filofax Scanda personal size

A quite rare and unusual filofax. Rare due to its original high cost and unusual for two reasons, firstly this filofax has a closure strap as opposed to a popper of zip closure. Secondly the appearance of the distressed leather, tells the eye that its hard, tough or coarse. That is until you handle it and you find that it is soft, cushioned and flexible.

Brown in colour with blue accents, sounds odd but it works. Inside there are two pen loops, six card sleeves, larger document sleeve and a large flexible cash or document pouch or sleeve at the back. The 23mm ringshave a leather cover to the ring plate, a feature I have only seen upon the "Luxe" model previously.

The strap closure actually works quite well, I say that as I had previously imagined that this method of keeping the papers in place, meant that you had to limit what was contained or it may come undo during handling or on the move, but the strap on the Scanda seems to stay in place, even if you fill the rings with inserts.

I have not come across this model in other sizes and I suspect that it was only made in personal size.
(171 x 95mm inserts)

Lefax Facts Highway & Surveying Tables

The information available in the form of a Lefax binder, many years ago was so amazing and interesting. The example I have here is a personal sized binder Leaf & facts for Highway & Surveying Tables, is crammed full of calculations for the road and bridge building engineer.
The original owner L D Purdin used this during the 1940's and the binder still contains the pencil notes made when it was in use. Remarkably the binder is still in one piece. I have taken a few pictures so that you can get an idea of the amount of information contained within the Lefax.

Gillio firenze leather planners

I must admit to being fairly new to Gillio products, but better late than never. My first Gillio was a Green and cream Compagna, purchased from a lovely lady on ebay in 2017. As soon as I received it I could understand why there were so many passionate Gillio owners out there. The leather is probably the best I have seen upon a leather binder, and certainly in the same league as The Bridge, some Franlkin and Van Der Spek leathers. Since then I am now the proud owner of several and all being the Medium Compagna version, as for me this is the most versatile and practical model for those using personal size (171 x 95mm) inserts. There are other alternatives available, from Mini to A5, including genuine A6 binders for papers 150mm long.

The Gillio binders are handmade and available in such a wide range of coloured leathers, but that comes at a price as the colour you may want, may not be on the shelf, thus you may have to wait months for it to become available. That said I believe you will found a style and colour that you will like within quite a short time, as Gillio seem to release a few each month.

The cost of the binders is higher than most, with a new Compagna costing around £250 subject to the exchange rate of euros. Smaller Mini and pocket versions of course cost less and larger A5 Mia Cara versions, have a price tag of around £600. Arguable you will only ever need one, because the quality is very good indeed. I have had reason to contact Gillio, regarding a couple of issues and they have sorted them as quickly as was possible, so that was also reassuring also.

If you do decide to own and use a Gillio leather binder, I am confident that you will not be disappointed.

Refurbishing a 2MLF 7/8 vintage filofax

I recently received a vintage filofax that was in need of a little TLC. The filofax 2MLF 7/8 in black Moroccan leather was structurally good but had the button missing, rust spots on the ring plate and was very dirty.
I set to work on the rings first, these were nice and tight and snapped shut, therefore I removed the ring plate using a blade and a plastic card to protect the leather. I cleaned the inside mechanism and oiled lightly. I scraped the rust spots from the ring plate and cleaned with a mild household cleaner, buffing with a micro fibre cloth.

The leather as I said was dirty and needed a good leather cleaner to remove the grime, but it came off to reveal little in the way of wear. Once dry I buffed the leather and replaced the ring plate, this left just the button. I had a spare filofax button from a damaged filofax, so I prepared the popper on the filofax, by removing any debris from the original button, cleaned and applied the replacement button using super glue. after a minute or two it was sound in position. Apart from tidying a few threads my work was done and I am chuffed with the results and hope you like the filofax 2MLF 7/8 Black.

PMS leather ring binders

Many will not be familiar with the PMS brand and this is an advantage, if your seeking a quality leather binder at a low cost.
The handmade leather binder, krause rings and durable design are favourable for longevity, thus usually equate to a bargain upon an auction site.

Lefax forms

Refill pages for your filofax or other similar ring binder planners, actually cover very few subjects, compared to what was available years ago. The list of available forms from Lefax in the 1940's to the 1970's was vast to sat the least. The photographs are of a Blank forms index, from Lefax during the 1960's. Blank forms for "Farm Property", "Physician's Ledger", "Music Staff", and "Stock movement chart" to name but a few.

Franklin Covey Classic A5 zip tan leather

One of my most beautiful organisers, the Franklin Covey full grain leather tan zipped organiser binder. Its a Classic A5 size with 30mm rings, lots of storage yet seems fairly slender and compact to travel with, due to the rounded edges and zip closure.
I bought this in 1999 from America and although I have used other A5 organisers since, nothing else I have used has the same combination of quality, practicality and raw finesse.