It is HEAVY solid metal everywhere except for the punch catch tray, which is a very durable, thick plastic

strong metal

The hole punch has a solid metal 'paper stop' at one end that you can flip up to give you a nice edge to line up all your papers so each stack you punch has the holes in the same place

I wanted something that was solid metal and would last me for another three decades like my last puncher that I'm pretty sure my dad used in college

It was constantly breaking as she tries to punch a lot of stuff all at once.