Medium-Duty Paper Cutter Or Trimmer?

[Plume145]

By 'medium-duty' I mean something in between the wimpy cutters meant for the home/craft/general small office use, and those big brutes used in larger offices and copy shops that can cut through a whole ream in one go - which are both too expensive and far too big to store for me.

 

Is there something like the bind-it-all craft binding machine but for cutting? Something I can use to cut 400-500 gsm in one go, without having the blade 'chew' the paper or having to see-saw across the paper over and over to get a cut, and without the usual problem with guillotines where if you try to cut a stack some of the pages move as you bring down the arm of the cutter.

 

I don't even know what to look for - keywords like 'heavy duty' paper cutter etc only bring back results with the aforementioned big brutes. TBH, I'd love one of those, I see them at the copy shop and drool, but even if I could find one for peanuts at a liquidation or whatever, I don't have the space to store it.

 

Suggestions, advice, cautionary tales, group whinge...?

 

 

 

 

[ac12]

I picked one up at an estate sale.

It is a small guillotine cutter.

It is a bit bigger than the common office pivoted blade cutters which some call a guillotine cutter.

It is hidden in the garage, for now, because as you said, it takes up a lot of space in a home office.

 

BTW if the stack moves, you are trying to cut too many sheets.

[SallyLyn]

Random thoughts. You want something like they use to use in schools in '60's. Staples or such should have such a thing. Something to do with crafts?

 

diyplanner.com many years ago had discussions about midweight trimmers, don't know how you do a good search to find.

 

fiskars is a brand that makes all kinds of cutting devices. I have a light, couple sheet trimmer, their brand. Uses razor blades, but they have larger.

 

Let us know what you find. Makes us all smarter.

[Pentulant]

Here's the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Swingline-ClassicCut-Guillotine-Trimmer-Capacity/dp/B00006IATG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1385488729&sr=8-4&keywords=paper+cutter

 

 

I like it - cuts well, has measures on the board. It's a bit clunky and so it stays on a counter. It says it cuts 15 sheets - maybe of Tomoe River Paper, but not heavier papers.

 

I also have a smaller Fiskars cutter that stays in the drawer - would only use one sheet of paper at a time in those. They often come with replacement blades and can be found in craft stores.

[Plume145]

Woah, the more I research this thing, the more lost I feel! hehe. In more detail

I picked one up at an estate sale.

It is a small guillotine cutter.

It is a bit bigger than the common office pivoted blade cutters which some call a guillotine cutter.

It is hidden in the garage, for now, because as you said, it takes up a lot of space in a home office.

 

BTW if the stack moves, you are trying to cut too many sheets.

yeah, I know about the stack moving being a sign of too many sheets. Problem is the guillotine I have now (which is probably older than me and I doubt it was that high-end and it's definitely not been particularly well-cared for) starts to do that with just 3-4 fairly lightweight sheets. That's why I'm looking for something else - basically I'm looking for an upgrade on what I already have. I should have mentioned that

 

I also have a trimmer - the kind with a shuttle that goes back and forth, very much one of those I dismissed as 'wimpy' in the OP. I do love it to bits though! It was cheap as chips but it is VERY precise. It just doesn't do so hot on strength.

 

 

 

Random thoughts. You want something like they use to use in schools in '60's. Staples or such should have such a thing. Something to do with crafts?

 

diyplanner.com many years ago had discussions about midweight trimmers, don't know how you do a good search to find.

 

fiskars is a brand that makes all kinds of cutting devices. I have a light, couple sheet trimmer, their brand. Uses razor blades, but they have larger.

 

Let us know what you find. Makes us all smarter.

 

Random thoughts are good! Half the time they're just what leads to a solution, especially when you've been kind of stuck going in circles on a problem - which I certainly have on this! I also agree with sharing research and how it makes us all smarter (I know I've learned a ton of things like that!), so here goes:

 

Re: what they used in schools in the 60s: I wouldn't know I'm afraid - more my mom's time than mine! lol But I'm good with visuals, so if you have one it might help!

 

Re: Staples. I can't buy from them because I'm not in the US, but I figured it was worth a try because many larger sites like that sometimes have helpful buying guides and such to help you pick out the kind of thing you need. But they're not, so now I'm just as confused lol. They have what I call trimmers - the kind with the shuttle - that are advertised as cutting anywhere from 3 pages to 15, and what I call guillotine cutters (with the arm that swings down) that are advertised as cutting from 5 pages to 30. IOW, go figure.

 

Re: craft trimmers, and Fiskars. I believe they're basically one and the same. I have one of those craft trimmers. A good one that is accurate is a beautiful tool to have, lets you cut strips only a mm or two apart over and over, that kind of thing, and a good one doesn't have to be expensive (mine is a cheap little Cutterpede that I got even cheaper than the modest RRP of $25 because the company issue eleventy billion discount codes every year). I love it, but if I try to cut so much as a couple sheets of scrapbook paper in one go, it starts to struggle.

 

Re: diyplanner. That site can be a real PITA to navigate and search, it's true, so I wasn't hoping for much when I entered 'trimmers' in the search box. However, I did get two threads that seem relevant, and both are old enough to possibly be the one you recall from 'many years ago' :-) The more recent one is from 2007, the older is from 2005. I don't know if either rings any bells, but the gist of both seems to be that the shuttle style trimmers are for cutting on a specific line with great accuracy but sacrificing thickness and guillotine style blades can cut thicker stacks but are more for creating standard sizes using the guides printed on the machine. Or something?

 

Here's the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Swingline-ClassicCut-Guillotine-Trimmer-Capacity/dp/B00006IATG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1385488729&sr=8-4&keywords=paper+cutter

 

 

I like it - cuts well, has measures on the board. It's a bit clunky and so it stays on a counter. It says it cuts 15 sheets - maybe of Tomoe River Paper, but not heavier papers.

 

I also have a smaller Fiskars cutter that stays in the drawer - would only use one sheet of paper at a time in those. They often come with replacement blades and can be found in craft stores.

I was afraid 15 sheets of 20lb paper might still be too wimpy, lol. I should probably look for something advertised as cutting 30 sheets or thereabouts, right?

 

I know the ones like the Fiskars you mention. I have one of those, and I love it for many uses but it won't work for thicker stacks.

[sdcurnow]

I use a QCM-8200M in my little home bookbinding business. You should be able to find one for under $350. It can cut a ream at a time.

[Plume145]

man, I would love one of those, for sure. It's just still a little too expensive for me - I'm pretty broke! I don't sell what I make either, so I wouldn't be able to recoup any of it really. But I'm intrigued by the different name - how this is called a 'stack' cutter? Maybe the key is to stop looking for a generic guillotine or trimmer and look for a stack cutter, just maybe one that cuts less than a whole ream in one go?

[Aquinata]

Plume, maybe you could find a used version of that QCM8200M on eBay or some such?

[grainweevil]

Some of the heavy duty trimmers are capable of cutting more pages at a time than I expected. I found this site quite helpful - the "paper trimmer/guillotine wizard" narrows down the models by capacity, and it does at least give one a starting point for further research.

 

Cheers, Al