching.

Here is an example of a binder with a quarter bind cover. Quarter binding is primarily a decorative look. If you want to increase a binder’s longevity, a fabric support is added internally, not externally.

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