Has anyone used Dahle brand trimmers? They’re more in line with what I can afford. The Rotatrims are a bit pricey for me, although I’m sure they’re worth it.
Has anyone used Dahle brand trimmers? They’re more in line with what I can afford. The Rotatrims are a bit pricey for me, although I’m sure they’re worth it.
I use an M24 Rotatrim but a problem arises when trimming alternative prints: An 8x10 negative (which is slightly smaller than 8x10) sometimes gets slightly skewed when mounting in the contact printing frame which is designed for 9x11 paper and the grid lines on the cutter rarely, if ever, line-up. Perhaps I could use a sheet of graph to help.
Thomas
low cost Dahle guillotine trimmer?
They tend to pull the paper as they cut causing a curvature on the cut edge.. followed by absolute frustration...
IMO, a good rotary trimmer is a very worthy investment and frustration reducer.. what are your prints and time (not replaceable) worth?
Bernice
Originally Posted by Ben Calwell
Dahle makes a rotary trimmer that’s priced significantly lower than the Rotatrim models, but, you probably get what you pay for. But I’m thinking it might produce better results than my carpenter’s square and utility knife.
Zero experience with these.. Try before buy/own. Possible these are a better value than Rot-A-trim as they have been selling/on the market for a very long time with a positive reputation.
Curious to know how this works out.
Bernice
I've been using the Dahle 507 "Personal" rotary trimmer to trim prints up to 8x10 for many years. The cutting edge seems to line up square with the guides according to my admittedly inexpensive artists square. "Personal" not professional, but for me worth the +/- $50 on the big marketing site. Hope this helps.
Bill Poole
"Speak softly, but carry a big camera."
Dahle makes very high quality guillotine cutters capable of very clean cuts as well as inferior low cost ones. The good ones are every bit as expensive as a pro level Rototrim of comparable size. You get what you pay for. Any kind of guillotine cutter can be risky if misused. Cheaper or dull ones are more prone to tug the work out of square, but that can happen with rotary and knife-style cutters too. The simple grid pattern on the board along with hand pressure is not adequate for serious squaring accuracy. You need an extended base and solid squaring arm, plus a flat platen that will hold the paper or tissue not only down, but overall flat and un-wavy when cutting. These kind of accessories don't come cheap pre-made, but can easily be made by an individual at very reasonable cost.
I can remove even a half millimeter from a forty-inch wide print cleanly, accurately, and squarely time after time if it were necessary. There is a technique to this, regardless of whether the print is big or small. You always want to start with a reference edge. Trim the most important edge first, then square each edge connected to it using the 90 degree guide bar on the trimmer (pre-checked for square with a serious square or draftsman's triangle). This will involve flipping the print over for one of those cuts. Then finally, if both your side cuts are indeed square, only then trim the opposite side to the first cut with reference to the others. A platen or large draftsman's triangle should be used to hold the print flat every step.
My Dahle 18inch guillotine trimmer has an extra contraption that holds down the paper and keeps my fingers out of the way. Its grid markings are square and it has a metal body. After making the first cut, I don't use the top rail stop, but instead align the first cut edge to the grid.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
http://www.searing.photography
As posted before https://www.dahle.com//trimmers/guillotines
The expensive ones are for multi sheets, read the catalog
I use their cheapest 12" and 18" guillotine and only for cutting film, fantastic, no scratches,
I have a 24" double rail RotaTrim that is not as good
Tin Can
Expensive ones are also sometimes used for single sheets of even shim stock. There is a selection. Smaller "Pro" Dahle cutters are indeed superior to rotary cutters for sizing down film. But doing so in the dark, you might need an accessory clipboard for recording your inventory of leftover fingers each time. I improvised a very serious additional finger stop to mine. Reminds me of working with router tables : first finger-proof the device, and even then, never use em if you're already tired and groggy, and not fully alert.
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