I need a paper cutter do you have a recommendation?
 

I don't own a paper cutter, but we're gonna do some Christmas projects so I need to get one! it doesn't need to be the fanciest one around, cuz I'm not going to be using it every day :) but I want to be able to cut multiple sheets at a time with nice straight cuts. what should I get?

I have a CARL rotary cutter that I love!! It has a locking device and magnetic ruler that keeps multiple sheets of card stock in place while you cut.

Daven Daven Daven...

a search of the forums brings up scads of threads devoted to this:

http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...archid=9742158

My preference, right now, is the Tonic 12 x 12 guillotine cutter. Even though you can cut multiple sheets at once, I never do.

If you want a rotary style trimmer, I hear the Carl is pretty good.

It really depends Daven but I'd love a product review on this so perhaps it could go on your short list (hint hint):

http://crafterscompanion.com/CleverCut.aspx


For clean cuts I've found guillotine-styles to be the best choice but since I rarely make more than a few cards at a time and also need to score them my Fiskars works well enough (factoring in cost and my teensy budget).


Happy Crafting!
Tina aka TeeGeeDee

Another vote for the Tonic. It rocks!

Another vote for the Tonic cutter, too. The blade won't cut skin so I let my girls (ages 16 & 13) use it all the time! I can cut 2 sheets of cardstock easily with it.

Here's my fave:
http://www.makingmemories.com/Produc.../paper-trimmer
Got it at M's w/ a coupon!

D, what's yer budget? ;)

Seriously--it's usually the more expensive cutters that can dice through multiple sheets of card stock.

I swear by my Carl DC220. But, it's a heavy duty/professional grade cutter . . . you may not want to spend that much . . . ?

Daven, you get what you pay for in Trimmers. And you can get them from $5 to $5,000. So you might be happiest with taking your cardstock to your local print shop. I got 200 basic cards cut for me for $5 last week, and they would have cut more but their minimum charge is $5 and I only needed the 200. The cuts were absolutely perfect, better than my $400 Trimmer does, which is why I use the print shop for mass-produced cards. At least if you get the base card cut perfectly, you have a fighting chance of getting the rest of the card so it doesn't look gallywampum in the end.

The Dahle 440 Trimmer cuts about 4 sheets of 80 lb. cardstock at one time. But the rotary blade on any Trimmer of that type tends to push the stock and gets it slightly off kilter. It's the nature of the beast, really, so drives perfectionists crazy!

Good luck. :-D

I just read on a blog that the Genesis trimmer is once again available at Bonnie's Best. It's out of my price range but years ago there was lots of positve chatter about it. The blog that posted this update is a vendor that doesn't sell it and I think that in itself is a great recommendation:

http://bonniesbest.com/genesis.htm


Happy Crafting!
Tina aka TeeGeeDee

I have to agree with Valarie. I love my Tonic.

thanks for the recommendations! budget-wise and such I'm probably gonna go with the tonic, though those kind of cutters are a little scary :) when I was a kid I used to go into the church office with my dad and they had one of those huge green beast cutters. dangerous yet fascinating at the same time...the potential for destruction = fun :)

I posted this on another thread, but will post again here......Amazon has 2 different Tonic Guillotine trimmers-one is around $38, and the other is ~$93....I didn't see any real differences in the descriptions......any ideas? They are both 12x12..........Thanks!

Daven, while the Tonic cuts slivers of paper perfectly, it doesn't cut people - the blade is designed to be people friendly. The only thing I wish it had, as just about every guillotine has one, is a lock on the handle. When I spoke to the Tonic guy at CHA and asked about why they didn't include one, that was when I learned that the blade isn't going hurt you.

That said, I move my cutter around as I don't have a permanent place for it and wish it had a catch. It costs a pretty penny to engineer another mold for a product, so I am sure that is why it's still latch free.

The only learning curve I had with it is to be sure to hold down the plastic part down when you are ready to bring the blade down, that is what keeps the paper from shifting. My old cutter didn't have anything like that so I had to retrain my brain a bit.

I am very happy with the Tonic. I got mine at JoAnns.com when it was on sale for less than $40 and they were running a shipping special.

I have the 12" Tonic Guillotine, too, and love it! Valerie is right, it won't cut you. I was worried about that, too, with kids in the house, but it is perfectly safe and cuts paper/cardstock wonderfully.

Daven,
There's a whole thread devoted to how many of the reasonably priced cutters do NOT cut straight. I do not have the Tonic, so I don't know about that one...but just keep that in mind :) The rotary blades ones I've tried don't work well for me (I find the edge to be kind of ragged, and it seems to bow or something and if I go back over a cut the other way, it cuts in a different place even though I have not moved anything!). Seems to me like the guillotine ones I used in the past were hard to keep the paper from moving as you brought the blade down.
Too bad we can't try them out before we buy them!
The best one I ever had was an Xacto that is no longer available except on ebay occasionally :(