A few months ago I wrote a popular article entitled “How To Sharpen A Paper Cutter Blade.” This article went into great detail on where to go and what to do when your paper cutter becomes dull. Our Service Technician stopped by my desk today and told me that there was one small thing I missed. How many times can you sharpen a paper cutter?

I hadn’t really thought about it, but our Service Technician made a great point. You can only sharpen a paper cutter so many times before it has to be replaced. She told me that you can sharpen a paper cutter about 3 times before it has to be replaced.

Apparently, especially in the case of stack paper cutters, the blade gets shorter every time it is re-sharpened. It eventually gets to a point, around 3 times, that the blade is too short to correctly or effectively cut paper.

If you need a replacement blade, or just advice on sharpening a paper cutter, I highly recommend contacting our Service Department by calling 1-800-658-8788 x129 or by filling out this form.

If for any reason you need new equipment, you can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

It isn’t uncommon for a customer to ask me what the difference is between a guillotine cutter and a rotary cutter. With about a half dozen different “styles” of paper cutters out there, it’s easy to get stumped. So what are the different types of paper cutters and trimmers and which is best for you? I’ll go through them in this article.

One common question I get asked is, “Is there a difference between an paper cutter and a paper trimmer?” Both paper cutter and trimmer are fairly interchangeable, however, paper trimmer is typically applied to lower-volume machines where paper cutter is applied to just about everything.

As previously mentioned, there are about a half dozen different types of paper cutters. All of these cutters have different uses and purposes, depending on the application. I will briefly explain all 6 different styles.

Rotary Paper Cutters - Rotary paper cutters use a round blade (some a simple razor blade) that sits in some sort of a cutting head. The cutting head sits on a rail and slides back and forth, cutting paper. Rotary paper cutters are known for their extreme precision and are very popular for cutting photos.

Guillotine Paper Cutters – Guillotine paper cutters, sometimes called arm or lever cutters, are great multi-purpose machines. They typically consist of a cutting blade and a long blade arm that can be pulled down for cutting material. These cutters are generally very accurate and can be used to cut paper, card stock and more.

Stack Paper Cutters – Stack paper cutters are beasts, designed to cut hundreds of sheets of paper at a time. These cutters are commonly used at print shops for cutting down prints and other material. They are also popular for cutting down larger sheets of paper into custom-size paper. There are a variety of industrial and commercial applications for stack cutters. These typically come in manual, semi-auto and fully automatic variations.

Hydraulic Paper Cutters – Hydraulic paper cutters are probably the toughest and most robust paper cutters available. These cutters typically come in a stack paper cutter design and are generally used for high-volume cutting throughout the day. These are often used in factories, print shops, paper plants and in other businesses that handle thousands upon thousands of sheets of paper per day.

Corner Cutters – Corner counters, often called corner rounders, are used for lopping of sharp corners from paper. These useful machines can often round the corners of a stack of paper in excess of 100 sheets at a time. A variety of different radius sizes are usually available.

Form Cutters - Form cutters, sometimes called paper slitters, are designed to auto feed paper and slit it down to size. Many form cutters offer the option of scoring and perforating along with slitting. These types of machines are great for producing marketing material and can often make several cuts simultaneously.

Regardless of the paper cutter you end up using, ABC Office offers one of the largest selections available online. We carry paper cutters from popular brands like Carl, Dahle, Triumph, Kutrimmer, Foster, Rotatrim, Tamerica and many others. You can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

Cutting hundreds of sheets of paper in one fell swoop requires a special paper cutter. Guillotine and rotary cutters simply will not handle that much paper. What you need is what’s known as a stack paper cutter. One reliable model that you may want to consider for your business operations is the MBM Triumph 4810 D semi-automatic stack paper cutter. This is my review.

If you’re in the print industry, you have probably heard of Triumph. These German-engineered and built paper cutters are considered to be some of the best available today. MBM Triumph cutters (by IDEAL) come in manual, semi-auto, fully auto and hydraulic variations in several different widths.

The Triumph 4810 is available two different designs. The 4810 D is semi-automatic and the 4810 EP is semi-automatic with programmable capabilities.  Both cutters have a large 18 7/8″ cutting width. While I will be specifically reviewing the 4810 D, this review can be used in large part for the 4810 EP as well.

This stack cutter features an electric motor combined with a manual paper clamp. The paper cutter blade can be brought down by the push of a couple of buttons (two-handed operation for safety) and the clamp is brought down using a “hatch” style handle. Combined, these two features produce extremely accurate results.

Everything about this cutter is metal, except for a few minor features. The gears are metal, the stand is metal and the frame is metal. Even the carrier that holds the Solingen steel blade is made from metal. It is designed to handle continuous cutting operations throughout the day.

The spindle-guided backstop on the 4810 D is manual, however, it is extremely easy to set up. A digital display on the front right of the cutter lets you know exactly where the backstop is located in either inches or cm. Along with digital measurements, the 4810 D also uses an LED optical cutting line that lets you know exactly where the blade will cut the paper. This cutter also utilizes dual side guides that allow for exact positioning of even small stock sizes.

Safety should not be a concern. Not only does the 4810 D utilize true two-handed operation, it also requires a key to be operated. The 4810 D also has a clear transparent safety guard that has to be down in order for the cutter to operate.

I personally recommend this cutter for cutting card stock, chip board, paper and much more. It is extremely versatile, very easy to set up and the quality is just where it needs to be. Combined with the included stand, the Triumph 4810 D is a great value and should provide you with years of reliable use.

You can find the MBM Triumph 4810 D semi-automatic stack paper cutter here and our entire selection of stack paper cutters here.

Do you have a Triumph 4810 D or 4810 EP and need replacement cutting sticks, blades, repairs or other parts? Contact our Service Department at 1-800-658-8788 x129 for assistance!

Booklet makers are wonderful machines. They take what would normally require a saddle stapler and a folding machine and do everything in a single pass. One common complaint when it comes to booklet makers is how the edges can sometimes become crooked or slanted. There are several reasons for this.

To begin with, as a booklet gets thicker, the spine of the booklet gets thicker as well. This causes the opposite front edges of the paper to slope at an angle, coinciding with the thickness of the stapled spine. Take a stack of 20-30 sheets of paper and fold them in half. You’ll see what I am talking about. The front edges just aren’t straight. No amount of adjustments on a booklet-making machine can fix this problem.

While this may all sound a little confusing, it all boils down to this. Thinner books don’t usually suffer from angled edges, where thicker books do. So what can be done about this?

The most common solution, especially when binding thicker booklets together, is to use a stack paper cutter to straighten up the edges. A guillotine paper cutter may be used for light-volume booklet making. This solution basically lops off the angled edge of the front of the booklet.

You essentially take your stack of bound booklets and place them in the stack cutter. You will want to make adjustments to the stack cutter so that the blade will cut off the paper approximately where the cover sheet ends. This will allow all the sheets of paper to have the same even front edge. This is a very common practice when it comes to booklet makers.

If you are using a booklet maker for binding thicker booklets, I personally recommend using a stack paper cutter for medium to high-volume booklet making or a guillotine paper cutter for low-volume booklet making.

You can find our entire selection of booklet makers here, guillotine cutters here and stack paper cutters here.

Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any booklet making questions. We are more than happy to help.

Do you need a good multi-purpose paper cutter that is well built and offers professional precision? Are you cutting photographs, chipboard, paper and cardstock? If so, you may need a solid paper cutter like the MBM Kutrimmer 1046 guillotine paper cutter. This is my review.

Guillotine paper cutters, in my opinion, are some of the most versatile cutters available. This is because they can be used to cut photos, card stock, chipboards, signs, banners and much more. You may have to adjust the amount or thickness you are cutting, but Guillotine cutters can almost always get the job done.

The MBM Kutrimmer 1046 is a very versatile cutter. It utilizes one of the highest-quality blades you can use in a cutter, a blade made from German Solingen steel. Solingen steel is considered by most to be some of the most durable steel available. Not only does the Kutrimmer 1046 use Solingen steel, but the blade is also razor sharp. This allows the Model 1046 to cut with extreme precision.

A nice blade is obviously critical when it comes to precision cutting. While this is important, the Kutrimmer 1046 also integrates other features that help assist the blade. One such feature is the integrated cutting line indicator. This line indicator is essentially a line that is shown on the object you are cutting, letting you know exactly where the blade will cut the paper. This helps you set up the cut prior to pulling the blade.

The second feature the Kutrimmer 1046 uses to help assist with professional cutting is the “Easy Lift” clamp. This clamp helps keep paper locked in place to prevent movement, which is one of the biggest culprits in crooked cuts.

Setting up the Kutrimmer 1046 is easy. The metal base on this cutter has a diagram of common prints screen printed on the surface. An adjustable back gauge makes this cutter easy to adjust for cutting just about anything, as long as it fits within the 18″ cutting length.

The build quality on the Kutrimmer 1046 can’t be beat. There are hardly any plastic components, with the majority of this cutter being made from metal. This cutter is both German engineered and German built.

Not only is the build quality on the 1046 great, but it is also very safe to use. Unlike many older Gullotine cutters and trimmers, the Kutrimmer 1046 utilizes a transparent Lexan safety guard that keeps the blade inaccessible during the cutting process.

Overall I have to say that this is a great little cutter. For an 18″ cutter, few other models even compare. I highly recommend this cutter for multi-purpose use.

You can find the MBM Kutrimmer 1046 guillotine paper cutter here and our entire selection of guillotine paper cutters here.

Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 with any questions. For servicing, parts or repairs, please call our Service Department at 1-800-658-8788 x129. Have a great day!

I recently had a customer ask if not using a paper cutter for a long period of time could potentially cause it to dull or corrode. I had never really put much thought into this prior to the customer asking the question, so I decided to do a little research. This is what I found out.

To begin with, most high-end paper cutting blades are made from hardened stainless steel. This steel, when left inactive for a while, will not dull with time. The only issue that may happen, depending on the quality of the blade, is it could potentially rust. Rust, if it occurs on the sharpened portion of the blade, could potentially cause a blade to dull.

If you only use your paper cutter one or two times a year (or less), there are some preventative things you can do to prolong the life of the blade and eliminate rust and other corrosion. This applies to rotary, guillotine or stack cutter blades.

What I recommend is to use knife oil and apply it to the paper cutter blade. This oil will not cause any problems with the blade unless you are dealing with an electric paper cutter, in which case you will simply need to make sure the oil doesn’t get on any electronics.

If knife oil is not available, or is too expensive, gun oil will do the trick as well. Both knife oil and gun oil help prevent corrosion and even include rust inhibiting properties.

Once you break the paper cutter back out for use, you may experience a little oil residue on material while cutting. What I recommend is cutting a few sheets of blank paper until the oil residue is gone.

These tips should help keep your inactive paper cutter up and running for years to come. If for any reason you need new blades for your cutter, feel free to call one of our experts at 1-800-658-8788. They should be able to find the right cutting blade for your paper cutter.

If your paper cutter is out of commission or you need a replacement, you can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

Rotary paper cutters are some of the best tools for precision cutting. Larger commercial-style rotary cutters can be used to cut down blueprints, signs, banners, posters and much more. If you are in the market for a professional and precise cutter, consider looking at the 53″ MBM Kutrimmer 0135 rotary paper cutter. This is my review.

MBM makes some of the finest paper cutters available for businesses today. This includes the Triumph stack cutter line and the Kutrimmer guillotine cutter line. The Kutrimmer line, known best for its guillotine trimmers, is now available in several rotary paper cutter designs as well.

Rotary paper cutters are very unique. They use a rolling blade, usually fixed in some sort of housing, to cut paper. This housing slides along a rail and the rolling blade quickly cuts through material. Because the blade and housing are fixed, there is very little movement, which is why rotary cutters are considered to be THE most precise style of cutter available.

The MBM Kutrimmer 0135 rotary cutter can be categorized as a commercial cutter, in line with higher-end cutters like the Rotatrim Technical and Neolt paper cutters. The 0135 is designed from the ground up to be easy, functional and extremely durable.

You will notice from the photo that just about everything on the Kutrimmer 0135 is made from metal. This includes the included stand, base and rail. It is designed for heavy use, and the 53″ cutting length can handle a lot of large material. Another feature you will want to take note of is the ergonomic handle on the blade housing. This makes the cutting head very easy to move along the rail.

One thing people don’t realize about rotary cutters is that not only is the blade important, but the metal strip (counter blade) that the rotary blade slides against on the base of the cutter is equally important. The Kutrimmer 0135 uses a hardened steel rotary blade and a stainless knife steel counter blade strip. Together, cutting and precision meets a new level of professionalism. This combination also enables the 0135 blade to self sharpen.

Have you ever used a rotary paper cutter where the cutting head just didn’t seem to want to move? This is often a result of the clamping mechanism. The Kutrimmer 0135 uses a plastic clamp that not only holds paper and material in place while cutting, but also allow the cutting head to effortlessly slide along the cutting rail.

Unlike many high-end rotary paper cutters, the Model 0135 has a paper catch tray. This tray catches all the excess cut chaff, fine paper strips and other material that would otherwise clutter up the floor and make a huge mess. An optional paper roll holder is also available for this cutter upon request.

Overall the MBM Kutrimmer 0135 hits the mark on almost all levels. It is perfect for use in print shops, architectural firms, copy centers and many other businesses. MBM simply makes some of the best office equipment available today.

You can find the 53″ MBM Kutrimmer 0135 rotary paper cutter here and our entire selection of rotary paper cutters here.

Every so often I speak with customers who one way or another end up on or paper perforator index. They often get a little overwhelmed after seeing the high-end industrial paper perforators that we offer. Many of them simply want either a handheld or a basic manual perforator. One place I often tell them to go is our rotary paper cutter index. This is why.

To begin with, many of our rotary paper cutters have the option of using optional cutting attachments. Some of these cutting attachments are perforating wheels. As long as you aren’t expecting high-volume perforating output, many of these paper cutters will get the job done quickly and efficiently.

I have come up with a list of paper cutters that can be used as perforators. Remember, most of these paper cutters only come with a cutting wheel. The perforating wheel usually has to be purchased as an optional accessory.

Paper Cutters That Are Also Perforators

1. Carl CC-10 Handheld Rotary Trimmer
2. Carl DC-95 & DC-100 Rotary Trimmers
3. Carl DC-200 Series Cutters (DC-210, DC-220, DC-238, DC-250)
4. Carl RT-200 & RT-218 Trimmers
5. Dahle 360 & 370 Hobby Trimmers
6. Dahle 507 Personal Paper Trimmer
7. Tamerica TM-20 Paper Trimmer

These cutters all have a great reputation as long as they are used the way they are intended. Many of these cutters also offer wavy cut, deckle cut and other pattern-cut blades. You can find our entire selection of rotary paper cutters here and paper perforators here.

Did you know that you can breath new life into your paper cutter or trimmer by simply replacing the cutting blade? As blades begin to dull, paper cutters begin to cut fewer and fewer sheets. Cuts can begin to become crooked, jagged and ultimately begin to look awful. Luckily, we offer replacement cutting blades.

I have spoken with several customers that were literally on the verge of buying a new paper cutter, when all they needed was a new blade. I have also spoken with several people that have had stack paper cutters that had no idea that they could re-sharpen the blade. Both of these tips will save you a lot of money.

At ABC office we carry paper cutter blades for a variety of paper cutter brands. The easiest way to find a blade that will fit your machine is to find the exact make and model on our site. We try to place replacement blades on paper cutter product pages.

You can find our paper cutters sorted by manufacturer here:

• Dahle
• Duplo
• Triumph
• Kutrimmer
• Fletcher Terry
• Foster
• Carl
• Neolt
• Rotatrim
• Martin Yale

We are also able to get replacement cutter blades for most discontinued models. If you see your brand listed here, but are unable to find your specific model, give us a call at 1-800-658-8788. We can probably get you the replacement cutting blade you are looking for.

If for any reason your cutter is damaged or needs to be replaced, you can find our entire selection of paper cutters here.

Rotatrim easily makes some of the best rotary paper cutters available. They feature an excellent build quality, extremely accurate cuts and they seem to last for years. If you are on a budget, however, you may not be able to afford a Rotatrim Professional paper cutter. So are there some other brands that compete on a “Rotatrim” level that are more affordable?

I have a tough time saying that “more affordable” cutters are equal to a Rotatrim, but there are some pretty good contenders out there. I have come up with a list of some great Rotatrim alternatives that are still a great value. These cutters should still provide you with excellent cuts and great durability, all for a great price.

Top 5 Best Rotatrim Professional Rotary Paper Cutter Alternatives

1. Dahle 500 Series Professional Rolling Paper Cutters – The Dahle 500 series of professional rolling paper cutters are by far the top alternative to Rotatrim. They are very popular for cutting down photographs, card stock and other paper.
2. Dahle 400 Series Premium Rolling Paper Cutters – The Dahle 400 series of premium rolling paper cutters are hot. They are affordable, are available in different lengths and are still very accurate.
3. Foster Econocut Rotary Paper Trimmers – These paper cutters aren’t able to handle the high-volume of the Rotatrim Professional series, but are still an excellent alternative for light to medium volume cutting. The Foster Econocut line of cutters is accurate and easy to use.
4. Akiles Roll@Blade Rotary Paper Trimmer – The Akiles line of Roll@Blade paper cutters are accurate and extremely affordable. The only downside is that they are only available in a couple of sizes.
5. Rotatrim Mastercut (Monorail) Paper Cutter – The Mastercut line of paper cutters, from Rotatrim, use a square bar for stabilization. These cutters are a great alternative to the “professional” line of Rotatrim paper cutters.

This list of paper cutters should help you find a great cutter at an affordable price. While I still think the Rotatrim Professional line of cutters is THE king of the hill, these other cutters are definitely great contenders. You can find our entire line of rotary paper cutters here.