How do I open a TwinLock Crown binder?
August 3, 2011 8:07 AM   Subscribe

I have a TwinLock Crown binder made in the UK dating from 1950. I would very much like to open it, remove the pages, scan them, and replace them. However, although it looks like it can be opened, the binding mechanism is entirely obscured by the binding itself. There is a metal tab at the top near the front, but it doesn't seem to move, and I'm hesitant to put pressure on it since I don't know in what direction that pressure should be applied, and I'd rather leave it closed than break it. How can I do this; is it even possible?

My Google-fu only reveals endless ads for today's version of the product, describing a "lifting bar for easy removal of pages," but I don't know what that means, how it's supposed to work, or if it even applies to my older model. Oh, and there was one other person on another website asking the same question who was told to try a hacksaw.

Any advice, even if it's to just give it up, will be greatly appreciated.
posted by Devoidoid to Grab Bag (3 answers total)
 
pictures might help. I seem to remember playing with an old Twinlock as a kid, and having to be shown how it worked.
posted by scruss at 8:23 AM on August 3, 2011


It's hard to tell without a picture, but I remember an old binder with a crown stamped on it and a metal tab ... Does yours have 2 covers? An outer one that looks pretty normal, with the tab, and what looks like an inner folder with cardboard jackets?

If so, maybe it's like mine. The outer cover's spine contains a spring which runs the length of the spine; the spring is C-shaped in cross-section. The inner jacket has a small stiff spine which slips inside the opening of the C. The C clamps down on the inner jacket, whose little spine keeps it from slipping out of the C.

To open it, you bend the outer cover backwards, like you were cracking the spine on a paperback. By opening the covers extremely wide, you open the C and it lets go of the inner jacket. You can slide out the inner jacket and get full access to the papers it contains.

As far as I know, the tab is just a bottom stop that keeps the papers from sliding out of the inner jacket as the binder stands on the shelf, if it's not full enough to get a good grip from the C. (I'm a little dubious about that part, though - the tab is something of a mystery still.)
posted by Quietgal at 8:36 AM on August 3, 2011


Best answer: Hey, guess what, I figured it out... the tab I've been pulling on? It's a push-button. A tiny push down and it pops right open. Thanks for trying though! If I hadn't asked such a long-winded question I would never have worked it out.
posted by Devoidoid at 8:57 AM on August 3, 2011


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