FranklinCovey - Metal Hole Punch - 7-Hole Punch for Adding Pages to Planners (Classic)

Excellent quality! Highly recommend. Only 4 sheets at a time, but remember you are punching more than twice as many holes compared to a standard 3-hole punch that usually limits you to 8 to 10 sheets.Update on March 2016. After 5 months, still going strong. But I never punch more than 4 sheets, so I think that may be why some people have problems with reliability. But I have punched hundreds of pages, still works flawlessly. Also, if you are a pilot and wonder if this works for Jeppessen Aeronautical charts/approach plates - yes. this is the same paper size if you are creating your own content for your binders, as I do and want to be able to punch holes into pages that align perfectly with the 7-ring binder. (This page size is 5.5 inch X 8.5 inch - or one standard 8 1/2 X 11 sheet folded in half -(the 11 inch length being the folded part - had to say it for clarity)). This really is a solid, heavy and high-quality little punch. The bottom black plastic base snaps off, similar to a tupperware lid, to dump the hole punches, and replaces easily.

This is a great little product. I had tried several less expensive, off brand punches in the past but could never seem to get the holes to line up properly for my Franklin Covey classic (5.5 x 8.5) organizer. So I finally decided to cave in and buy the Franklin Covey punch. I was able to get it used through Amazon at a very decent price, and you would NEVER know the product was used. Looks and functions like a brand new piece of equipment. I ordered it Tuesday afternoon and it was at my door at 2pm the very next day!! With free standard shipping. And the money it will save me by allowing me to make/print and use my own refills will MORE THAN pay for the cost of the punch. Yes, you can only do 4 sheets at a time, but to save the hassle of the holes being misaligned, I really don't mind at all. Overall I am 110% satisfied with this purchase and would recommend this to others in a heartbeat.

This hole puncher seems to be working very well so far. I have found that I can use it to punch 5x8 inch index cards which fit quite nicely in my binder and come in various colors so I can use a different color for a certain subject. I am sure it would also work well on thinner paper or watercolor paper, etc. The real question however is how well will this punch work a few years down the road? I've only had the punch for a few weeks and haven't used it that much so far. I would think, however, that it should keep working OK since it seems to be well constructed, but I did notice in some of the other reviews for this product, this was not the case. I will check back in on this next year at this time with an update. But so far, I am very happy with my particular hole punch!

Works well. Nice looking. The smaller size means than there’s no full-length guide for the paper, so you have to be a bit careful lining it up, but that’s easy to get used to.It’s pretty much the only solution left if you use your own pages in 7-hole planners that take 5.5” x 8.5” paper. Acco now owns all the major planner brands (including Franklin Covey), and Swingline. They have discontinued all other 7-hole punches* and raised the price of a 32-sheet pack of 5.5” x 8.5” notes fillers to $9.50. (To give you an idea of how expensive that is, at that price, a ream of paper would cost $290.)*Theoretically, you can create a 7-hole punch by adding punches to some Swingline heavy-duty 3-hole punches, At a cost of $18 each, or $72 for four, plus the cost of the 3-hole, you’re at about $120 for this solution.

This is heavy construction and is all-metal except for the bottom/tray that holds the "chads". It works best if you put it on a sturdy desk surface. Resist the temptation to hold it in the air and punch, because that could cause your stock to move and get punched incorrectly.In my experience so far, this unit punches up to 6 sheets of 24 pound paper, but you may have to push really hard on it to do that. As heavy as the punch is, it's only stamped metal and not cast. That means it's not made to take your body weight, plus I think that will make the punch slugs dull faster, so I punch only 3-4 sheets at a time. I am also a fountain pen user, so I use heavier paper to reduce soak-through and "feathering". 24# paper can still soak through with most medium nibs, so eventually, I will try a heavier 28# paper. Heavier paper will put more wear and tear on this punch, so I figure it'll probably be best to stick to 3-4 sheets or less.I oiled mine on the sides of the punches (where they slide against the frame) as well as on the back ends (where the underside of the lever/handle contacts them and pushes them downward), and after working in the oil, I had to punch a number of scrap sheets to get the oil to stop coming out on the paper. 3-in-1 or any light machine oil will help to improve the action. Even a thin vegetable oil would probably work just as well.I am happy with this punch and I'm thinking of buying another one so that I'll have one at home and another at work. Having one at work might help me in the event that I need to print a document, punch it, and file it in my organizer. Or punch receipts or business cards, etc. Or maybe I'll program an Excel spreadsheet to print a month of blank-day templates at a time. Having a punch handy at work will open up the possibilities quite a lot.