Paper Guillotines

[Time Waster]

Just thinking of getting a guillotine for cutting layers of paper to the same size for a project and for longer use. Scissors are not great in my hands and I have never been great at tearing straight. So a guillotine looks a good bet. Are they all pretty much as good as each other? It will get minimal use but when I need one it will be useful and I expect I will find more use for it once I have it.

So what is a good guillotine for home use? I am thinking an amazon cheapo will probably be ok.

 

[presta]

If it's only for occasional use a steel rule, a scalpel, and a piece of old hardboard to cut on is just fine. That's what I use.
(Don't press too hard in attempt to cut through all the pages in one go.)

 

[Profpointy]

As an alternative you might also want to consider the mask cutter / matte cutter used by picture framers and the like. ie a metal guid rail and a cutter which slides beside it. I'm not saying they are better but may or may not be a better choice for your need. As a general rule for tools in general you tend to get what you pay for, and the £20 one is often not merely inferior to the £200 one but is more or less unusable.

 

[markemark]

Depends on your required flow but taking a stack to a local print shop and they'll cut it accurately in bulk for less than the cost of buying without hours spent doing.

 

[alicat]

^^^ Just a word of caution about mat cutters. I've got one and it's REALLY repeat REALLY hard to cut things straight unless I'm really careful to keep the guide rail level.

 

[figbat]

I have one of this type - had it for years, probably actually decades. Not used a lot but when it is it is very useful. It was a cheap one from Staples, so I assume any cheap thing would do for occasional, light-duty stuff.

 

[Ian H]

I've used similar ones to this. Quite useful, though you might need a 3-phase supply.

 

[T4tomo]

Ooooh you can actually get modern (and original) versions of the old type.

 

[numbnuts]

I have this one
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/31564696...N2Il53loweg9a36Q6mCuYCwEA=|tkp:Bk9SR96gsZDFZA

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

We used them a lot in school - especially was working in a primary school

We used the type where a sharp wheel went along and chopped the paper
very accurtae if you lined it all up properly and was quick and easy

You could only do a few sheets (6 ish) at once but they did work

 

[slow horse]

My first thought on reading the title was that I've heard of paper cuts, but nothing bad enough to chop your head off. In other words, sorry, nothing useful to add.

 

[icowden]

I have one of this type - had it for years, probably actually decades. Not used a lot but when it is it is very useful. It was a cheap one from Staples, so I assume any cheap thing would do for occasional, light-duty stuff.

We've also had one of those. They aren't great if you need real precision and the cheapo one that we have is now a bit blunt and tends to leave little tears at the corners. To be fair, both of my daughters are textiles students and both have probably used it to cut quite heavy duty paper and card rather than just paper - so that adds to the wear.

 

[rogerzilla]

Rotary paper trimmers are best.

 

[Time Waster]

At my old jobs I found them useful. One place had very good one with the sliding cutter on a bar. It was very accurate and could handle 10 pages possibly more. My emplyer after that only had a cheaper rexel that somehow the bar or the guides at the side you line the paper up to get a 90degrees cut had moved such that you could never get a decent straight cut.

So I think cheap is not great if the parts can move to create misallignment. This last case puts me off.

The previous 3 employers had proper guillotines with the handle on the cutter yhou pull down. These were industrial ones not intended for paper but one was good enough for paper despite that. The fitters used to sharpen the blade which is really like a heavy scimitar. The one that would cut paper could probably cut through about 50 pages but mostly people put less through to make sure it is all straight when cut.

Are the sliding cutter blades / wheels better than the downwards cutting guillotine blade versions?

 

[icowden]

Are the sliding cutter blades / wheels better than the downwards cutting guillotine blade versions?

I think they are much safer, but you can't really sharpen the cutting wheel - you just buy a new blade. The other difference is that the sliding ones are really designed to do one sheet at a time whereas the old school arm cutters can do many sheets at a time.