Whether you are cutting plastic, corrugated board, vinyl or foamboard, you could probably benefit from the use of a substrate cutter. These useful cutters are designed to cut thick materials. Sizes vary and cutting volume ranges from low to high. So which substrate cutter should you get?

As previously mentioned, substrate cutters are very versatile cutting machines. Many of them can cut material in excess of ½-inch thick! We even carry several high-end substrate cutters that can be used to also cut mirrors, glass, plexiglass and acrylic! So which model should you go with? Here are five highly recommended models as rated by our customers.

Top Five Best Substrate Cutters

1. Foster Keencut Javelin Substrate Cutter
2. Foster Excalibur 1000 Substrate Cutter
3. Fletcher Terry FSC Substrate Cutter
4. Fletcher Terry Titan Cutter
5. Foster Keencut SteelTrak Substrate Cutter

As you can see, Foster and Fletcher Terry are the kings of the substrate cutter hill. I consider both manufacturers to be reputable and both make high-quality equipment. You can find our entire selection of substrate cutters here. If you have questions about any of the models listed, give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. Happy cutting!

So you’ve just laminated a photograph, menu, business card or other document and need an effective way to cut off the excess lamination film. What is the best way to do this? Paper cutters are the most common tool used to do this. So which paper cutter should you use? Here are some ideas.

To begin with, what are you laminating and cutting? If you are trying to cut excess laminating film down to the edge of the document, there is really only one type of paper cutter that you will want to use. This type of paper cutter is called a rotary paper cutter (found here). These paper cutters are designed for precision and make it possible to cut right up to the edge of the document without wavering or being crooked.

What if you simply need to cut the laminated document in half or down in size? If this is the case, you will then want to determine how many sheets you will cut in a day and what your cutting volume will be. For low to medium-volume cutting, a rotary paper cutter (found here) is still probably your best option. Rotary paper cutters can be used to trim excess film and cut documents down to size.

If you need to cut several laminated documents at a time, for medium to higher-volume cutting, a guillotine paper trimmer (found here) may be a good option. These types of cutters, especially Kutrimmer, can cut 10-40 sheets at a time (depending on the model). These cutters are still very precise and easy to use.

If you need to cut hundreds of laminated documents down to size, perhaps business cards, you will want to use a stack paper cutter (found here). These types of paper cutters can still be used to cut laminated documents and are still very accurate. They are designed for medium to high-volume cutting.

Be aware, however, that cutting lamination film will dull the paper cutter blade faster than cutting paper by itself. This shouldn’t be too much of a concern as laminated paper doesn’t significantly increase the rate of dulling.

I have personally used Rotatrim paper cutters to cut laminated documents down to size and find them to be very effective. You can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

Are you in the market for a reliable, dependable and affordable paper drill? Even if you are only in need of a single-hole paper punch, you may want to consider a paper drill. One model you may want to consider using is the Lassco Spinnit EBM-S single hole paper drill. This is my review.

The Spinnit EBM-S paper drill from Lassco is designed for budget-minded people who are in need of a good reliable paper drill. It is commonly used for small print operations. Lassco has a great reputation for making high quality equipment and the EBM-S is no exception. This drill should easily last you for years.

To begin with, the Spinnit EBM-S paper drill is a single spindle design, which means it can drill one hole at a time. This doesn’t mean it can’t be used for three-hole drilling. It just means that three-hole drilling requires a total of three passes. This drill is capable of drilling through up to two-inches of paper.

The drill itself can be used on most tables and surfaces. It weighs in at 62 pounds, which means it may require a couple of people to move around.

The EBM-S paper drill is turned on by flipping a switch found on the front of the machine. Once on, the handle can be pulled down. This brings the paper drill head down, causing it to drill through the paper. The Spinnit EBM-S uses a hollow drill bit. This style of bit allows drilled paper holes to travel up the bit into a storage compartment. The entire process takes just seconds.

The Spinnit EBM-S uses drilling blocks. Once the paper drill has gone through the paper, it rests in the drilling block. These blocks help give the operation an idea on when the paper has finished drilling and helps prevent damage to the drill bit.

The biggest downside to the EBM-S is that the table where you place the paper is stationary. This means it may take a little longer to drill multiple holes. The EBM-S does, however, include a stationary table with an adjustable back-gauge slide guide system.

The Spinnit EBM-2.1 is an upgraded version of the EBM-S that includes an EZ-Glide movable table that has four interchangeable hole patterns. You can find the Lassco Spinnit EBM-2.1 here.

Overall I consider the Lassco Spinnit EBM-S to be a reliable little machine, ideal for low to medium-volume paper drilling. You can find Lassco’s Spinnit EBM-S paper drill here. You can find our entire selection of paper drills here.

If you need to use a manual stack cutter for cutting reams of paper, the MBM Triumph 4705 may be just what you need. This robust cutter is very popular with our customers. Is it the right cutter for you? Here is my review.

The ability to cut large stacks or reams of paper is a huge benefit if you are a printing press, copy shop or a business that cuts down fliers, card stock or promotional material. Many of our customers will use stack cutters to also cut down business cards. Stack cutters will save you hours of time versus using a traditional paper trimmer.

The MBM Triumph 4705 is at the top of the manual stack cutter list in cutting volume and page size. It has a cutting width of 18 ¾-inches and can cut a stack of paper up to 2 ¾-inches thick

The blades on the Triumph 4705 are made from some of the highest quality metal I have seen in a manual stack paper cutter. They are made from soligen steel. These blades, as they become dull, can be re-sharpened. The ability to sharpen blades will save you a nice chunk of change later down the road.

I have actually used this cutter and the manual lever is effortless to use. It is designed in a way that is long and is leveraged in way that requires little force. I have used this to cut a ream of paper using only one finger. Manual labor shouldn’t be a concern with this cutter.

The backstop on the Triumph 4705 is very easy to use. It is a hand-crank style lever and is turned clockwise to increase cutting depth and counterclockwise to decrease cutting depth. The backstop has an arrow pointing to a ruler, which is extremely accurate and makes it easy to determine where the blade will cut.

One of Triumph’s biggest plusses is safety. Stack paper cutters exert a lot of force and cutting power. Luckily Triumph takes some serious safety measures. They utilize a safety cutting system (SCS), which utilizes a transparent safety guard on the front of the table that locks in place while cutting. Blade changing is even designed to be safer.

Another nice thing about the Triumph 4705 is the clamping mechanism. The 4705 utilizes a lock-down clamp. Many people say it looks like a submarine hatch lever. This style of clamp keeps the paper solidly in place.

The only downside to the Triumph 4705 stack cutter is that it doesn’t have an electric or hydraulic motor. The manual lever, however, is very user friendly and will save you some money. You can find the MBM Triumph 4705 stack cutter here. You can find our entire selection of stack and ream paper cutters here.

So you want to punch holes in a specific place and don’t want to be tied down by a specific design? There’s a machine for that. They are called custom paper hole punches. They are very effective and can be used for one, two, three, four and five-hole punching.

A custom paper punch begins with some sort of punching base. This is usually consists of a metal base, a mounting bar and a lever. The mounting bar is where you place the punch heads. Punch heads are typically purchased separately.

These punch heads are available in different diameters. Simply loosen the mounting bar on the base and slide the punch head onto it. Secure the mounting bar and secure the punch head and you’re ready to start punching paper.  The punch heads can typically be positioned wherever you want them, as long as there is room on the mounting bar.

You can usually slide up to as many as five punch head onto a bar. Be aware, however, that the more punch heads you use, the fewer sheets of paper you can punch.

Custom paper punch bases are typically heavier-duty than a standard paper punch. Many people like to purchase a custom paper punch for that very reason, even if they will be punching paper in a standard three-hole pattern.

Some of the custom paper punch models we carry are the Master punch line from Martin Yale. This includes the 5000 series, the 1325B, the 1325PB and the 1340B. You can our custom Master paper punches here. You can find our entire line of paper punches here.

Do you need a fast, effective and easy way to cut corners off of paper? What you need is a corner rounder. This useful machine makes corner cutting quick and easy. If you haven’t settled on any one machine, you should seriously consider the Akiles Diamond-1 corner rounder. This is my review.

To begin with, Akiles is probably one of the best-known and reputable manufacturers we carry. They manufacture office equipment such as binding machines, paper cutters, corner rounders and more. Akiles equipment is known for having excellent build quality and usually holds up for years.

The Diamond-1 is a heavy-duty manual corner cutter. It uses a cutting die that is actuated by pulling a specially leveraged handle. The entire process is quick and easy. The Akiles Diamind-1 has a 0.4-inch cutting capacity, which equals out to be almost a ½-inch stack of paper.

You have your choice of one cutting die with the machine, but it can use multiple cutting dies. This means you can cut corners at a 1/8-inch radius, swap out the die, and then cut at a ¼-inch radius. The cutting dies are very easy to swap out.

The handle is long enough and leveraged well enough to be able to cut paper very easily. I have used this corner rounder and it really does require very little effort. It doesn’t only cut paper, but also cuts PVC, polyester, leather and polypropylene.

This corner rounder can be used to round the corners on business cards, report covers and playing cards. We have even had people use the Akiles Diamond-1 to cut corners off of laminated paper, photographs, ID cards and more.

I have personally used the Akiles Diamond-1 and can vouch for its quality and performance. The Diamond-1 is also available in an electric model called the Diamond-5, which has a cutting capacity of 1.97-inches. You can find the Diamond-1 corner rounder here and the Diamond-5 corner cutter here.  You can find our entire selection of corner rounding machines here.

So you think you want to take a crack at creating your own business cards? No worries. It’s actually pretty easy. I make my own business cards and you can too. One great way to do this is by using a business card cutter. Right now, the CardMate is one of the hottest things out there for doing just that. Here is my review.

To begin with, the CardMate is a very compact little machine. It easily sits on a desk or table. A great place to put it is near your printer. It only weighs about six pounds and is perfect for light to medium-duty use.  It is primarily designed to create business cards, but it can also be used to create teaching cards, labels, product cards and more.

To begin with, you will want to print your cards on a laser or inkjet printer. This is easy to do. The CardMate uses a 10-up pattern, which means you can print a total of 10 business cards per sheet of paper. You can create a business card template using software such as Avery Zweckform, Corel Draw, Microsoft Word, Data Becker, Sigel and others.  We have a CardMate template that you can use to help design your own cards found here.

Once printed, the cards are fed into the machine. A total of two passes are required to create the cards. The machine itself is manually operated by use of a hand crank. It is very easy to do.  The entire process takes less than a minute.

One thing you will want to take into consideration when using the CardMate is that it is not designed to be used with slick or glossy paper. It may work, but it isn’t designed to handle that type of paper. This is because the CardMate uses rubber rollers to pull the paper through the machine. These rollers have habit of slipping on slick paper. I have had customers tell me that they had no problems where others said it seemed to slip on the paper a little.

I have personally used this little machine and have to say that I really like it. It is simple, yet effective. If you want to create your own business cards, and save some serious money in the process, consider getting the CardMate. You can find the CardMate business card cutter here. You can find our entire selection of business card cutters here.

Happy cutting!

As is the case with most sharp objects, they will eventually become dull. This is the case with many high-end paper cutters as well. Over time, paper will dull a blade. So how do you go about getting the blade re-sharpened? You have a couple of options.

So what can dull a paper cutter blade faster than the normal rate of wear? Cutting plastic and laminated paper will wear down a blade faster than normal. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cut plastic or laminated paper, but blade wear should be taken into consideration. Accidentally cutting staples and paper clips will also cause a blade to wear out prematurely.

Be aware that not all blades can be re-sharpened. Some entry level and low-end cutters are designed with a throwaway blade, which means you will have to get a new blade. For many cutters, sharpening is an affordable way to keep a paper cutter going.

MBM’s line of Triumph cutters is a good example of a cutter that can be re-sharpened. Once the blade becomes dull, it can be easily removed and re-sharpened. Many people like to keep two blades on hand to eliminate downtime. This way the cutter can still be used while the other blade is sharpened.

If you don’t know if your blade can be sharpened or not, call our Service Department at 1-800-658-8788 x129 or fill out this form. They will be able to quickly let you know if this is an option.

If your blade can be sharpened, where do you do this? There are a few options. First of all, our Service Department can have your blade sharpened at our facilities here. They can also help you find someone in your local are that can sharpen the blade.

I have had many customers tell me that you should go to a local barbershop or salon to find out where they get their scissors sharpened. Often the same people that sharpen those scissors can sharpen a paper cutter blade. I have never done this myself, but have had customers swear by it.

What if you sharpen a blade that isn’t supposed to be sharpened? I have heard of customers that have attempted to have a blade sharpened that wasn’t intended to. The end result is usually mixed. Because the metal in disposable blades isn’t meant to be sharpened, the blade will often break or become irreversibly damaged.

Our Service Department is very knowledgeable. They are more than happy to help. For paper cutter maintenance, blade sharpening or repair, call 1-800-658-8788 x129. If you need a new paper cutter, our huge selection of paper cutters can be found here.

Good luck sharpening your paper cutter!

There is just something about round corners that looks nice, unique and professional. So is there an easy way to round the corners on hundreds of items at once? There sure is. One way to go about doing this is by using the Lassco-Wizer CR-20 Cornerounder. This little machine is pretty cool. This is my review.

To start with, the design of the Lassco-Wizer CR-20 reminds me of a canned ham with a lever on it. Luckily it is a lot more than that. The CR-20 continues to be one of the most popular corner rounding machines used today. The design has been around for 10+ years and has proven itself to be a reliable little machine.

The CR-20 is Lassco-Wizer’s entry-levl corner rounding machine. It is capable of rounding the corners off of a ½-inch stack of paper. This can be paper, card stock, poly covers and much more. I have even used this corner rounder to round the corners off of laminated documents without a problem.

The machine is available with your choice of die, but you aren’t limited to just one corner size. The CR-20 uses a socket-style die that allows you to easily pull out one die and swap it with a different size. This allows you to get a lot of use out of the laminator at an affordable price.

The CR-20 is designed to be used on a table. It only weighs about four pounds, so it is very easy to pick up and move to a different room or table. The base itself is made from rectangular-shaped metal that is hollow. This allows the CR-20 to catch and hold the cut corners, helping to keep things clean.

I have personally used this laminator to cut the corners off of my business cards. It can also be used to round corners on playing cards, greeting cards, menus, photographs and much more.

My only complaint with the CR-20 is that the base is a little small, measuring in at 5 x 10 ½-inches. This is adequate for most documents, but if you are cutting anything bigger than 8 ½ x 11-inch paper, you will want to upgrade to the CR-50B, which has a much bigger base.

The CR-20 is a great choice for your corner rounding needs and you will not be disappointed. You will find the Lassco-Wizer CR-20 Cornerounder here. You can find our entire selection of corner rounders here.

We’ve all been to restaurants and have all handled and used the menu. While not always the case, most restaurant menus consist of a single folded 11 x 17 sheet of paper or an 11 x 17 sheet of paper cut in half. Restaurant menus have soda spilled on them, dipping sauce smeared all over them, experience chicken wing accidents and much more. So how do menus endure daily abuse and use? They are laminated.

Laminating film makes a menu easy to clean off, prevents liquid damage and gives menus the rigidity they need to keep from tearing. So what are the best laminators to use for laminating a menu? There are two ways to do this. You will either want to use a pouch laminator or a roll laminating machine.

If you are using a pouch laminator, you will want to use a large 12 x 18 –inch pouch (found here). Place the printing menu inside the pouch and run it through the laminator. Once laminated, the menu can be creased or bound for use. Often times the menu isn’t folded or bound, but left as a single sheet. The slightly larger pouch will allow for a small overlapped border around the menu. If you don’t like this, it can be easily trimmed off.

If you are using a roll laminating machine, you can often laminate two menus simultaneously. This can be easily done if you are using a roll laminating machine that is 25-inches or wider. Once laminated, the menu can be trimmed down using a rotary trimmer. The most common roll film our customers use for menus can be found here.

Roll laminators are typically better for high-volume laminating, but I have found that more restaurants use a pouch laminator for menus.  The thickness of film used will depend on the restaurant’s preference. The higher the mil thickness, the thicker the film will be. A mil is one-thousandth of an inch. I probably wouldn’t go with anything thinner than 5 mils thick.

While not completely necessary, many of our customers also like to use a corner rounder to round the corners on the menus. This makes the menu less dangerous (pointy corners = ouch) and makes the menus look nice.

Here is a list of what you may need for your restaurant menu:

• Pouch Laminator or Roll Laminator
• Pouch Laminating Film or Roll Laminating Film
• Rotary Paper Trimmer
• Corner Rounder
• Paper Creaser

Good luck with your menus! We have a lot of people that do this, so don’t feel too overwhelmed. The end results will look great!