What are Binding Posts?

What are binding posts? Binding posts are one of the easiest ways to bind documents, so it is no surprise why they are the choice option for large documents and proposals, mechanical blueprints and designs, fabric swatches, legal paperwork, and much more. They just screw together, and unscrew as-needed. They consist of a two-piece set, a screw and a post. Also called Chicago screws or screw posts, these document binder posts are effective, can bind incredibly thick documents, affordable, and require no machines, except a basic hole puncher.

Here are the most popular binding posts on the market, and a bit about each of them...

① Aluminum Binding Posts

Aluminum binding posts are a very popular document binding solution for legal documents because of their ability to handle any thickness of pages. Yes, any thickness. They are also easy to use, can be opened quickly to edit pages, and require no complicated or time consuming punching or equipment; all you need is a hole puncher.

Aluminum screw posts have two pieces in a set; a male and a female piece, or a screw and a post. To use them, just place the post through your punched hole. The inside of the post is threaded to fit perfectly with the screw, so you just screw the other piece into the post to secure it around your pages. You can do this by hand, or use a screw driver to get an extra tight bind. Easy to edit, just unscrew.

They come in sizes from 1/8″ to 5″ thick capacities, and can also be expanded upon with binding post extensions, meaning your potential sheet capacity is endless. They also come in a few colors, including silver, black, gold, or antique brass.

② Steel Binding Posts

Steel binding posts work exactly the same as the aluminum ones, but they are made of a zinc coated steel, so are more durable. Their sizes are a bit more limits, available up to a 2″, but again, extension posts are available to expand the capacity more. Steel screw posts are edited the same way; by just unscrewing the binder posts and screwing them back together.

③ Plastic Binding Posts

Plastic binding posts are a little different. Yes, because they are made of plastic instead of metal, but also because of the way they bind together and how they are edited. Plastic screw posts still have the threading to allow for actually screwing the two pieces together, however, they are a bit more difficult to do this with — most users will actually snap them together, instead of screw them, which makes them a semi-permanent bind. The threads create a tight grip that is very hard to pull apart once snapped. This makes them popular for final drafts of legal documents that are not to be edited and need a permanence.

About the Author • Mallory Morsa is the product expert and content specialist at Binding101, and has been a valued team member since 2008. She started her career here in customer service, moved onto sales supervisor, product management, and then onto content. She takes a hands-on approach to products, and truly gets to know how every item works before she writes about them, with a goal to give you all of the honest information you need to make a confident buying decision. She has a bachelor's degree with a focus on management and marketing, and has been a writer, photographer, and videographer for many years. In her free time, she loves to read by the pool, volunteer at the local animal shelter in the kitten nursery, and snuggle her three furbabies while she binge watches Netflix.