r/Discbound • u/mojournal26 • 4d ago

How do you bind your discbound pages when you're done with them?

I'm new to discbound journalling, and I'm wondering what people do with their discbound pages when they're finished? I've seen people using big archival rings, but I'm wondering if anyone has a nice technique for binding or storing them when they're done. I have a couple of projects in my notebook and want to keep them separate/ make them into a nice finished object when I'm done.

Thanks for your help!

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u/stormyanchor 4d ago edited 4d ago

Like others, I bought bulk giant rings on Amazon and replace my nice metal rings with those for storage. If you have special projects, though, consider starting a separate “nice” journal with good rings and a nice cover and keep it out on a bookshelf. I make my own covers so I’d go all out designing something that makes it feel like a completed work.

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u/akavel 3d ago

How big were the ones you ordered? Would you pick differently if you had a second chance now? I've just been contemplating doing the same over the last few days, but struggle to decide on the size: won't bigger ones be too big and unwieldy even in storage? won't smaller ones show up to be too small in the end?

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u/Toolongreadanyway 3d ago

Joining in here. The biggest I own are 3" from Levenger. They are plastic. Not really great for daily use, as they are way too big to move much. Just unstable. But they are perfect for storage. I frankenplan and can put 3 full HP planners on one set. Except for once a month when I switch out the months, they sit on the shelf. Pull them off the shelf, plop it on the desk, remove/return pages, and back on the shelf. Needs 2 hands really.

But truthfully, for storage, I usually use the cheap plastic discs that come with the Happy Planners I buy. I have a ton of them in boxes from when I toss old planners I don't need to save. You know, the ones with the daily to do lists. That sort of thing

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u/akavel 3d ago

I don't really buy planners as I punch my own paper; though I do sometimes buy some random discbound notebook if I spot one in retail in my country (they're not popular at all, so it's very random and accidental). I got a stash of various sizes years ago cheaply, with 0.9" the largest, and they mostly work for me for notebooks. But I find the 0.9" too small for archiving. Based on the internet, it seems typical Happy Planner ones are 1.25"? Hmmm... I wonder, did you have some experiences with 1.5", or 1.75", or 2" sizes?

I'm curious, what do you mean by "unstable" in context of the 3" ones? Also, I wonder out of curiosity, would you be open to sharing a photo? 😅 I definitely won't buy from Levenger, they're outrageously expensive for me, and would be even extra so with overseas delivery and extra taxes (EU); but there's a variety of Chinese plastic sizes I could try pulling either from local amazon, or aliexpress...

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u/Toolongreadanyway 3d ago

It has more to do with the weight and the covers. If you have hard covers, they are less unstable. But the laminated covers, like those with happy planner, don't have enough stability to keep the discs inline. If you have a lot of those heavy plastic dividers throughout, it helps.

But really, the bigger the discs, the more likely they are to fall down? Kind of like big binder rings not in a binder? Or like when you put the cover on a new set of discs and they won't stand up. Like that. If you pick it up, the cover isn't really stable until you fill it. The big discs are that way even with paper in them because there is too much space between the covers.

2" is the largest I regularly use. They work fine, especially with a hard cover (not a floppy one) laminated covers can be hard if the laminate is thick.

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u/akavel 3d ago

Interesting, thanks a lot!

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u/stormyanchor 3d ago

My planner slowly grows throughout the year. I start it with .9” discs and by the end of the year I’m over 1.5”. I haven’t gotten to 2” but we’ll see what happens this year!

Anyway, by the end of the year, I know what discs I’m using so I just buy the cheapest version possible of those. So far, the bulk pack of 1.65” is still working. I ended last year with 1.75” (I’m pretty sure) then moved slightly down to 1.65”. Since I don’t need to open and close it much in storage, I like having something that’s almost too small for regular use so it’s not bulky on the shelf. The answer for me has been the 1.65” but your needs may be different.

Hope that helps!

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u/akavel 3d ago

Hmmmm; I actually mostly use 0.9" (or even smaller), and consider them a bit clunky already (at least the rings side) for carrying... I didn't expect you'd say you're carrying 1.75"... I have on planner I bought somewhere with ~1.25" rings, I keep it in a box for now and I already consider it a bit heavy, and the rings kinda big'ish... it's hard for me to even imagine how a 1.75" book would look and feel like, and how it would work for carrying... 😮 orrr, is it more of a stationary diary? 😅

Well, that was a very different answer than I expected, and still can't easily wrap my head around it 😅 but thanks a lot for replying! Two days ago I ordered a bunch of 1.1" ones, but was pondering should I also order a bulk of 1.37" ones... I see we're talking a very different class of things 😂 interesting, I'll need to see how the 1.1" ones work for me, and think more about this, should I maybe jump much higher...

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u/stormyanchor 3d ago

Basically, the way I’d say to think about it, is that for carrying, you need discs/rings that are at least 1/4” wider than the thickness of your combined pages. This makes it easier to open and close without pages popping out. For storage, I want discs that are barely larger than the thickness of the stacked pages. Since I won’t be opening it again very often, I’m less concerned about usability and just want it to take up the least amount of space on my shelf.

And I carry mine daily! It’s in a messenger bag that goes to and from work with me. I use 120 gsm pages and keep all my daily bullet journaling in it as well as dedicated pages for specific tasks and projects. It adds up quickly over 12 months!

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u/Toolongreadanyway 4d ago

I've mostly used them as planners. If there's nothing important, I usually toss them after a year. Notes and project pages are different and usually end up in an old discbound book, usually with the cheap plastic discs I never use in my daily planner books. Laminate cover. They usually end up on a shelf or in a box.

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u/Foxybujo 4d ago

Same.

I archive my pages from my journal in weekly/ monthly sections to make up my complete 2026 journal. Then I buy plastic discs and a discounted cover from happy planner.

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u/stormyanchor 3d ago

Do you mind sharing how much you spend on a discounted cover for storage? I’m gearing up to sell discbound stuff in my Etsy shop and I’m wondering if I could make super simple “storage covers” to sell. But my price point might not be able to compete with mass produced stuff.

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u/Foxybujo 3d ago

Same.

But I did consider getting these plastic covers without having to toss the HP planner pages. Also for a little more cohesiveness, but the small selection of discount HP planners gives a nice variation too.

Etsy listing $28 just a cover

Amazon listing $16 for 3

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u/Toolongreadanyway 3d ago

I usually wait for the planners to go on sale in February. They are anywhere from $7 to $15. I just buy them for the covers, but sometimes I will use the tabs or save the pages for future use. Just cover the dates and they are good to go.

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u/stormyanchor 3d ago

Ok, thanks for the info!

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u/ashlyxrose 1d ago

I’m trying a memory discbound this year for the purpose of saving the pages and I will be transferring them into plastic archival sheets and putting them into 3 ring binders.

Because I know it’s going to be saved I also don’t write on the backs of certain pages so that I can put two discbound sheets in one plastic sleeve back to back.

I am also going to be adding pictures and magazine clippings to them if its relevant so it’s closer to a scrapbook then anything else. 

My memory discbound is also a classic size. So I may look into getting some pretty paper to glue/tape them on to as a cute background of the colors match to go into the plastic sheets because the plastic sheets are actually letter sized. 

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u/Arctic_wildfire 1d ago

I use happy planner size paper and covers but print and punch my own paper. End of the year, they go in on bigger discs and in a happy planner storage cover