Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $109.00
Sale Price: $67.68
Today's Bonus: 38% Off
I bought this cutter after doing quite a bit of research, and it has so far exceeded my expectations. I'm a watercolor artist and I needed something that would cut 300# watercolor board, as well as some thinner papers I use for other projects. I had previously used Premier (the green ones) and some other commercial style cutters when I worked at a school, as well as several brands of rotary trimmers. I ended up deciding guillotine was better suited for use with the thick cotton rag boards I cut, and there is also the advantage of not needing to buy blades, as most guillotine trimmers are self sharpening. For this price, I did not expect to get something as heavy-duty as the commercial ones I'd used, but this one had good user reviews, and was more sturdily built than some others I'd researched here and elsewhere. I got the cutter and could not be more pleased. It is a lot more heavy-duty than I expected. It has a 15 sheet rating, but it slices like butter through 300 pound cotton rag watercolor board, which is very fibrous and hard to sever. I was interested to note that there is no actual blade on this cutter. The tension on the lever is used to create a scissor effect between the lever and the side of the board. The other guillotine trimmers I have used do have a sharp blade, but this one is squared off and the corner of the lever is used as a scissor blade. It's very effective. I don't get that jagged tearing sort of cut; it's very clean and sharp. I did some experimental trimming with standard paper, and it cut 1/32 inch without folding under. On a lot of guillotine trimmers, if you get a really close shave, it folds the paper rather than cutting it. This one cuts clean in very small increments. I have been used to holding the paper myself and not using the onboard paper holder, because most of the time, they didn't work that well on the trimmers I have previously used. You don't really have an option with this trimmer, unless you want to modify it, but I'm actually glad now, because the bar that holds the paper really does hold the paper very tightly. I can cut one-handed, even. The part of the paper holding arm that contacts the paper is a flexible rubber material, so it does not leave any marks on the paper itself (rag board is very susceptible to impression marks). I would have taken it off without having tried it if that had been an option, so I'm glad it wasn't. I'm still able to visually line up my cuts with it, and I use 1/32 measurement, so it's pretty precise. The board/blade relationship is square and I did measure it with an angle gauge (you can tell by now that I did, can't you? LOL). I noticed that another reviewer posted that the nut on the paper holding arm gets in the way of the blade. Well, I guess if you let it get completely unscrewed it might, but it's a good half inch away from the cutting arm when it's tight, so theirs must really have come loose! Nothing about the paper holding arm gets in the way of the blade on the trimmer I received. The base is not solid, but it is heavy enough that it didn't slide around on me when I used it on the counter. Light-weight plastic trimmers slide all over the place, but this one is solid enough to stay put, and it does have rubber feet, which probably helps. If you need more precise measurements than half inch, the surface does mark easily with a Sharpie, and doesn't rub off. I felt like I had good control with this trimmer once I got used to the paper holding arm. You do have to lift the blade completely, but that turns out not to be much of a concern once you get used to it. The backstop guide holds securely with a thumb screw, and photo paper did not slide under it. The thinnest I used was Epson Premium Presentation Paper (not Ultra, and not photo paper) which is nearly equivalent to a sheet of typing paper. If you make sure it's squared up, you can still cut a single piece of paper without it sliding under the backstop, but if you're careless on the top edge, the bottom corner of the paper could slide under the backstop. I'm not sure I described that well, but if you are snug on the top (ruler) edge, the backstop will work fine with a single sheet of typing paper. I saw that someone else has posted this cutter only cuts 16". That is NOT correct. The blade/arm is slightly over 18" long and it definitely does make 18" cuts. The ruler across the top of the trimmer board is only 15' long, and is marked to 14.5", so perhaps that was what the other reviewer meant. As far as the cutting length it's 18". Thought I'd better clear that up, because the picture does not let you see that the blade and ruler sides are two different lengths. To be clear, this trimmer DOES make 18" cuts. The blade/arm itself is 8mm (slightly over 1/4 inch) thick, so I don't anticipate any bowing of the arm itself. There is a heavy duty spring that maintains tension where the arm attaches to the board. There is a piece of heavy metal (I don't know what kind, but I assume it's the same as the arm) attached to the board which that acts as the other "blade" for the scissor-type function. That strip of metal is about two thirds as thick as the arm itself. Both surfaces seem like they will wear well over time, but that is just an opinion. Incidentally, I also used the top ruler to fold against, as it provides a good ledge to line up the ends of the paper. If you go to the Dahle website, this is actually the Vantage trimmer. It doesn't say so in this listing, but the box is labeled Vantage. On the whole, I'm very pleased and would definitely recommend this trimmer. Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions I have not answered here.
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