Paper Trimmers

[rann47]

Hi ... I have been making cards for over 20 years, teaching and selling my hand made cards and this if the first time I have had a challenge I can not figure out. I have a large industrial paper cutter (Carl's) for large cutting which is working well and I love it. And I have a Firskar (old old model) for the smaller cuts. About 4-5 months ago I started having to change the blades in my smaller cutter all the time (I use the triple action titanium blades) and it started me wonder why I was going through them so fast. It chews up my paper very badly, if I put a couple layers down it did not always do it but sometimes it did. I kept cleaning and blowing off my blade and track to be sure nothing was stuck in them. Nothing seemed to work so I bought a new larger Friskar cutter. I will be taking it back since it is doing the same thing now, even on a single layer of card stock. In a class yesterday, I had people bring a cutter since I wanted to see other types and have them cut their own papers since I could not get good cuts. All of them started to have the same problems I have with their cutter but had not had the problem at their homes. I did discover that if I use a rotary cutter it does not shred the paper. But rotary and guillotine cutters you can not cut in the middle of a paper or cut really small pieces of paper. Please help me either solve this problem or recommend a good cutter that will not shred my paper. Could it be the atmosphere in my home??? Why after all of these years is it happening and has not happened before. I live on the far east side of Cleveland. Thanks for help or comments.

Rita Kegg
Angelic Impressions

[arlenevita]

Not sure why it happened with yours but it is a common problem many people have with the Fiskars blades. For some reason they wear out too quickly. I have two Fiskars paper trimmers and I have the same problem with both using the triple action blades. If you didn't have problems before, did you used to use a different type of blade? I have not called the company to complain. Sometime turning the blade around helps for a little while.

[monsyd2]

This happened to me and it was because the little tip of the blade was ever-so-slightly off kilter. I complained to Fiskars and received 2 replacement blades. They cut fine for awhile, but I just don't think the new blades are up for all the cutting we die-hard stampers do.

[lindylou1220]

Rita, Stampin' Up!'s new trimmer has the ability to cut as both a rotary and a "line" trimmer. (Not really sure what you call them, but just like your Fiskar's, I'm sure.) You switch out the pieces that the blades snap on to.

I have not used mine enough yet to know how the blades will stand up but I do like this dual option. The regular track is also long enough (>12") to hold and use the cutting and scoring blades without having to remove one in favor of the other.

The rotary add-on also has a couple of decorative edge blades.

The trimmer is shown on pages 176-177 of the SU! catalog if you want to take a look.

[created4apurpose]

I have been researching and reading about trimmers for the past month or so trying to decide what to get to replace my Making Memories rotary that was not making straight or clean cuts anymore. I was so done with it I bought a Fiskars Sure cut, the one with the wire guide, and it had a titanium blade and for the very short time I've used it it's been okay. But I didn't want to have to keep buying blades for a trimmer so I decided to purchase a Cutterpillar V3 that just came out. It just came today and I LOVE it! It cuts beautifully all kinds of cardstock weight as well as pattern paper, vellum etc. And it has no paper guide which I love because you can cut the smallest sliver of paper off as well as accurately measure down to 3/4"! It also has a light strip which is a super cool and useful feature and it's a full 12x12 cutting surface...bigger actually as the scale goes up past 12 1/2". I am very pleased with it and if you go on their facebook page they have a discount right now. Order directly from them....not Oh My Crafts.

[sprtchick]

This looks pretty awesome. I might have to order one!
Blessings.