Paper Cutters FAQ
What should I ask myself before buying a paper cutter?
How much paper will you need to cut at once?
Along with cutting width, sheet capacity is the most important factor in determining the paper cutter you need. If you are cutting one or a few sheets at a time, look at rotary trimmers or guillotine cutters. If you are doing more than 40 or so sheets at once, you will want to buy at least a stack cutter or something larger such as an electric or a hydraulic cutter.
How wide are the documents you will need to cut?
Cutting widths vary widely from about 9 inches with personal trimmers to 100 inches or more with some models. Schools, print shops, and others who will need to cut large format posters or banners should look carefully at cutting widths before a paper cutter purchase.
Will you be cutting regular paper only or other materials?
Some cutters are made with sharper blades and other features that make them better for use on non-paper cuts. There are specialty cutters available that are made for cutting photos, card stock, leather, foam and mat board, and more. Be sure that your cutter can handle the specialty material you will be cutting.
How often will you be using the paper cutter?
Any cutter is fine if you are only planning low volume use. If you need to cut frequently, there are a few considerations to make. An electric or hydraulic cutter can be programmed to make the same cuts over and over on large stacks of paper at once. These are necessities for many printers who are cutting high volumes daily.
If you are constantly using a smaller cutter, such as a guillotine, there are models that feature self-sharpening blades which pass through a sharpener with every cut you make. Guillotine cutters without this feature usually have a detachable blade that you can remove to sharpen.
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What is a manual guillotine paper cutter?
Guillotine paper cutters come in either wood or metal base. The base will either have its own clamp to secure the paper, or you will hold the paper in place while cutting. They also have an arm with a blade underneath and handle that you operate to cut the paper. This type of paper cutter is meant for occasional or low volume paper cutting- usually they can handle between 10 and 30 sheets of paper at a time.
Going into large floor model paper cutters, you can cut up to 30 sheets of paper at a time, thicker papers, and card stock. Floor models are also well-suited to cutting large drawings, art board, and other materials.
All manual guillotine trimmers have a maximum length of paper they can cut. If you need to cut larger or varying lengths of paper, a rotary trimmer might be a better option.
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What is a rotary trimmer?
Rotary trimmers are distinct from other trimmers in that they can cut greater lengths of paper and newer models offer a variety of cuts other than just straight lines. You have more control with a rotary trimmer because you slide a small, two sided blade up and down the length of paper to make cuts. High-quality rotary trimmers typically make cleaner cuts than guillotine trimmers, and come in manual or electric models for large volumes of preset cuts.
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What is a stack cutter?
Stack paper cutters can cut large stacks of paper or card stock - up to 750 sheets. They are similar to guillotines in that they have an arm that operates to cut the paper. With a manual stack cutter, the arm has a spring mechanism that provides the force to make cuts when you operate it. There are also electric stack paper cutters, which are made for higher volume use. They come either semi-automatic (with manual back gauge and clamp) or fully programmable.
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