Help! Cardstock vs Chipboard

Mar '22 Ajhksu

Can anyone point me to help in comparing 80lb, 100lb, 120lb cardstock and 20pt, 24pt, 32pt chipboard??? I'm finding bits and pieces on each, but no true comparison. I don't want to have to buy everything to compare and then send back or have a bunch extra around that I can't use for something else.

My project is to put a sturdy piece into a page protector to make my own dividers for odd-sized 3ring binders. So, somewhat durable, but doesn't have to be indestructible. I would like them to match and can't find plain plastic ones in all one color. I have already search etsy, but my sizes are too odd. Thank you!
Mar '22 Jess E

I can't do comparison's, but the higher you go in chipboard, the heavier it will be in thickness. I make album covers out of med or heavy weight chipboard. Think of it similarly to cereal boxes (like the 50pt is a heavy chipboard).
For what you want to do, I would go with heavy cardstock, or lightweight chipboard. I don't think you'd need or want the weight of medium or heavy chipboard in a page protector, which probably wouldn't fit well thickness wise. Do you have a JoAnn's or michaels store, where you could slice the corner of a package just to feel the weight?
Mar '22 Dawna.s Place

@Ajhksu to help answer your question about paper and chipboard, their various weights, comparisons, etc., SB has an incurable resource on their blog called "Everything You Want to Know about Paper." There is a topic menu on the right hand side of the page so you can easily scroll through the topics to find what you'd like to know. You'll find paper and chipboard in the topics menu. Here's a link to the resource: https://www.scrapbook.com/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-paper?cat=research

If all your trying to do is create binder dividers, I'd recommend Medium Weight chipboard. It will fit into your page protectors as page protectors are slightly larger than 12x12. Medium weight is sturdy enough to lift and separate your contents without bending. If you are really wanting plastic dividers instead, I'd recommend that you search "Record Dividers" on Amazon. They are all white, heavy duty 12x12 plastic and have a 1/3 or 1/5 tabs on the top for flipping through. Be sure to carefully check the dimensions to make sure these fit into your page protectors. I'm sure the 12x12's will fit with the tabs sticking up out of "top loading" page protectors. Be aware that these are quite a bit more expensive than medium weight chipboard. I hope that helps. Wishing you luck as you get your binders organized.
Mar '22 Lisn2cats

Also, if you are like me and need to feel the paper, visit your local office center (Staples, etc.) and go to the area where the do copy and print production. They usually have samples. Also Google some paper sites (like cardstock-warehouse or 12x12 Cardstock) and see if they offer free paper swatches. I'm lucky that I used to do a lot of print projects for my jobs and got to know paper distributors who gave me boxes of samples. You can also Google free paper samples - PaperDirect still offers a kit.