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GUIDE What material to use in your pin book (cork, coroplast, etc)

Hello Friends.

Very often people will ask me what I am using in the pages of my trade books / bags to hold the pins in because they notice I am just pushing them in. I use coroplast and will explain some of the benefits of using it as well as other safety measures you can take and show you examples of what it is.

Many people use various types of cork but the pins fall off and it eventually falls apart.
Coroplast is corrugated plastic and can be purchased at any sign shop. It comes in many colors but Black seems to be the color of choice. It comes in 4' x 8' sheets and cost on average $30.00 for the sheet. I get mine for $24.00 but have heard many places are more expensive.

Anyways, below I have some pics that show what it is and some practical applications.
In addition to using them in my pages, I also make loose pages with them. I always like to go the extra mile and make the pins show well and dont like to see the holes once the pins are removed so I buy stickey felt at Michaels and cover the loose boards and can mount pins to it just like as if it were in the page.

One reason I also do this is because when you are only allowed 1 trader book on a trading table, I will put one of these on the open flap of my book and 2 on the bottom giving me 3 more pages to show. Once you see the examples, you will see what I mean.

Now a good friend of mine who has mostly very expensive pins, almost all DA100 and 50's is concerned with somone removing them from his pages too easily. Well, when all of your pins are $300.00 and up, you may want to consider alternatives.

In another post, I discussed various types of locking pin backs. He does not use coroplast but rather uses a locking back on every pin.(not the allen type, the chrome self locking type I discussed in another thread. If you need info, PM me) Now for someone to get the pin off, they would have to open the velcro and each their hand in to release it making it almost impossible to steal the pin without being noticed.

Of course they can steal the entire bag but you are more likely to notice that rather than a single pin being removed. Anyways, here is what coroplast is and a few ideas. I also like it because of the ease of adding and removing pins but is also makes your pages rigid and very square and you can fit more pins and the pages are so rigid that pins dont end up touching each other from page folding.

If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. Here we go:

(THIS IS 1/8" COROPLAST)
This is what it looks like before you cut it to size. Of course it was originally 4' x 8' and I have them cut it in half to make transporting it easier.

coroplast sheet.jpg

Once I have measured the pages I cut the squares out. Regardless if putting them in the pages or just for display boards, you need 2 boards. Some people say bu thicker stock but it is not as dense and will wear out quicker as the ribs are spaced much further apart. Here is a page that I have covered in sticky felt for better presentation.

Single Show Page.jpg

A tilted view so you can see that 2 pages are being used and what the ribs look like.

Felt Covered Coroplast Display Page.jpg

Another view of a couple of completd pages.

Side View of Page Showing Coroplast.jpg

As you can see, you can fit quite a few pins on a page. This is a standard page size and these are not extremly small pins, some are pretty good size.

Felt Coverer Dosplay Page.jpg

A top view of the page again showing 2 pages and the ribs. Note that the pins are stable in the coroplast. You can turn the page upside down and pretty much shake it and the pins will not fall out and they are not easy to remove once in. It works very well and is the preferred method by most traders.

Side View Showing Coroplast.jpg

Here are a few of my loose panels. The one at the top IS smaller. It is for a smaller trading bag. These fit comfortably in the regular pin trading bag and now instead of 5 pages, you can have 8 pages and I really like when my book is open having a page on the open flap. You always see 2 pages ofpins no matter what.

View of Non-Bag Show Pages.jpg

Finally, the only difference when putting into pages in your bag is there is no need to use the felt. Here is a picture showing pins in the book and the coroplast in the page. A picture tells a thousand words so I will let it do the rest of the talking.

Pin Bag Page Showing Coroplast.jpg

I hope this helps and gives you a better way to show and trade your pins. I really like the stand alone felt boards. Great for shows too.
 
Hi!

Where do you buy the Coroplast? When you make your individual sheets in two layers, do you glue the two layers together? And I don't really get what you are doing on the last step - are the coroplast boards replacing the pages of your book, or are you placing them interstitially between the pages?

Sorry if these are lame questions! :sad:
 
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Excellent information, Dan! The Coroplast looks like it works much better than cork. I've got lots of pins on cork, which isn't ideal because the cork can hold a pin so tightly that when I remove the pin from the cork, the pin needle breaks off and stays stuck in the cork, no matter how carefully I've pulled on the pin. This doesn't happen often--but it happens often enough to make me nervous.
 
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I use to use corrugated plastic but now I use cork boards. I find that cork boards work better for me right now. I double up and haven't had any issues with it. With the plastic, once I put a pin there, it creates a hole and if I trade that pin away and put a different one in, I find that I have to put it in the exact spot or its not secure.However, the corrugated plastic I bought doesn't look like yours Dan so maybe that's why. It was white and thicker. I got it from Fedex.
 
Hi!

Where do you buy the Coroplast? When you make your individual sheets in two layers, do you glue the two layers together? And I don't really get what you are doing on the last step - are the coroplast boards replacing the pages of your book, or are you placing them interstitially between the pages?

Sorry if these are lame questions! :sad:
the coroplast is placed in between the pages.
 
First, the stuff from Fed,Ex or what for sale signs are made of is in fact coroplast but it is not 1/8".
It is important to have the ribs closer and better quality plastic. Not only is the spacing of the ribs important but also the thickness of the walls.

As for the best place to buy it, if you go to michaels or Lowes you will pay a premium. I recommend any sign shop.
I would be interested to know what Cork you are using if it works well.
Is it rigid? I just have not seen anyone with Cork who does not have pins shifting and falling out a lot.

Cork Boards are not typically all cork, they are cork Vaneer and below is a denser type of material.
If you are cutting cork boards, I can se where it may work well but it must be pretty thick.
 
One of the best sources of Coroplast are political campaignes. They have tons of the stuff for their signs. And they must get rid of it once the election has come and gone. I take full advantage of this free source when looking for stiffeners to place in my pin display bags.

The only caution is that you want to ideally get ones that have not been used or are throughly dry. Rain water can get inside the cores and takes far longer than you think to completely dry out.
 
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First, the stuff from Fed,Ex or what for sale signs are made of is in fact coroplast but it is not 1/8".
It is important to have the ribs closer and better quality plastic. Not only is the spacing of the ribs important but also the thickness of the walls.

As for the best place to buy it, if you go to michaels or Lowes you will pay a premium. I recommend any sign shop.
I would be interested to know what Cork you are using if it works well.
Is it rigid? I just have not seen anyone with Cork who does not have pins shifting and falling out a lot.

Cork Boards are not typically all cork, they are cork Vaneer and below is a denser type of material.
If you are cutting cork boards, I can se where it may work well but it must be pretty thick.

I use cork tiles that I found at Target. They are from a company called Board Dudes and each pack has 4 12x12. I think the width is 5mm. I put 2 in each sleeve so that each side of a page gets there own. The cork is soft so its easy to cut. Here's a link.. http://www.boarddudesdirect.com/ligcortil4pk.html

Since I was using the wrong kind of coroplast, I'm not sure which is better anymore but I'll try out the one you suggested whenever the cork tiles need replacing or I get another bag.
 
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I totally copied Dan's tech to construct my first real pin bag today, and it works like a charm! The 1/8th coroplast is awesome. Big thanks, Dan!

-JD
 
I would like to try the coroplast, but I have some additional questions.
1) When you have the sign shop cut the original 4' by 8' sheet in half, do you have the shop cut the sheet into two 4' by 4' squares OR into two 2' by 8' rectangles?

2) What type of glue do you use to make the two-ply boards?

3) What type of tool do you use to cut the coroplast sheet into smaller boards?

4) What dimensions work the best for use inside the pages of a large pin bag?
 
Bumping this up, because I would like to know what size works best for inside the pages of a standard large Disney pin bag. I have to totally rework my DL bags, and the sea grass boards worked out so well, I would like to try this.

And has anyone actually ordered from the place JKrolak listed above?
 
I use coroplast too, and i got mine from "helping" clean up the signs after elections...hee hee!

My only issue is, while yes, coroplast is EXTREMELY secure and pins stay in, my nails and tips of my fingers are killing me trying to pull out pins when i need to, to the point where i'm considering using something different just so my nails stop ripping and my fingers stop hurting. Any solutions to this or has anyone else had this problem? maybe it's just me...? =(
 
My only issue is, while yes, coroplast is EXTREMELY secure and pins stay in, my nails and tips of my fingers are killing me trying to pull out pins when i need to, to the point where i'm considering using something different just so my nails stop ripping and my fingers stop hurting. Any solutions to this or has anyone else had this problem? maybe it's just me...? =(

Try keep a guitar pick in your pocket, it works great!
 
I use a pry tool of the kind used for opening electronics (chiefly iPods and cell phones). Search eBay for "safe pry tool" and you can get one for 3.99, shipped.

-JD
 
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