Here's a vintage paper cutter for those that use vintage cameras !

at the mall

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at the mall

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  • May 1, 2025
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35mm 616 Portrait

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35mm 616 Portrait

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Innocence and Time

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Innocence and Time

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35mm 616 pano test

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35mm 616 pano test

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Tides out

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Tides out

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jim10219

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Nice! I love old equipment like that! We have a few print shops around here with some old presses, cutters, and other equipment that's still in use that dates back to around that era. Most were "modernized" with genuine electronic motors attached to leather pulleys that operate those wheels. It also helps to have a fan near the motor to keep you from inhaling the electric vapors.

It's funny how old industrial equipment can last so long with just some minor upgrades and regular maintenance, while new industrial equipment seems to lose it's software compatibility in just a few years. Though, I will say that that old stuff is no fun to work with if you're actually trying to get work done in a timely manner.
 
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Tim Stapp

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Agreed. I'm currently trying to repair a 25 y.o. ASRA (automated storage retrieval system). Boards are no longer available/repairable because component parts are no longer manufactured.

The old hard ware just keeps plugging along (like me) while the newer digital stuff may make us more productive (1,000 shots at a wedding???) but is obsolete in a couple of years. I run into that with the just a few years old ASRS systems.

I'm tempted to go check this out and have the blades sharpened, just for kicks. This kind of reminds me of the old manual sheet metal shears of old.
 

MattKing

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glbeas

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Ive seen these and believe me you want to steer clear of them if given a choice. There are no real safetys on these cutters and its possible to accidentally amputate a hand or both, as it can be triggered to cut one handed. Ive used programmable guillotine cutters for a long time, they have optical guards to protect the user from such events. They wont keep you from dropping the clamp on your finger but one time will teach you to be wary real fast.
 
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Tim Stapp

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Not on one of these, but I can only count 3,4,4-1/2 and five on one hand. My wife doesn't let me near the checkbook :smile:
 

jim10219

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Ive seen these and believe me you want to steer clear of them if given a choice. There are no real safetys on these cutters and its possible to accidentally amputate a hand or both, as it can be triggered to cut one handed. Ive used programmable guillotine cutters for a long time, they have optical guards to protect the user from such events. They wont keep you from dropping the clamp on your finger but one time will teach you to be wary real fast.
Yes, the blade is there to distract you while the clamp attacks! The one we have at work has enough clamping pressure to crush bones. And the clamp is controlled by a foot pedal, which means if it does catch you, your instinct is to plant your feet and pull your hand away, which will magnify the damage. It looks friendly with its iPad like programmable touch screen, but it is not your friend.
 

glbeas

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Yes, the blade is there to distract you while the clamp attacks! The one we have at work has enough clamping pressure to crush bones. And the clamp is controlled by a foot pedal, which means if it does catch you, your instinct is to plant your feet and pull your hand away, which will magnify the damage. It looks friendly with its iPad like programmable touch screen, but it is not your friend.
Yeah, one place I worked had a fingertip in a jar to remind people to be wary. Clamp control broke and let the clamp down full force on the operators finger.
 

AgX

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You need quite some stock of loose photographic paper or films to need that cutter.
But people like me being into books would love to have such at hand. As some older books come with uncut or badly cut pages.
Also fine for book binding or -repair
 

AgX

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Ive seen these and believe me you want to steer clear of them if given a choice. There are no real safetys on these cutters and its possible to accidentally amputate a hand or both, as it can be triggered to cut one handed.

Yeah, one place I worked had a fingertip in a jar to remind people to be wary. Clamp control broke and let the clamp down full force on the operators finger.


This one linked to seems to have two handcuffs through which a operator can push his hands before moving around a stack of paper. By this keeping his hands by all means off the knife, if the knife is in action the same time, in industrial work.
In artisan work one would orientate the stack or push it against a set arrest, clamp it and then activate the knive. Even without further safety measures, as two switches at a distance, one hardly would cut oneself under such circumstances.

The smaller, portable lever-cutters seem more dangerous to me. As even with an automated clamp, due to its compactness, chances are that one still has one hand under the knife.
 

glbeas

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This one linked to seems to have two handcuffs through which a operator can push his hands before moving around a stack of paper. By this keeping his hands by all means off the knife, if the knife is in action the same time, in industrial work.
In artisan work one would orientate the stack or push it against a set arrest, clamp it and then activate the knive. Even without further safety measures, as two switches at a distance, one hardly would cut oneself under such circumstances.

The smaller, portable lever-cutters seem more dangerous to me. As even with an automated clamp, due to its compactness, chances are that one still has one hand under the knife.

Depending on the operator it can be reasonably safe, but those cuffs only work if you use them unlike the optical barriers on more modern cutters. It wont keep a careless or distracted operator safe. Use at your own risk.
 

tomkatf

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Ive seen these and believe me you want to steer clear of them if given a choice. There are no real safetys on these cutters and its possible to accidentally amputate a hand or both, as it can be triggered to cut one handed. Ive used programmable guillotine cutters for a long time, they have optical guards to protect the user from such events. They wont keep you from dropping the clamp on your finger but one time will teach you to be wary real fast.
Used one of these at a silkscreen shop I worked at years ago. As you mentioned a really scary blade. They were designed with a safety interlock that required you to use both hands, keeping them out of harms way... Most I've seen have one of the safety's permanently defeated so they can be operated with one hand... Several of the operators I knew were called "Lefty...:D
 

darkroommike

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Ive seen these and believe me you want to steer clear of them if given a choice. There are no real safetys on these cutters and its possible to accidentally amputate a hand or both, as it can be triggered to cut one handed. Ive used programmable guillotine cutters for a long time, they have optical guards to protect the user from such events. They wont keep you from dropping the clamp on your finger but one time will teach you to be wary real fast.
The manual ones are safer, as are the ones that require you to push two buttons at the same time. I used to work in a photo lab at a state school, we used one to trim down large sheets of AZO to 4x5.
 
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