MyBinding Knowledge Base
What are some good Chalkboards?
One of the most important parts of any classroom is a high-quality chalkboard. After all, the blackboard is the heart of the room as well as a necessary tool to help you get your point across and communicate your ideas to your students. Whether you teach kindergarten or college, you need to choose a board that’s well-made and has an affordable price. This list of five great chalkboards should give you an idea of products you should consider.
- Quartet Lap Boards. These are some of the smallest chalkboards you can buy. They are designed for use by students at their desks and are small enough so that even the smallest hands can grasp them. (The smallest size is 9″ x 12″.) These products would be great when teaching students how to read and write, and you can choose between lined and unlined varieties.
- Balt Best-Rite Porcelain Steel Chalkboards. If you need a really high-quality board, Best-Rite makes some of the finest heavy-duty ones around. These products have a green porcelain steel surface that won’t ghost and they can double as a magnetic bulletin board. The surface won’t fade or become discolored, and each one has a map rail and full-length accessory tray. Several different sizes are available, all the way up to 4′ x 16′, and they all come with an impressive 50-year guarantee.
- Quartet Black Porcelain Classroom Chalkboards. These products are absolutely perfect for the classroom, whether you work in an elementary school or university. These blackboards have a super smooth porcelain surface that’s completely resistant to ghosting. It also won’t dent and you can’t scratch it. The surface is also magnetic. Each blackboard has a wrap-around aluminum frame as well as a chalk tray for all of your writing implements. Like the Best-Rite products, these Quartet blackboards are backed by a 50-year surface guarantee.
- Ghent Magnetic Porcelain Chalkboards. If your school is keeping an eye on its budget, these products are just what you need. These are reasonably priced boards that are magnetic and have a porcelain surface so you don’t have to sacrifice quality in an attempt to save money. These boards are magnetic and they come in two colors: black and green. You won’t need to chalk yours in before use, which will help you save some time.
- Quartet Standard Black Classroom Blackboards. These blackboards feature both great Quartet quality and a reasonable price. They are simple, economical boards with a smooth black surface and aluminum frame. Each one has a full-length chalk rail and they come with a 5-year surface guarantee. These products aren’t magnetic and they’re not made of porcelain, but they’re still a terrific, basic blackboard that can help you teach you classes.
< Over the years, a number of customers have asked me whether they can use twin loop wire with their plastic comb binding machine. These customers often don’t want to have to buy a brand new machine but like the look and feel of twin loop wire binding. However, the answer to their question isn’t as simple as it seems. You see, they actually do make twin loop wire that is designed to work with the plastic comb binding hole pattern. With that said, if you want to use these wires you are going to need a way to close the wires. What is Spiral-O Wire? Let me explain a little bit more…There is a product that we carry called Spiral-O Wire. This wire has 19 loops and is designed to work with the hole pattern from a plastic comb binding machine. Spiral-O Wire is sometimes called Wire Combs or Ibico Wire and was originally designed for use with some of the older Ibico binding machines. A number of the older Ibico plastic comb binding machines also included a twin loop wire closer on the front of them to allow users to use both plastic combs and wire. This 19 loop wire was designed for this purpose. What Equipment is Needed? As the Ibico brand has been phased out by GBC and all of the older Ibico plastic binding machines have been replaced with new models, they no longer have the twin loop wire closer on the front of them. This presents a problem in trying to use these spiral-o wires since you can’t use the wires without a way to close them. One of the only options left is to purchase a Twin Loop wire closer. However, since twin loop wire closers are not incredibly cheap this option usually only appeals to users who have larger electric plastic comb binding machines. Otherwise, it is often advisable to simply buy a low end 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine (the supplies are cheaper). This being said, if you have one of the older Ibico binding machines that has a wire closer included you are in luck. The Spiral-O binding supplies that we carry will work perfectly with your machine and you will be able to use both plastic combs and wire depending on your needs. These Spiral-O binding supplies are available in Black, Silver, White, Blue and Red and in sizes up to 1″ in diameter. If you aren’t sure what type of wire binding supplies that you need to work with your machine simply give us a call. Our trained sales representatives will be glad to help you find the correct supplies for use with your machine.(Read More)
