Paper trimmers and rotary cutters

[James Phillips]

Recently I was visiting a friend's home and he demonstrated how effective his Rotatrim cutter was at trimming prints. I was quite impressed. Of course this has now started me thinking about acquiring a rotary styled cutter and tossing the "old guillotine cutter" into the trash.

Would anybody be able to offer some advice on the different rotary cutters available? Perhaps there is another way of trimming prints that you may be able to suggest as an inexpensive alternative? The process of attaching dry mount tissue and then trimming is a prime interest in this regard. Of course, as always is the case, helping me to be frugal on a new purchase is most welcome.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Kind Regards,

[Gem Singer]

Hi James,

Rotary trimmers are definitely the way to go. I got rid of my large wooden-base Ingento guillotine cutter a few years ago and replaced it with a Rototrim rotary trimmer. I've never regretted the decision.

Midwest Photo Exchange (www.mpex.com) handles the Rototrim Eurocut trimmers. They are a single rail model of the two-rail Rototrim, but a lot less expensive.

[Eric Woodbury]

Rotary trimmers are very nice and I use mine for trimming prints to be mounted. In the darkroom for cutting test strips, et al, I still use a cheap paper cutter.

If you do buy a rotary trimmer, check the squareness before you take it home. Mine (a Rotatrim) was way off and still is except I put on my own square edge at the top. The other thing that is confusing about these is that they say they are self-sharpening, but I just paid a bunch of money to have mine sharpened by the factory (and they didn't fix the squareness). It had been 15 years of good, but light, service.

[Dave Schneider]

I would certainly encourage you to look at the Keencut rotary trimmer. I would buy one if I could justify pitching the old Honeywell/Nikkor rotary trimmer. The Keencut looks to be very well designed and built. You can see the cut line much better that with a Rotatrim. I looked at one at the dealers when I picked up my Keencut mat cutter. These are very well made, well designed products that just don't get much press or promotion here in the USA.

[David Vickery]

Dave is absolutely right about the Keencuts. I have one and it is great. You can see the cut line and it cuts perfectly every time. I bought mine on ebay for a good price from a dealer in California.

[Keith S. Walklet]

Here is a thought for you. I recently purchased an OLFA RTY-3/DX rotary cutter. This is a hand-held rotary cutter with pistol grip, which is popular with quilters and leather-workers.

Certainly, the price is attractive in comparison to a Roto-trim. My OLFA cost me $25. I use it to trim out prints from my Epson 9600 and to trim off any over-hanging edges of mat mats.

No problem cutting Premium Luster. No problem cutting textured fine art. No problem cutting 4-ply matboard!

This model has a 60mm cutting wheel, which I think will probably work better than the models with smaller 45mm blades. It also has a squeeze handle and blade lock to expose and retract the blade. Replacement blades are pricey ($7) but you can buy a sharpener that will extend the life of your blades.

You can pick one up at most fabric stores or leather stores, or order it on-line. To get a gander, go to http://www.store.yahoo.com/olfablades/9655.html

I use it in conjunction with a Logan straight-edge directly on my work surface, a 4x8 sheet of SINTRA (a high-density foam used for sign manufacturing) cutting surface is that it hardly leaves a mark, unlike my X-Acto knife which leaves deep cuts in the same surface.

I've looked into getting a self-healing work surface, but will stick with the SINTRA for the time being. It is far more economical ($30 compared to $150).

Of course, I print faint crop lines on my Epson output that make trimming even easier.