Paper trimmer recommendations

[mfrohman]

Hi all,

Looking at buying a rotary trimmer to accompany my 44" z3200s. I've been using large safety rulers, an x-acto, and tabletop cutting mats for a few years but thinking a trimmer might speed things up and be easier on the wrist.

I've researched some of the threads on here but most are pretty old so wanted to get some fresh thoughts.

1. Do people find that using a rotary trimmer is actually faster/easier than cutting by hand?

2. From what I've read, the Rotatrim seems to be the top of the line. But there are several different models - Mastercut, Professional, Technical, and Digitech, all with different price points. Does anyone have thoughts on model differences for trimming large format photographs and artwork? I use matte inks a lot on somerset velvet which does scratch easily on dark colors if that's a concern - a few people mentioned scratching on the mastercut I think. I don't need to be able to cut foam or matboard or anything thicker. Canvas would be nice but not that important right now.

3. I've read that Dahle used to be way behind rotatrim in quality but is much better now. Seems like a german company would make pretty high quality equipment. Any thoughts on recent Dahle's vs Rotatrims since there's a big price difference?

4. There's also a few other brands like keencut and Neolt but couldn't find too much info in how they compare.

Thanks for the help!

Mark

[mearussi]

A 44" Rotatrim is large (i.e. it takes up a lot of space), heavy and expensive. For anything that large I use either the system you use with the ruler and xacto knife (but only if I have someone to help me) or my matte cutter on a 4'x8' table if I'm by myself, which works fine and doesn't leave scratches.

[Peter McLennan]

I use my Logan 850 matte cutter which, perversely, will only cut 43".  It will, however, cut half inch Gator with a print laminated onto it.
Bare prints or 3/16ths Gator or foamcore are a piece of cake, even if a print is already applied to the substrate. I don't think a Rotatrim could do that.

Making long cuts with a hand held blade and a straight edge is not fun.  Before I got the Logan, I was successful at that task, but only if I firmly clamped both ends of the straight edge to the table.

[Paul Williamson]

I use a 54" Rotatrim Professional. I can't give you any comparison data against other models or brands of rotary trimmers, but I can say with confidence that the rotary trimmer is really fast, easy, and reliable compared to a straightedge and knife. I use the big cutter for everything, even smaller prints. It's easier to use and gives nicer results than a guillotine style trimmer.

With a ruler and knife, you carefully measure and line things up, and then you struggle to keep everything from slipping around, and then you have to be super careful to control the knife. You need to spread out a cutting pad, which has to be stored flat, takes up a lot of space, and is annoying. With the Rotatrim, you still have to line things up carefully, but then you just go whoosh with the cutter head and you're done. It's a real luxury. Oh, and it's always sharp.

The cutter is kinda big, but not so big you can't pick it up and move it off the worktable if you need the space. It's sturdy enough you can get away with leaning it up against a wall, though it's probably not a great idea to store it that way for a long time.

I haven't had any trouble with scratching. It does look like a potential problem, since the cutter has a plastic strip that touches the face of your print. In practice, I haven't seen any damage. However, I don't use anything as toothy as Somerset Velvet.

It's true that the Rotatrim can't cut anything thick. A really good matte cutter might be competition for it, especially if you need to cut boards. I haven't used a high-end Logan. The cheap Logans are terrible. I have the cheapie and the Xacto knife and ruler is superior to it. I'm sure the 850 is better, but then it's even more expensive than the Rotatrim.

Just my opinion.

[dchew]

I have the Dahle 24”. I do like the steel base because I can place small rectangular magnets anywhere on the board as stops. Works great on smaller pieces for folios, etc. Each finished print ends up exactly the same size and they stack perfectly.

I’ve had it 10 years with no issues, but have nothing to directly compare it to other than one of those cheap Logan’s. Ugh. I don’t cut mat board with it, only paper. I have a Speed-mat for mat cutting.

Dave

[virojarvi]

I prefer trimmer over cutting mat and knife. My choice was to have trimmer big enough for most what I print, and a cutting mat for the bigger prints.

I went with Rotatrim M30 and have been happy with it. It is not too big to handle and can cut boards up to 3mm thick, which has been useful. For cutting bigger prints I use a 100x150cm cutting mat.

[Richard.Wills]

I'm looking to get the 54" technical when we settle in to new studio. Currently I have a couple of 8x4' benches, with polyprop surfaces which are fine for cutting, with rulers up to a 60" big purple ruler. The reason for choosing the technical is that when the cutting head is resting in either home end position, the clamping bar raises by (maybe) 10mm reducing the chances of scratching. We print on a whole range of art and RC paper stocks, and the idea of no longer having to have tissue under the cutting ruler, is really appealing.

In the UK, Rotatrim tend to have major (25-33%) discounts running at trade shows, which are also available online. I've met the people there, and the little details, such as the option for an extended base board, or squaring edge are very tempting.

For sheet materials, I have the Keencut Javelin bench, and a steeltrak, but neither is ideal for trimming prints (though I do have a strip of cutting matt that can go in the cutting line of the Javelin, which does make print trimming an option - however, I prefer to trim paper with a 10A scalpel bade, rather than a utility knife blade. I also have three older "classic" rotatrims, which the organisation has had for literally decades - damn things are near on indestructable, and all the major and minor components are available as spares (and one at home which I bought in the late 90's). Unfortunately, none of these are over 36", and they have the plastic cutting strip, whch I've never tried with fine art matt papers.

WRT the magnets idea, I like that thought, and might try some .25mm* steel sheet attached to the base board.

*This is where a life times exposure to metric and imperial measurements shows my bias for metric for fine details.

[Roscolo]

Hi all,

Looking at buying a rotary trimmer
Mark

Hands down, Rotarim. After cutting for years with a straight edge and blade, I now use a Rotatrim M54. Wow. I should have gotten one YEARS ago. Get cuts done faster. The cuts aren't just cleaner than cutting with a straight edge and a knife...they're cleaner and perfect every time. No little flecks from the self-healing cutting mats getting on the prints. Also nice that I can hire anyone to do trimming and they can step right in and immediately make perfect cuts with ease. I don't have to worry about someone ruining prints with lazy cuts, or cutting their fingers off and getting blood all over the prints in the process with a knife and straight edge. 

 Don't cheap out with the mastercut or any other model with the single rail. Pay a little more and get the double rail Professional M series (M54, M42, M36, M30, etc.).

[gfsymon]

For anyone using a blade ... this changes a lot:

http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Crafting-and-Sewing/Rotary-Cutters

[Richard.Wills]

Bet I could still take the tip off a glove on a busy day, and a finger on a bad one...

Have been wanting to try one for Baryta prints, but I think the coming Rotatrim will negate the need.

The T-series has a single rail, just box section rather than round. On all the others, dual rail, most definitely.

[mfrohman]

Thanks for the feedback, Roscolo and Richard.Wills especially addressed many of my concerns. Eventually bringing an assistant in who's not going to slice their fingers off is definitely in the back of my mind!

I currently have a 4 x 8' table that I built with a 4x8 cutting mat on the top, and a variety of safety rulers up to 60". I've gotten really good and fast at hand cutting - I print with crop marks so never have to measure (I'll have to give the hand rotary trimmer a shot). But it is still the bottleneck and tedium of my process. If a trimmer will smooth the process then that's a plus. Also I wear down the cutting mats pretty quickly and go through a ton of blades, as well as occasionally cutting into the metal of the blades which is really unpleasant.

So it sounds like either rotatrim M series or technical - any Dahle users want to chime in?

[gfsymon]

Rotary blades have a longer life and give a cleaner cut.  With a scalpel you are using just a very small part of the tip of the blade to make each cut.  A rotary blade is using the entire circumference of the blade.  So in terms of longevity, it’s like 50 scalpels or something.  Because it slices and doesn’t drag, the cut is much cleaner.  This is true for trimmers too.  Guillotines aren’t as good as rotaries and are more prone to slip.  The handheld rotary doesn’t get anywhere near fingers (I use heavy/thick rulers).  If you’re doing a lot of trimming, a rotary trimmer is definitely worth it and I think Rotatrim are the gold standard.

[William Chitham]

I bought a second hand 60" rotatrim about ten years back and much prefer it to cutting with a knife and mat. The cut is cleaner, it is easy to be accurate and there is less chance of slips etc. With mine the pressure strip can make a visible mark on dark areas of print on matte paper unless protected with a piece of tissue, no problem if there is a half decent border. I have mine permanently mounted flush with a work top, I've also put an led strip light underneath the cutting edge so I can line up cut marks.
William.

[mfrohman]

Does anyone know if the professional M series has the issue with the scuff marks on matte paper? The Technical is quite a lot more expense to avoid this issue.

Also, is it quick to line up the crop marks with the cutting line? Some people have remarked about other cutters that you have to take some time to line everything up correctly - how is that process on the rotatrim? I've only used a logan cutter where it can be a little hard to see the exact alignment with the blade.

[howardm]

What I did on my 24" Professional was to put some very small & thin washers under the screws that hold the plastic 'guide' to the baseboard.  That raises it up a mm or so and it also lets be grab/lift the guide.

[Richard.Wills]

Does anyone know if the professional M series has the issue with the scuff marks on matte paper? The Technical is quite a lot more expense to avoid this issue.

Also, is it quick to line up the crop marks with the cutting line? Some people have remarked about other cutters that you have to take some time to line everything up correctly - how is that process on the rotatrim? I've only used a logan cutter where it can be a little hard to see the exact alignment with the blade.

I have not tested the Technical, so it is possible that the clamp pressure could scuff delicate matt papers. I do like the idea that the clamp strip is raised for paper insertion.

And the LEDs to site the cut line - genius.

On our older trimmers, the clamp is no use for lining up the cut, trim lines are slightly guess work, particularly if the left and right sides are not trimmed. Using LEDs will allow me to see exactly where the trimming line sits in relation to the blade.

[Roscolo]

Does anyone know if the professional M series has the issue with the scuff marks on matte paper? The Technical is quite a lot more expense to avoid this issue.

Also, is it quick to line up the crop marks with the cutting line? Some people have remarked about other cutters that you have to take some time to line everything up correctly - how is that process on the rotatrim? I've only used a logan cutter where it can be a little hard to see the exact alignment with the blade.

No. No scuff marks. I'm using an M54. Anyone getting scuff marks or scratches it's probably because they have debris under the plastic clamp strip. Very simple, fast and necessary to remove that strip and clean it occasionally.

[Richard.Wills]

That's good to know (wish I'd thought of that). Will give strip a good clean in the morning  - seen a very good price on a used M54 - if it wors for our vintage machines, then could save a fair chunk of cash on a larger cutter. Wondering if T-cut would help smooth the under surface... Or could just buy a new strip from Rotatrim.

[William Chitham]

Here are a couple of snaps of my Rotatrim set up showing the underlighting of the cutting edge. I've got it bracketed onto the back of an old plan chest with the worktop flush with the cutter. The led strip is laid on a shelf below the cutter and gives a nice shadow line at the cutting edge. I originally had some undercupboard type striplights but the leds are much better. The second picture sort of shows the effect through a piece of 308gsm Phot Rag, it is clearly visible under normal room lighting. Mine is a Technical model, the marks are not so much scuff marks, they are the reult of the clamping action pressing on the paper - in my experience you can make a mark on a dark area of print on cotton rag paper just by giving it a hard stare so it isn't surprising. Best solution is a nice big border.

William.

[William Chitham]

...here's the other snap.