Best binding tool??

Thank you for the info. I've had my eye on the Cinch FoREVER. I'm going to buy it this week!

I have the Cinch too and really love it. I have the round hole from the 1st version and then later I also bought the square hole. It can punch through cardboards as well, so my books have sturdy book covers. Some might not like it since it's bigger, but it's much sturdier and it's very easy to use.

I love to bind old book covers and turn into new books. I agree with all the sentiments about the Cinch and I don't even own one. I do plan to buy one in the future.

I have a Bind-it-All. I do really love it. The longer I have owned it the more I have fallen in love with it. I do agree with paper silly about the BIA wobbly issue. If your not careful you can get pinched by it. Guess how I know this. I dubbed it the Pinch-it-All. I love the small size. This is one of the reasons that I haven't bought a Cinch yet. The Cinch is huge. The Bind-it-All fits well with my other book binding tools. There is a learning curve to the BIA. I had it for years and it took me years to master it. I watched all the videos, read everything at Zutter's site but in the end I started using the Bind-it-All my way and it worked for me. I am dyslexic so I think that was part of the huge learning curve for me.

When I want the round hole look I use my Crop-A-Dile. A lot more tedious but works for me at the moment. I am more into the square holes for machine binding than the round hole look. I also like to stitch my bindings too.

bluecrafterperson- We all love being enabled here. Keep enabling. Big Welcome to you.

I have the Pink Bind it All (2:1) and the Teal round hole Cinch (2:1). I held out and held out and yes, the month after I got the round hole Cinch, they announced the square hole... Since I own the BIA, round Cinch, Wiremate 3:1 and a plastic comb binder, I don't think I need one more. But don't tempt me with a rock bottom clearance price! I still like the tinier square holes the BIA punch better than the huge square holes the Cinch cuts.

Both BIA & Cinch are good and have their pluses. I still think the BIA closes the wires better than the Cinch. I usually close the wires of ALL things I bind with the BIA. The BIA has a little tool thing that you slip into it so that you can cut holes closer to the edge.

That is important if you want to wire bind cookbooks and music books and want to make sure you don't cut any of the text or music. Cinch cuts too far from the edge in most cases. The good thing is they use the same wires. Most of my wires were bought at Binding Depot, My Binding and I bought some coils for my 3:1 at Best Buy Binding.

Most were bought at Binding Depot.com because they have good specials, have the best prices and specials on shipping. Not as much choice of color but I try to buy white so I can sprinkle alcohol ink to add some color and I have used Krylon on occasion.

Binding Depot had a sale a few years ago and I got my favorite sizes and one size I wanted at regular price but cheap. I don't have to buy wires anymore, my top shelves have all the 2:1 wires for the BIA/Cinch and the 3:1 Wiremate wires and coils I could ever want. I even got a small box of Spiral-O wires to replace plastic combs, as it was my first binding machine.

I honestly like my 3:1 Wiremate best but for some reason, they no longer make wires bigger than 9/16 inch and that just isn't big enough for most things. They do have huge (and I have some) coils but pages turn better with wires and give more stability to the book. I like that it cuts closer to the edge for music books. There was one place, no longer in business, that had bigger wires and I couldn't afford to get them until after they disappeared from the internet. The Wiremate cuts 11 inches at a time and binds the best.

Just remember that if you order from those places that you want 2:1 wire for Bind-it-All and Cinch. NOT 3:1. Also the wires are 11 inches long NOT 12 inches like from BIA and Cinch. That isn't a problem, if you are doing something 12 inches, then you just start it so you have 1/2 inch on each side without holes.

I have a silly amount of wires BUT when you figure out the much higher price for buying BIA or Cinch wires, I could have bought only a few packages of wires for each large box of wires I have. I live 80 miles from the nearest place that sells wires so it isn't an option for me to pick up wires with 40% off coupons. I only get there once, maybe twice a year and I have other things I want to use coupons for.

Ok, more than you EVER wanted to know about wires but maybe this will help some of you make a decision.

I started out with the BIA. Had to have the Cinch because it punched round holes. So now I have both. I have used my BIA to punch holes in acrylic sheets heated with my embossing gun. Worked great! While I like the Cinch, I still use my BIA to close the wires. I feel like I have more control with it. I also ordered a bunch of wires for the Co. mentioned above. Split it with two other gals. The Cinch doesn't really take up that much space. It has a clip to keep it flat. I store standing up.

All of the above AND I have also heated acrylic sheets with embossing gun and cut with the BIA.

erica8- can you link the journals you mentioned? I love the idea of using old book covers for new journals!