I have a love hate relationship with Kickstarter when it comes to pens and notebooks. Sometimes there is just overkill on certain products, or there are certain products that really don’t seem to have any reason to exist. These refillable bamboo notebooks by VEN Class though just look really amazing. The natural bamboo and the intricate laser cut latticework on the binding to make them flexible looks amazing. You can see more on Kickstarter here.
The video above shows the laser cutting process used to make the covers on these VEN Class Bamboo Refillable notebooks. Its actually rather soothing to watch the clean lines of the laser cleanly slice through the bamboo to bring this notebook to life.
My only concern is that the description says the notebooks are refillable and can be replaced with your favorite A5 size notepad if you don’t want to buy their standard refills. I had to dig into the comments on the Kickstarter page to find out how notepads are attached, and the explanation is that there are Chicago Screws used, which I had to Google. I have a feeling that there is a certain amount of hacking to your own favorite notebook would have to be done in order to use it with this bamboo cover. I wish they had some pictures, but because I didn’t back this (yet) I can’t ask questions on the campaign page.
It looks like the campaign has reached its funding goal, so they will be produced. Its worth noting that this was the second shot at these as the first attempt didn’t succeed. I was surprised to see that with only 7 days left, these don’t have more backers, although they have hit almost 300% of the funding goal. Again, check it out for yourself here on Kickstarter, and if you do fund these refillable bamboo notebooks, make sure to ask about a picture of the screws. 🙂
A “Chicago Screw” is also commonly known as a “Sex Bolt” or “Post Bolt”. It is a flat-headed screw that screws into a threaded barrel which also has a flat head. Sex bolts are often used for holding punched paper pads down against a rigid backing, taking the place of the clip used in a clip-board for example. The flat heads allow the board to sit almost flush and do not interfere with a closing cover. Do a Wikipedia search for Sex Bolt to see a (100% SFw) picture.
When it comes to how the notebook is mounted in this Kickstarter laser-cut wood cover, I agree with Brian here – the Kickstarter description is either (at-best) incomplete, or (at-worst) misleading. How a Sex Bolt is used to mount the notebook is not shown or described at all. I would be doubly cautious if in the question, this problem is not address.
I have some experience with these laser-cut deformable flexible joints. I tried using solid hardwood veneer sheets and had poor results. The joints did not hold up well when repeatedly flexed, as in the cover hinge of a box or enclosure. Like the Kickstarter notebook cover, I kept the wood grain perpendicular to the joint to make it stronger. I have doubts as to how long the spine in these notebooks will hold up, especially if the book is repeatedly tossed around in a backpack.
@David – Thanks as always for the incredibly detailed extra information! Incredibly valuable. 🙂
Just a guess, but from the shot of the three different colors at the top of this post, the bolts must screw through the back cover and secure the notebook to it. If so, I would think it would be awkward to the open the pages so they stay flat. The left hand page would also be unusable.
I’m not sure bamboo this thin will hold up, especially if carried around. I had a bamboo iphone case a few years ago that looked cool, but one small drop and it started to fall apart. Maybe I’m wrong, but just wanted to share my experience with thin bamboo