print cutter recommendations?

[stradibarrius]

I have a guillotine type cutter but when I use it to trim my prints the cut edges are always a bit ragged.
Recommendations for a good print trimmer.

 

[Sim2]

Hallo,

I have been using one of the Rotatrim cutters both for paper and for mountboard. Not the cheapest out there but definately good. They will even service one of thier cutters!

 

[BainDarret]

I'll second that Rotatrim recommendation. Very clean cut, well built, self sharpening and, with a little care, they will last for decades. Never used it to cut mount board, though.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Rotatrim, end of story. Might as well just buy it now and not worry about another trimmer in the future. I've seen battered and rusty ones in labs that cut perfectly cleanly.

 

[Sim2]

Never used it to cut mount board, though.

I bought mine at a show where Rotatrim had a stand - I had purposely taken a bit of mountboard with me, to see if they thought it unsuitable. They just popped it in & nice clean cut. I got the feeling that they would have told me if the material was too thick or unsuitable & would cause damage. Only in second year of ownership so could still go wrong!!

 

[Roger Thoms]

Rotatrim!!!

Roger

 

[Reinhold]

I have a 30 inch Rotatrim and routinely cut matboard with it.
Occasionally I get some extra dense matboard that tries to lift the cutter.
When that happens, I purposly push straight down on the cutter a bit harder to prevent upward bowing of the 34" long rods.
My unit's probably 10+ years old and used mercilessly.
Fiber paper, RC paper, interleaving tissue, matboard.
Nary a nick in the blade.
Always a perfect cut..
Trim 1/64" off ???
No problem.

Reinhold

www.Re-inventedPhotoEquip.com

 

[tkamiya]

I just use a metal ruler and a xacto knife with a fresh blade. Not the fastest but always clean and precise.

 

[Mark Fisher]

I have an LPL and it is a decent knock off of the Rototrim at a better price. Eventually, I'll get a bigger one and get the Rototrim, though.

 

[Dennis S]

Ingento 18"

 

[Reinhold]

Just so folks don't get the idea that I'm subborn or opinionated about Rotatrims; I have four guillotine trimmers ranging from a 50+ year old 12" Premier, a 20 year old 24" Premier, a 15 year old 15" Ingento, a 3 year old Harbor Freight 12", plus a 20 year old 16" Rotatrim, and a 15 year old 30" Rotatrim. Some are easier to use for certain tasks, that's why I keep and use them all.

They all cut cleanly.
The secret?
I keep them sharpened.
Especially with guillotine trimmers, use a professional sharpening service.
$30 in the hands of a pro, and you'll have a new trimmer.

Before I retired, my profession was in the technology of slitting flexible web materials (Google my name Reinhold Schable). In my consulting jobs it was a constant task to convince people that the basic requirement was to keep two properly sharpened edges in intimate contact when slitting any material. It seemed that everyone wanted to buy the latest wonder gizmo instead of learning what constitutes a truly sharp edge and how to keep the two blade edges it in their proper relationships for a clean slit.

Keep those edges sharp, and keep those blades in intimate contact

End of sermon.

Reinhold

 

[M. Lointain]

Rototrims are the best for good clean cuts. I have an old guillotine cutter though that will go through a hundred sheets of fiber paper in one fell swoop. I like that too.

 

[David Allen]

Another vote for Rotatrim (but make sure that is of the double rail variety). I have tried a number of cheaper imitations of Rotatrim but found them to be:

Not truly square
Fiddly transparent paper holding strip
Sharpening was poor
Single rail (allowing wobbling of the cutting blade)
Mediocre build quality

Also very good is a high quality straight edge with sufficient anti slip features combined with (non-medical) scalpel. If you do not cut a lot of prints / are not in a rush this combo works very well and is considerably cheaper than a Rotatrim.

Hope you find the appropriate solution for your needs.

Best,

David
www.dsallen.de

 

[DREW WILEY]

I have both a 24 inch and 50 inch Rotatrim, and both are the old-style dual bar type. I'd never use it
for mounting board, simply because that kind of application dulls the blade a lot quicker. I have a
big Fletcher cutter for that kind of thing, as well as a cutting bar and scale on my big matcutter.

 

[ann]

Another vote for Rotatrim.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I have a Dahle that is probably the next best thing to a Rotatrim. It produces nice super sharp clean cuts. The clamp for the paper is a tich fiddly, but only if you're doing something odd like I am and using it to cut down sheet film to a smaller size, and need to trim less than 1.5" the "wrong" way.

 

[removed account4]

i have something like a rototrim but it isn't a rototrim ( but works just as well )
i also use reinhold's pals .... they are very old and very sharp ( and the blades make intimate contact )
and they work great ...