Punch A Little, Punch A Bunch … Punch ‘Til Ya Can’t Punch No More!
Written: Dec 26 '03 (Updated Dec 26 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Crisp, clear holes, ten sheet capacity, removable bottom to empty punched pieces.
Cons: Can’t cut thought multiple pages of thick plastic or cardboard.
The Bottom Line: Homeschooler? Small home office? Sick of pay for pre-punched paper? Invest in this convenient three hole punch for perfect punches every single time.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Master Light-Duty 3-Hole Punch 10-Sheet Capacity B... |
The small portable three hole punch I’d been using for several years finally gave out and broke about a month ago. Aside from all the use I threw at it, the poor thing also had to contend with my boys using it every single day to organize their homework assignments and other papers that they store in binders. The former three hole punch was a smaller version of this type of punch but lacked a collection tray under the unit so if you were punching more than a few sheets, you had to clean up a pile of circles when you were done. This one is also heavier, more durable and built to last … but the boys will be the ultimate test of that. If it can survive their heavy hands … it is indeed a worthy investment.
Master Light Duty 3 Hole Punch
Don’t let the term “light duty” fool you, that just means that the maximum number of sheets it will cut at one time is about ten depending on the thickness and weight of the paper. The all steel construction means that it is heavier than the ones that are part plastic / part metal, something that initially concerned me because the boys would be suing this just as much as I would. My boys might be eggheads but they are also pretty uncoordinated [read: complete klutzes] so I know its only a matter of time before it lands on someone’s foot. After giving them the usual speech about how it isn’t a toy, shouldn’t be used as a makeshift Star Wars weapon and under no circumstances be used as a projectile weapon, I handed them a stack of papers that needed to be punched and let them at it.
Once again proving that children are without a doubt the single greatest source of free entertainment, my oldest slide his glasses back up his nose, grabbed a few sheets of paper and shoved them into the paper guide. He pulled them out and shoved them back in again. He repeated this over and over until he turned around and looked at me. “Is it plugged in?” I almost fell on the floor laughing – he and the rest of the brood fully expected me to purchase an electric hole punch to replace the other one. Sorry kiddo, this is a 100% human power puncher – something they really, really moaned, groaned and bellowed about. Since the boys were less than enthusiastic about this, I grabbed some paper from the stack and started punching away.
Since this has an all metal construction it doesn’t wobble around when you press down on the lip, you’ll hear the metal pierce the paper and a slight squeak [for lack of a better word] as the lip hits the bottom of the reach and as it starts to retract but it isn’t something that will get on your nerves if you have hundreds of sheets to punch. Pressing down on the lip requires a little muscle but not so much that you’ll be cracking a sweat or burning calories. If there is one fatal design flaw to this punch its that there are no open spaces on the lip, this means you have to use the palm of your hand to press down on it to get it to go through all the sheets. The manufacturer says that this will cut up to ten sheets of 20 pound paper but when I tried ten sheets at once I got some small pucker markers around the first and third hole – almost like the bottom two sheets were resisting the cutter and the paper was getting pushed through it instead of being cut. Personally, its easier to cut six or seven sheets and get the placement exactly where I want it than to try and rush through it to get them all done at once and have to go back and repunch the ones that came out a little sloppy or off center.
The True Test
I tried this out on a variety of different papers and stocks – your typical photocopy paper [20 pound] cuts perfectly up to eight sheets. Plastic sheets, similar to Shrinky Dink paper, are best done one at a time – or at the very most two at a time. Thicker card stock can be cut up to three sheets at a time, any more than that and the cutting prongs can’t make crisp cuts and will bend the edges slightly. Cardboard and foam board / foam core are pretty much a no-no for this puncher since most sheets won’t fit inside the cutting area and if they do, you really need to jump down on the lip to get it to cut through. For crafters who are looking to make standard sized holes in stiffened felt, this will work in a pinch but chances are it will drag the edge and stretch it. You are better off sticking with a hand held single hole punch instead of this.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are punching more than a few sheets with a portable puncher, cleaning up can be a real issue. Those little circles tend to get everywhere – sort of like the silver tinsel on the tree – you find them months later in the most bizarre places. With this unit there is a small chamber under the unit that holds a majority of the punched pieces. You will need to empty this often if you are doing a lot of sheets but it’s easy to do and snapping it backing to place takes about five seconds.
Price
I picked this up for $12.99 at my local Office Depot and looked at several different models before I decided on this one. I didn’t need to cut more than ten pages at once nor did I really feel that an automatic puncher was a necessity [contrary to what the brood may think] so I narrowed it down to about four different models. The others were plastic and metal combinations – variations of ones I’d used in the past and just didn’t last all that long. For under $15.00 this is a great purchase for someone that does a moderate but not excessive amount of hole punching and would be great for small classrooms, home schoolers or crafters.
The Bottom Line
So far this has been a great product and is a huge improvement over the older one that gave out after being a faithful office companion. For less than fifteen dollars this is a well made, sturdy and strong piece of equipment that should last for years if properly taken care of. There aren’t any positionable guides on the edges so you are stuck with the 8 1/2 X 11 size paper so if you are looking for a puncher that will allow you to work with various sized papers, check out the others in the series. This is a pretty safe thing for kids to use unless they try to stick their fingers into the cutting areas – even then they would have to have some mighty small fingers to get in into the area where the prongs press in to the paper. If you are looking for a well made puncher than will last a lot longer than the cheaper plastic ones but don’t want to spend a fortune for an electric one, I highly suggest checking this one out.
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2003 Freak369
Other office essentials …
Oxford Blank 4 x 6 Index Cards
Bic Shake 'N Squeeze Correction Pen
3M Scotch Removable Magic Tape
Eldon Catch All
Recommended:
Yes
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