Spent $85 on a Japanese hole punch jig and I'm torn

I got it for making stab-bound notebooks, thinking it would save me hours of measuring and marking. The first project went smooth, but on the second, the paper shifted and I ruined a whole signature. My friend says a simple cardboard template is just as good for free. Has anyone else tried these jigs, or do you stick with old-school methods?

2 comments

2 Comments

troyramirez15d ago

Yeah, I had the exact same thing happen. Bought a fancy alignment jig for bookbinding and it felt great until it didn't. One slight bump and the whole stack is off. My cheap foam board template with some binder clips is honestly more reliable. That expensive jig is just collecting dust now.

alice_chen4815d ago

That foam board template with binder clips is the real hero here. I mean, I spent like eighty bucks on a metal jig that promised perfect alignment every time. One tiny nudge and the whole thing slides half an inch. My old cardboard setup never did that. It's wild how the simple stuff just works better.