How to fix broken spine on copy of Chainmail

zx81 · February 12, 2018, 09:16:23 AM

The plastic spine has broken on my copy of Chainmail.
Theres only 3 or 4 left of whatever you call the things that goes thru the holes.
Does anyone know of a good way to fix this?
Ideally I´d like to replace the spine with an identical (where do I find one and how do I exchange it?), but anything that works is appriciated.

estar · February 12, 2018, 09:22:01 AM

It called a book binding comb and you will need to find on that fits on amazon or a similar site. Try to measure the diameter of what on there (I bet it is 1/4 of inch).

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=book+binding+comb

Are the paper holes are in good shape?

You won't need the machine but do set aside a block of time because it going to be tedious threading the replacement by hand.

The wikipedia article

Gronan of Simmerya · February 12, 2018, 02:37:54 PM

Kinko's and some UPS stores also at least used to have a comb binder, so for a few bucks you can get it fixed.

chirine ba kal · February 12, 2018, 11:41:20 PM

I own a comb binder machine, as well as assorted sizes of the actual bindings. Let me know size, and I could send it to you.

zx81 · February 13, 2018, 10:37:40 AM

Thank you all!
Chirine ba kal - thats very nice of you, but as I live in Sweden shipping might be an issue.
Now that I know what I´m looking for, I´ll check some office supplystores in town this weekend.

chirine ba kal · February 13, 2018, 11:54:32 AM

Quote from: zx81;1025279Thank you all!
Chirine ba kal - thats very nice of you, but as I live in Sweden shipping might be an issue.
Now that I know what I´m looking for, I´ll check some office supplystores in town this weekend.

No problem; the plastic coils weigh next to nothing, so shipping isn't an issue. I put it badly; you don't need the machine, just the coils. You may find that all you can get are metric ones locally, so I'll keep some in reserve for you.

zx81 · February 13, 2018, 02:18:45 PM

Well, then I might just take you up on that then.
It turns out I had a ruler with both inches and cm, so here´s the dimensions:
Diameter: 4-5mm or slightly less than 1/4 inch. (Approximate - the spiral is more eliptic than circular, and will probably break if I try to shape it)
Length: 21,4 cm or slightly less than 8,5 inches.
There are 15 holes.
Does that help?

Big Andy · February 13, 2018, 03:31:51 PM

Many small print shops (the kinds that print business cards & forms) would hook you up for nothing or next to nothing as well.

zx81 · February 13, 2018, 03:43:02 PM

Quote from: Big Andy;1025350Many small print shops (the kinds that print business cards & forms) would hook you up for nothing or next to nothing as well.

Yes, that may well be true even in Sweden, unless there is a problem with US/Eupopean standards (the metric/inches thing).
Combbinding was never a big thing here, and I dont think I´ve seen it since the 80:s, but I´ll check the printers in town.

chirine ba kal · February 14, 2018, 11:18:31 PM

Quote from: zx81;1025330Well, then I might just take you up on that then.
It turns out I had a ruler with both inches and cm, so here´s the dimensions:
Diameter: 4-5mm or slightly less than 1/4 inch. (Approximate - the spiral is more eliptic than circular, and will probably break if I try to shape it)
Length: 21,4 cm or slightly less than 8,5 inches.
There are 15 holes.
Does that help?

It does, thank you. let me see what we have, and I'll get back to you. Should be a stock item, though; we've got a coupe of cases of the combs here in the house.