Need advice: trimmer or guillotine

sterioma · Oct 12, 2007

Hi,

I would like to buy something to cut my prints, and looking around I cannot quite understand whether a rotary trimmer (like this) or a guillotine (like this) would be better.

I don't print anything bigger than 24x30 cm and might be using the tool to cut paper to re-fill my organizer (95 x 171 mm, if that matters)

What do you guys suggest?

Thanks,
Stefano

Neal · Oct 12, 2007

Dear Stefano,

Years ago, the firm I used to work at used blueprint to copy mechanical drawings and we were constantly trimming as the machine used roll fed paper. We had both types but I found it was much easier to keep everything square when using the trimmer type.

Neal Wydra

Pinholemaster · Oct 12, 2007

rotary trimmer

guillotine pushes the paper out of square

best used only during the French revolution Grin

TheFlyingCamera · Oct 12, 2007

If you need to cut very thick paper, or you need to cut MANY sheets at once, the guillotine is the way to go. If you're just trimming the odd single print here and there, a rotary trimmer is best.

David H. Bebbington · Oct 12, 2007

Lightweight trimmers tend to under-perform - I have wrecked a lot of them!
For not too much more money, you could get something like this:
http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/cata...hoppingcom-_-null-_-B340N&browsemode=consumer
I have had something similar (Myers Precision Cutter) for about 20 years and have cut up mount board for around 1,000 40 x 50 cm pictures - never a problem, no need to replace blade. There is probably something similar made in Italy - the crucial thing is the cutting thickness capacity - 3 mm or at least 10 sheets of paper.

Regards,

David

TheFlyingCamera · Oct 12, 2007

Also to consider with a guillotine cutter is the matter of some kind of locking pressure bar to keep the cutting blade from pulling the stack. Ideally, you want something with a clamping bar to hold the stack down, and some kind of gate to keep the stack in place behind the pressure bar.

Ideally, something like this:

http://www.factory-express.com/pape...l_7000E_C/martin_yale_commercial_7000e_c.html

but I'm sure you can find one like it for less money, probably for pennies on the dollar on the used market.

dpurdy · Oct 12, 2007

I second the guillotine suggestion. I have used the same one for many years to cut 8x10 down to 5x7 in the dark and it does just fine. I also use it to cut cardboard for stiffiners. I have a couple of rotary trimmers and they are a bit too delicate for my touch. If I occassionally need a very precise cut I use a gridded cutting mat and an exacto knife with straight edge.

Byron Worthen · Oct 12, 2007

I have tried both types. The nice thing about trimming the edges of prints along with their mounting tissue is that the guillotine type does all of its cutting in one direction while a rotary type touches the paper twice. However, having spent a boatload of money on a Kuttrimmer that is not square between the blade and the "side gauge", I am ready to move on to another type. I can cut matboard on my Logan mat cutter. I need precision cutting of my print edges with my trimmer.

The Kuttrimmer does not have precision and besides that, the hold down clamp, which is made of heavy cast iron, broke. I don't know how, since I only used the darn thing for paper. I can't find anyone who can replace the hold down clamp and make the non-adjustable side gauge square to the blade. Or, I at least cannot get replies from anyone connected with them.

Nice blade, though! It's a boat anchor.....

Mike Wilde · Oct 12, 2007

wall mount, and get a guillotine

I am always short on surfaces in my compact darkroom. I have a guillotine with two eyes screwed into the back edge that allows me to hang it on the wall beside the dry desk. It can be unhooked and laid on the dry desk for a big job. Most of the time it stays hanging on the wall, and cuts a sheet at a time. Mine has a grid pattern set at 1/2" intervals molded into its plastic base, and I have notched the top edge at the 5" and 7" marks, to make it easier to use in the dark.

It always seems that I am well adjusted to the dark, and then need to cut a 11x14 down to to a couple of 7x10's and a test slip or two (my masked standard size of print is 6.5x9.5 to fit nicely into a standard 11x14 frame)

The tick marks and base grid are even more important when I am cutting down colour paper, because that is done entirely in the dark.

Sparky · Oct 12, 2007

In my experience - you really can't go too far wrong with either... provided they're of decent quality. Garbage is garbage though - and it's best avoided. The more industrial guillotines are amazing in their ability to cleanly and accurately slice through a stack of 500 prints at a time...!

MikeSeb · Oct 12, 2007

Rotatrim.

resummerfield · Oct 12, 2007

I have both types of cutters--a 36-inch Rotatrim and a 15-inch guillotine type. Both need some type of "hold-down device" for perfect cuts, and I use a simple strip of clear plexi. The guillotine seems, for me, to be easier to make exact, on-the-line cuts. I recently sharpened my guillotine, and the quality of the cut is as good as, if not better than, the Rotatrim.

David H. Bebbington · Oct 12, 2007

resummerfield said:
I have both types of cutters--a 36-inch Rotatrim and a 15-inch guillotine type. Both need some type of "hold-down device" for perfect cuts, and I use a simple strip of clear plexi. The guillotine seems, for me, to be easier to make exact, on-the-line cuts. I recently sharpened my guillotine, and the quality of the cut is as good as, if not better than, the Rotatrim.

Just a couple of factual points:
- Every rotary trimmer I have seen (Myers, Avery, Rotatrim) comes with a plastic hold-down strip as standard, which is cleverly pressed down firmly by the cutter slide as this moves out of an end position and then released as the slide reaches the other end position.

- Somebody mentioned that a rotary trimmer cuts twice - it does if you let it, but it's much better to make one end-to-end cutting motion and then take out the cut material.

- Finally, re guillotines - in the good old days, a man had a right to cut off as many of his own fingers as he wanted, but in today's namby-pamby world (at least in Britain), guillotines are required to have a telescopic clear plastic shroud over the blade, and I find seeing accurately through this to the cutting point very difficult and annoying, which is why I go for a rotary trimmer every time.

patrickjames · Oct 13, 2007

I have one of the guillitine cutters that FC provided a link for and it is wonderful and accurate if you need to cut a stack of paper, and I do mean a stack. Otherwise I would go with a rotary cutter.

Patrick

sterioma · Oct 13, 2007

Everybody, thank you for your great advices.

I see some of you suggest Rotatrim (which is a bit more expensive that my initial plan, but it seems to be worth it...). There seem to be two lines: the Mastercut A series and the Professional (the latter being more expensive). What's exactly the difference between the two? Anybody uses the Mastercut around here?

Stefano

resummerfield · Oct 13, 2007

David H. Bebbington said:
.....in today's namby-pamby world (at least in Britain), guillotines are required to have a telescopic clear plastic shroud over the blade, and I find seeing accurately through this to the cutting point very difficult and annoying.....

Good point. My guillotine has all the guards removed, so I can clearly see the cut line (but I must use caution, as it would be easy to lose a finger!)

KenM · Oct 13, 2007

I have a rotary trimmer - it was expensive, but it was possibly one of the best darkroom utility purchases I've made. But, a word of warning - if you do get a rotary trimmer, don't go cheap. Spend the extra $$ for a quality trimmer, and it'll be the last one you buy (unless you literally outgrow it).

resummerfield · Oct 13, 2007

sterioma said:
.....There seem to be two lines: the Mastercut A series and the Professional (the latter being more expensive). What's exactly the difference between the two?.....

I have the Mastercut II (which I think has been renamed the Professional). It has 2 rods to guide or support the cutting head. The cheaper version, the A model, has only one rod. I don't know if this is relevant, but years ago I had a Nikkor rotary trimmer, which had only one guide rod, and I always had to remember to hold the cutting head against the table to make a nice cut. Otherwise it was a great cutter.

John Kasaian · Oct 19, 2007

I've got a Dahle trimmer---works fine and not too pricey.

JBrunner · Oct 19, 2007

I finally bit the bullet and bought a Rotatrim. One of the best purchases for the darkroom I have ever made. Steep price... no regrets.

sterioma · Oct 19, 2007

John Kasaian said:
I've got a Dahle trimmer---works fine and not too pricey.

Hi John, which model have you got?

Stefano

John Kasaian · Oct 19, 2007

Hi Stefano, it is the 556 GS I got it off ebay new, from a dealer. Sorry but I don't remember the company. I do remember that it was quite inexensive for such a large (around 30" IIRC) trimmer.
~John

Michael Kadillak · Oct 19, 2007

Trimmer or Guillotine?

Guillotine cutters have their purpose and if all you were cuttting was thin paper, it would work fine. For all of the applications we have as photographers it simply is unreliable for thicker cuts IMHO. I have used Dahles and many other cheaper rotary trimmers as I convinced myself that I was saving some money. I had a chance to use a Rotatrim and I gave the Dahl away. It was a piece of crap. I sucked it up and purchased two models - the 24" and the 12" Rotatrim.

I have only one suggestion when you get your Rotatrim.

The plastic support bars on every unit are not perfectly aligned from the factory so that you can trim with precision to the absolute metal edge. Frustrates the crap out of you. The solution is to acquire a larger replacement cutting edge, cut it to the proper length and cut a new hole to the hold down screw on each end and affix it in the correct position. When you do this simple task I guarantee that you will be able to make precision cuts that a machinist would be appreciate. By the way I have such a replacement bar for a Rotatrim that came off of a 24" model.

Cheers!

Sparky · Oct 20, 2007

Michael Kadillak said:
Guillotine cutters have their purpose and if all you were cuttting was thin paper, it would work fine. For all of the applications we have as photographers it simply is unreliable for thicker cuts IMHO.

You must have been using a really poor quality -out of alignment office LEVER cutter or something... Guillotines are by design, and in practice, much higher precision machines capable of cutting far greater thicknesses and quantity of paper than ANY rotary cutter ever designed. That's just the way it is.

fotch · Oct 20, 2007

Sparky said:
You must have been using a really poor quality -out of alignment office LEVER cutter or something... Guillotines are by design, and in practice, much higher precision machines capable of cutting far greater thicknesses and quantity of paper than ANY rotary cutter ever designed. That's just the way it is.

Do you have any proof to offer or is this just your opinion? I am not trying to be antagonistic, just would be interested in real facts if available.

I have and use both however, for paper trimming, IMHO, the rotary is better.

The lever cutters tend to pull down as they cut and more likely to not give a square cut. On the other hand, the rotary blade blade cuts at more at an angle, resulting in a cleaner square cut or at least is seems so to me.

To each their own. Sort of like plastic vs. stainless steel reels. JMHO

Need advice: trimmer or guillotine

sterioma

Neal

Pinholemaster

TheFlyingCamera

Membership Council

David H. Bebbington

TheFlyingCamera

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dpurdy

Byron Worthen

Mike Wilde

Sparky

MikeSeb

resummerfield

David H. Bebbington

patrickjames

sterioma

resummerfield

KenM

resummerfield

John Kasaian

JBrunner

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sterioma

John Kasaian

Michael Kadillak

Sparky

fotch

Need advice: trimmer or guillotine

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