CARL Heavy Duty Rotary Paper Trimmer 15inch - 12220, Black And Silver

Materiales de buena calidad

I use this to cut down large sheets of paper to make signatures for my books. U til I got this I had to fold my paper in half, then tear it in half, then fold each half and tear again — I got really tired of folding and tearing! Now I can cut several,pages at one time and have them all come out the same size? I think this will cut my book board too, although I haven’t tried that yet.

This paper cutter is well made and cuts accurately. It was definitely a good investment for our purposes.

So I've used standard guillotine paper cutters and a few other craft oriented rotary cutters before this one. This one is pretty good: it has a few additional features that basic paper cutters may not have. First, it has a removable magnetic bar that you can use to keep your edge placement when cutting many stacks of paper to the same size. The bar isn't perfect: it has some play at the top so that it is up to you to make sure it is perpendicular to the top edge (I use the marks already present on the silver board to make sure it's straight). The magnetic is nice and strong, though, so once you set it it won't move if you accidentally push it with your papers. The rotary cutter is on a bar that locks down to hold papers in place. When you want to insert the papers you lift the clip on the bottom of the bar and it pops up a fraction of an inch for you to slide papers in. This adds an extra step to cutting. Some people might find it irritating since you already have to push down on the rotary cutter to get it to work and this usually holds the paper just fine.The first job I did with this cutter was slicing up standard office 8 1/2 x 11 printer paper, 10 sheets at a time. I did find that I had to slide the rotary cutter one or two extra times to make sure all were cut through. It might be because it was on a bar top so I couldn't push down very hard but I wanted to note this for those with less arm strength.So, all in all, I appreciate that this cutter had extra features but I'm not sure if this is the right cutter for me. I like paper cutters for speed as well as for ease in doing masses of work. Because of the locking mechanism I found this a little slow going and I would have liked the magnetic bar to be more like a drafting machine that is manufacturered to always be perpendicular to the top without being checked. I could see that the hold down mechanism might be really good for smaller strips of paper. It also might prevent those times when the blade doesn't cut through and so the paper gets pulled and the cut is crooked (happens on guillotine cutters). So I might look at other cutters to see if any of them suit me better.2 week edit: I used this for two jobs of about 480 papers each (standard computer print paper, 24lb, one cut each page). It did a good job, and once again I appreciated being able to set the magnetic bar paper stop to help speed things up. However, I realized that I do not like setting the clamp down for each set of papers I cut (10 sheets at a time). Even with the magnetic bar and the clamp I managed to cut a few things crookedly and I'm not sure if I put them in like that and didn't have the paper flat enough or if I had moved things with the clamp without noticing. Just FYI even with a clamp and large flat surface if you're cutting something in half or more than the piece hanging off the cutting end can throw you out of alignment unless you're careful to flatten the end on the cutter every time. So, I researched high end cutters, which edge into the commercial market. Apparently Rototrim is top of the line and Dahle is near second. Their products are almost all metal, heavy, precise, made to last, and expensive. They do have personal use lines that are more affordable. Both of these lines include extra features, such as the magnetic guide and have more user friendly ways to hold the paper down for you when you trim (instead of this clamp system). I ended up buying a  Dahle 14-1/8" Cut Professional Series, High Capacity Rolling Blade Rotary Trimmer . It had a full metal body (which made it noticably heavier) but a very sharp snickety blade. It holds the paper down nearest the position of the blade automatically and also has a magnetic sliding bar. Reviews said that the markings and numbers will wear off eventually, so I plan to spray it with a sealer now that I know I'm keeping it.Conclusion: The Carl Heavy Duty Rotary Paper Trimmer is a good step up from basic trimmers and is lightweight enough for easy lifting but is a bit large for taking on the road. The magnetic bar is a wonderful feature that all trimmers should have. With some patience, the clamping paper holder is also useful. However, if you're willing to pay about $30 more and don't mind the increased weight the Dahle 550 might last you longer. Dahle 14-1/8" Cut Professional Series, High Capacity Rolling Blade Rotary Trimmer

I purchased the Carl cutter at the end of September and wasn't able to use it too much, but I loved how it worked--until one of my friends and I were working on some cartonnage projects today (Nov. 5, 2022, past the return window), and she noticed that my Carl cutter was 2mm short on the base of the cutter. WHAT? Yes, indeed! And precision is everything in cartonnage. Thank God my friend noticed, as we were cutting chipboard for projects we want to do. I panicked, realizing it was beyond the return date. I went to the Carl Manufacturing website and read the FAQs, and lo and behold, read this: Question? "Why does my Professional RT Series Paper Trimmer cut about 1/8" off?" Answer: "Odds are you changed or replaced the blade and the straight blade is reversed. Simply loosen the thumbscrews and insert the blade into the blade holder with the thicker portion of the blue facing the inside of the holder. Then load the blade holder onto the sliding handle and snug the thumbscrews. This will correctly position the blade directly next to the translucent cutting rail." My husband went in and did this, and the cutter is now cutting accurately. As to the above answer as to why there isn't an owner's manual for the Carl cutter--that it's because Carl products are designed intuitively--I say that's a bit dismissive. It would take one sheet of paper to give basic instructions and maybe include the "fix" given here. Looking forward to many more easy cuts on the Carl!UPDATE (same day as given above): Well, sad to say, once my friend and I tried new cuts on the Carl after we thought we'd resolved the issue, it was still off by 2mm, so the "fix" wasn't a fix after all. This is the advice I'd give to potential buyers: If you buy the Carl cutter, use it right away to make sure that the measurements are accurate. I didn't get around to using it until after the return window had closed. I'm having to use my centimeter ruler and a pencil, marking each cut on the chipboard, which takes more time and effort. However, I'm still pleased with how it cuts; it's much easier than other paper cutters I've used.