Review - Alain Berteau disc bound felt notebook

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[@paulhorn24]

Atoma from Belgium makes notebooks since 1948 with rings and punched paper, which lie completely flat and never tend to close itself while writing. If you don‘t have enough space, turn on half of the notebook 180 degrees and you use only half of the space of the notebook. You can change the order of the sheets, put them in another notebook, or interchange them.

[@paulhorn24]

I didn’t know, that this is an official product of the Atoma company. From their website: „Alain Berteau Designworks is active in the domains of product design, architecture and creative direction. He teaches design since 2003 at the "La Cambre" institute in Brussels. […]“ This notebook also exists in a cardboard version.

[@azuritet3]

I recently fell in love with disk binding systems. Tul brand A5 was my first choice. Finding new options is difficult because Google is so bad at giving me what I'm actually looking for.

[@Shmyrk]

Wow this seems perfect for notecards!

[@battybibliophile-Clare]

I have the felt binder in this size and a bigger one. I don't like ruled paper, so I use dotted or plain paper. I think the paper is superior to Moleskine. I have the punch, so can whatever comes to hand. I think these are my second favourite disc binders, may favourite is Wm. Hannah. I use a finepoint pen so the bleedthough and feathering is less and Noodlers black never gets near my pens. Have some black aluminium discs in a large size. I just need a hefty cover to go with them.

[@Flatability]

I agree. Paper is definitely better than Moleskine’s, at least for fountain pen ink. No, I don’t generally like lined paper either (at least on this size). Let me know what you think of the punch, presumably the one made by Atoma themselves? Would you say that the mechanism feels good enough to last many years?

[@battybibliophile-Clare]

I have the ARC which is fine. The Atoma was expensive but is good quality and hardwearing

[@Flatability]

@@battybibliophile-Clare that’s very interesting. I have experimented with interchanging ARC sheets with Atoma ones. I was quite surprised that they seemed OK, despite the differences in the shape of the cut out. I’ll certainly be talking about this in a future podcast.

[@battybibliophile-Clare]

@@Flatability great idea.

[@Flatability]

May I ask, how is the felt bearing up, in your two binders? Does it get softer, and more playable? And, if it has become softer, has this affected the ability of the felt to grip the discs? My plan is to keep the felt clean by periodically washing it, so I’m curious about the effect this might have on the felt’s structural integrity.

[@qiqerod]

Is there a slight bigger size than this one you showing but still pocketable? I really want to start using disc bound notebooks. Seems to be a more efficient system.

[@Flatability]

Yes. But you will need to make your own pages. I make pages that measure 80x150nm, so slightly bigger than this.

[@qiqerod]

@@Flatability got it. I do love making my own pages. Tomoe river being favorite paper. Have you tried the William Hannah ones? Those got my attention. I just worried they look a bit wide/thick to put in pockets.

[@Flatability]

What I do is just use two cards, one at each end, rather than being enclosed in any leather cover. And then, if and when the card wears out, I just make a new one. I quite like the minimalist look.

[@qiqerod]

@@Flatability I will indeed try this way. Thank you again

[@InktronicsBlog]

I forgot to ask, do you think the felt will hold up to repeated disc removal? I am not sure if removal would be necessary but I don’t know why I would be worried about that.

[@Flatability]

That’s a really good question. I just don’t know, but I think I’ll be using this as an “in-box” and I intend to carry it frequently, perhaps in rotation with other binders being used in this way. I will certainly be monitoring the felt, and reporting any issues in due course, probably in one of my “coffee break” videos. PS - I’ve incorporated your “active note taking” idea. I quite like that, so many thanks for the suggestion.

[@InktronicsBlog]

@@Flatability I cannot take any credit for active note taking as I think you have me confused with someone else.