RA4 Paper Cutting Solutions

Besides the big and expensive Lucht, Fotoba, or Durst autocutter options, are there any relatively cheap hacks for automatically cutting roll ra4 paper? Could you use a dummy/cheap vinyl cutter programmed only to paper size? Starting to look into an automatic solution since the normal paper roller cutter into a rotatrim doesn't yield the cleanest of results. One side is always askew and it is very frustrating.

Thanks

x.rasenas said:

Could you use a dummy/cheap vinyl cutter programmed only to paper size?

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That's an interesting thought. As long as used in a darkroom and any status indicators on the unit are suppressed/disabled, I would say it's theoretically possible.

x.rasenas said:

One side is always askew and it is very frustrating.

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I recognize the problem, but lining up the roll neatly with the cutter and ensuring a properly mounted and sturdy guide rail is mounted on the cutter solved this issue for me. I accept the minor variation in sheet size that remains.

Although not automatic, you could use a standard long-blade paper shear. Mount it onto a sheet of plywood and set up an end stop to give you the required length. Practice using it in room light so that you can use it in total darkness.

For example:

https://www.uline.com/BL_506/Paper-Trimmers?keywords=paper+trimmer

B&H sells a 36” cut model but is expensive.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1555233-REG/dry_lam_wc36_heavy_duty_36_wood.html

If you need an automatic shear, they can be had but at a much higher price, $10,000 or higher.

A good rotary cutter with a hand-made adjustable stop at the take-out side - similar to the guides on table saws - would probably provide you with consistency.

Don't use those cheap tear-away roll paper cutters designed for Kraft paper. You'll create a mess. Real XY automated cutters are quite expensive and can be finicky to maintain. If your rolls are not terribly wide, you could use a self-healing cutting mat and a cutting edge with a captured sliding mat knife blade like Fletcher offers. Some people just do it on the floor with a steel straightedge and handheld mat knife (sounds barbaric to me). Others do that on the wall with the paper roll suspended above.

Although I was offered a big automated XY cutter for free when a particular lab retired it, I just didn't want to deal with any expensive service headaches. So my own system involves a 48" wide dual-rail Rototrim cutter mounted flush adjacent to a Formica laminated 4X4 foot tabletop which has a perfectly square stainless steel guide at the right edge. Then at various places along its depth, front to back, are precisely positioned thread inserts which register two holes in another machined stainless edge, which can be repositioned at various exact paper cutoff lengths or widths as needed : 8", 10", 16",20", 24", 30", and 40". Below the front edge of the table is the roll holder itself, strong enough to support even heavy polyester rolls like Fujiflex. I'm just tyring to give a general idea; there are numerous other minor features. But all of this can be used in total darkness, though the bigger the roll, the fussier things become.

Anyone crazy enough to use a guillotine type paper cutter in the dark should at least inventory their fingers both before and after the procedure.

Thanks for the replies everyone,

As someone who has setup the kraft paper roll holder to a rotatrim with as much precise detail as possible, paper still comes out not perfectly straight. This leads to putting paper slightly off into an easel and not being able to then trim paper down to exact measurements. I've made multiple kinds of stops, even giving room and leaving an extra inch or two to then trim after the print is made. It's all a super big headache when trying to make smaller final prints for boxes etc.

It seems like a 14" auto roller cutter can be had at $2k but maybe something in the $400 range with a cheaper table top vinyl cutter is possible too.

Use guides on both sides of the feed side to help with keeping cuts straight.

MattKing said:

Use guides on both sides of the feed side to help with keeping cuts straight.

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I tried that, but it's quite tricky in the dark and with a roll of paper to pull from.
A good guide on one side and the roll aligned well to it (the latter is very important) works fine, for me. Also make sure the guide is sufficiently long; at least the length of the sheet you're cutting. From that point, it's a matter of practice.

I'm still able to buy cut sheets.

When I get to cutting RA4 paper, I have an old set of Nord rollers, from a cutter or some sort of roll easel. I plan to cut some slightly oversized sheets the trim to length on an old but wicked sharp commercial stack cutter. I bought this off a friend who used to cut stacks of paper down.

I have a cool old roll easel I may try some time, need to be able to process strips. I have an idea for that too.

This is what I have. I bought mine used for a couple hundred dollars. There's a China knockoff available new on eBay for cheap. You can find these for under $1000 new, and used for much less. I've never tried cutting more than 15 or 20 sheets of black and white paper, in this case it worked perfectly.

mshchem said:

I'm still able to buy cut sheets

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That will remain the case ss long as anyone out there is willing to buy a roll cut it up and box it for a small profit. Someone informed me here on the forum a few weeks ago there's someone in France cutting up actually relevant papers like Maxima. He charges very sensible prices, too. I'm sure someone(s) over in the US will be doing the same if there's demand for it.

koraks said:

That will remain the case ss long as anyone out there is willing to buy a roll cut it up and box it for a small profit. Someone informed me here on the forum a few weeks ago there's someone in France cutting up actually relevant papers like Maxima. He charges very sensible prices, too. I'm sure someone(s) over in the US will be doing the same if there's demand for it.

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Everything I get is directly (via B&H) from Fujifilm. Made in Netherlands, packaged in UK. 8x10 up to 20 x 24 in 3 surfaces. Just standard Crystal Archive paper, nothing else available in cut sheets. I would love to see other Fuji papers, but am happy that I can get what I can.

Lots of serious old heavy-duty graphics equipment, including potentially big cutters, is available if you know where to look. There are specialty dealers for these things. But if you do look on EBay, check the industrial equipment section, not the photo gear listings.

I purposely cut the sheets a bit long using my paper chopper (which has a handy bar to keep your fingers away from the blade) and then cut them square on one edge after. I'll never actually use all the paper on the roll I have, so it's not much of a loss.

Don_ih said:

I purposely cut the sheets a bit long using my paper chopper (which has a handy bar to keep your fingers away from the blade) and then cut them square on one edge after. I'll never actually use all the paper on the roll I have, so it's not much of a loss.

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This is a simple solution. You're in the same place I am in terms of usage. I would have to increase my use by quite a bit to use an entire roll of color paper. I like fresh paper too.

mshchem said:

Just standard Crystal Archive paper, nothing else available in cut sheets.

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Yeah, it's a pity that whoever is cutting that stuff in the UK hasn't caught onto the idea of (also) doing this with higher-end papers. It would still end up pretty affordable on a per-sheet basis.

I've brought this up in my first contact months ago with Fuji NL, but the whole cut-sheet thing happens outside their view and for obvious reasons, they didn't care much about it. I'll try to remember to press the issue once more.

koraks said:

Yeah, it's a pity that whoever is cutting that stuff in the UK hasn't caught onto the idea of (also) doing this with higher-end papers. It would still end up pretty affordable on a per-sheet basis.

I've brought this up in my first contact months ago with Fuji NL, but the whole cut-sheet thing happens outside their view and for obvious reasons, they didn't care much about it. I'll try to remember to press the issue once more.

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If you look at Fujifilm USA website, their datasheet shows the availability of the cut sheets. Whoever is cutting are cutting for Fujifilm USA. B&H and Unique Photo have this readily available.

I am somewhat surprised, there must be a market??

mshchem said:

If you look at Fujifilm USA website, their datasheet shows the availability of the cut sheets.

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Yes, I'm aware of this. It's apparently accurate, although I'm hesitant to take what's on the collective Fuji websites for gospel. Not all of the information on there is up to date. For instance, note that the datasheet that mentions these cut sheets is from 2018. The most recent datasheet of this product that I'm aware of dates from Feb 2022: https://www.originalphotopaper.com/...2/07/Fujicolor-Crystal-Archive_AF3-0198E6.pdf It does not mention cut sheet availability.

Not that I doubt that you are buying this product in cut sheet. You evidently are. But where it comes from, and how long this particular supply will remain available, I do not know.

mshchem said:

I am somewhat surprised, there must be a market??

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According to the people I talk to at Fuji, it's a tiny part of their total market, and I have no reason to doubt this. All I know is that paper is no longer cut at the paper plant in The Netherlands. Somebody downstream is doing it. Doesn't matter who does it as long as the paper is reasonably fresh, the cutting is done consistently and the paper is free of fog.

At the end, the cut sheet Kodak colour paper was being cut for Kodak by a retired former employee who essentially converted his garage using some equipment that came from Kodak. Eventually, he too decided to stop, so cut sheet RA-4 Kodak paper was dropped from the Kodak catalogue.
Volumes are really, really low.

The Fuji paper B&H is selling is finished in the UK Same packaging for the last 10 years. Could be the same folks that are putting Acros II in play.

So, just by chance I'm chilling out watching YouTube, Nico's photography show, on how he prints RA4. He mentions that the Fuji cut CA paper is cut by Ilford. Not sure where he located but he's using a beautiful De Vere 5108 enlarger and a Jobo CPP3 along with other goodies

CAii RC cut sheet up to 20X24 in three different sheen is generally in stock at multiple dealers in the US. I haven't bought any recently, so can't check all the current details on the box label. Ilford is technically Harman; so it would be under those auspices it would be cut and packaged if UK is anywhere on the labeling. This particular paper is relatively thin, so it does help that the sheets are already cut. But more premium RC papers plus Fujiflex are more robust to handling, so cutting from even big roll widths is realistic. What is available pre-cut is a reasonable compromise between features and acceptable retail pricing. Like I've already said, it's a decent paper, but not a specialty one. For many, it will do just fine. But it would be nice if they offered more than one type.

DREW WILEY said:

CAii RC cut sheet up to 20X24 in three different sheen is generally in stock at multiple dealers in the US. I haven't bought any recently, so can't check all the current details on the box label. Ilford is technically Harman; so it would be under those auspices it would be cut and packaged if UK is anywhere on the labeling. This particular paper is relatively thin, so it does help that the sheets are already cut. But more premium RC papers plus Fujiflex are more robust to handling, so cutting from even big roll widths is realistic. What is available pre-cut is a reasonable compromise between features and acceptable retail pricing. Like I've already said, it's a decent paper, but not a specialty one. For many, it will do just fine. But it would be nice if they offered more than one type.

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It's nearly impossible for me to reliably handle 16x20 or 20x24 sheets without an occasional crease. 8x10 and 11x14 is much easier. I have a 3 year old 5"" roll of CA I got out of my freezer I'm going to practice some cutting and roll easel tactics

You might want to see if someone like Pakor. com can provide you with a roll of Super C type CN, which is nice and thick. I haven't tried the new "N" version myself, but have plenty of experience with prior Super C clear up to 40 inch roll widths. Perhaps they still even have a little of the older variety.

A few years ago when I was using Kodak Paper, I made a self contained paper roll holder out of aluminum sheets and aluminium angle strip It was made to hold a 95m x 16" roll. Initially getting the box to be light tight was a bit of a puzzle because the rivets were hollow. It was designed and made with the sole intention of cutting my own sheets from rolls.

I resolved that by using black sealing compound used by builders to seal joints around the edge of chimneys etc. (It has no strong smell like bathroom sealant but takes longer to 'go off'. The paper roll was suspended inside the box using a metal tube that was fairly loose fit inside the central cardboard core on which the paper was wound.

The paper was fed off the roll so that the emulsion side was always facing down when it was fed through the small slot that was arranged at the bottom of what was the front of the box. This allowed the paper to be manually pulled out under the light of a Duka safelight with little fear of fogging. The metal tube that supported the roll of paper inside the box was itself supported on semi circular supports which were also riveted to side approximately half way up from the bottom plate.

The top of the box was made slightly larger than the external dimensions of the main box, but with deeper flanges on the angle aluminium edges and lined with dense foam rubber self adhesive strip and clamped in place using self tapping screws which held it secure.

The feed slot at the bottom/front and lined with was 1mm deep and edged with thick felt as alight trap. This was also covered after use with a snug fitting removeable light baffle.

The width of the slot being just over 12" allowed the paper to be pulled out under the light of the safelight to whatever size I wanted. The largest I could develop was 12"x16"so any smaller sizes could be cut from each 12x16 sheet under the safelight. I used to cut more sheets approximating A4 size (12"x 2") which gave a generous margin to play with without too much waste.
It was essential that after finishing the session a strip of self adhesive strip was attached to the edge of the paper so that the roll could be fully wound back into the box, but could be easily pulled out again when required.

To measure the length of the paper I cut, I used a12" x 20" wide, rotary cutting guillotine that could be securely clipped to the edges of the box and the paper extracted as required. My main problem was when the paper roll was getting close to the end, the curl of the paper coming off the roll was quite strong and I had to ensure that the paper was cut at least a week before I was going to use it and leave it in one of the dense plastic bags that came with already boxed paper with a weight on it to take some of the curl out of it.

Buying paper in that quantity was a shed load cheaper than buying it in cut sheets by a ratio of around 5 to 1. Wastage? Yes there was some, but not a great deal and even some of that could be used for test strips.

I should add. The cost of this construction was about £15 for the metal and rivets plus around £5 for the sealant and foam rubber. I already had the guillotine.