I finally found a way to keep my signatures from shifting while I punch, a scrap of chipboard fixed it

Shane Williams · 2026-09-25T20:10:03.325361+00:00

I bind a lot of single signature notebooks and my holes never lined up right when I punched 12 sheets at once. I tried clamping with binder clips and even bought a $30 punch jig but the stack still slid maybe a millimeter on the third or fourth stab. Earlier this week I cut a strip of 20pt chipboard the same height as the signature, wrapped it around the fold, and punched straight through it with the stack. The chipboard holds the paper tight and the holes came out clean on all 8 signatures I did for a batch of travel journals. It also stopped the tear-out I kept getting on the first and last sheets. Curious if anyone here punches through a folded template instead, or if there is a better way to hold thicker signatures steady.

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I finally found a way to keep my signatures from shifting while I punch, a scrap of chipboard fixed it | Bookbinders - Rigidtalk