Hey all you hybrid ladies! I have an old Fiskars cheapo 12 x 12 size rotary paper trimmer - I hate it. I'm in the market for a fairly nice trimmer. Any suggestions? I want straight and crisp cuts. The one I have tends not to cut so straight. I'm thinking a trimmer w/those handles that come down may be what I want instead of rotary. Guillotine style? How hard are they to maintain (keep sharp?). Any one have a good one they love? Share your paper trimmer recommendations with me please!
Jenn, the guillotine type cutters are the best for nice straight cuts. I find the rotary and blade ones (like Stampin Up sell ) tend to tear the paper. I had my last guillotine cutter since about 1993 and just late last year put it out to pasture and bought a new one from an office equipment shop. Here is Tim Holtz talking about his guillotine:
Personally, I like rotary trimmers. When it stops cutting straight, I can replace the pad underneath the blade and it works again. (The one on my large trimmer is actually a square, so I can turn it over three times before I have to buy a replacement.) I used to have a small guillotine style for trimming photos, but it I had hard time with the cuts -- they were straight, but always at an angle to the edge, so my photos weren't really square. I switched to a small blade trimmer and that seems to work better for me.
That's actually how I'd describe my cuts with the rotary! Straight but at an angle to the edge - I guess by "straight" I meant perpendicular to my edge with no variance in degree. It drives me nuts. You make a really good suggestion with the pad for the rotary. I have not thought about that - I wonder if simply replacing it would help. Maybe I need to try that first? Thanks!
I have a Boston guillotine type cutter that I love but I also really love my Fiskars slide cutter thing that I've had forever. I have only had to the replace the blade once in MANY years and it cuts straighter than my Boston one. Mine is like this, but no where near as fancy. I've had mine forever. It's not rotary, just a little slide cutter.
I have a Cutterpillar. I have this smaller one. The side folds in. I love the light it has! It's rotary, but because of the design, I can press the rotary right next to that metal blade and keep things straight. It was expensive (I did the Kickstarter) but it works great! I love how well it cuts through laminated paper.
Yes, that is my problem too. I don't understand how replacing the pad fixes it, but it does. This is my trimmer, by the way: https://www.samsclub.com/sams/fiskars-titanium-paper-trimmer/113272.ip . I don't think Sam's Club sells them anymore, but that is where I bought it. It uses the standard Fiskars rotary blades that are also sold in the quilting tools section of Joann's, so I don't have to worry about them being discontinued (as long as quilters keep using the hand held rotary cutters!) I also use this one: https://www.joann.com/fiskars-surecut-paper-trimmer-9/10224640.html for photos and small papers, because sometimes I just don't need the big one! I used to have a Creative Memories one, but I replaced it when it stopped cutting straight, and the new one was even worse.
I have a few small Fiskars for when I scrap outside the house and need something portable. I buy new blades every now and again and they work just fine. But at home I have a big Fiskars and it cuts like a charm, I have never had to replace anything on it and I've been using it for over 10 yrs. It's a bit pricy but I got it on sale way back when....and it is worth every penny. It cuts straight and clean for me. Here's a link to one similar to mine. Mine looks a bit different b/c it's so old but basically the same. https://www.amazon.ca/Fiskars-15447...ocphy=1001938&hvtargid=pla-309096323961&psc=1
I did some traditional scrapping last fall and pulled out my old CM trimmer. I was only trimming photos so didn't need anything bigger. I've had it a LONG time... got it when I sold CM so has to be 18 years old. Still works fine for my needs. When it gets dull, I use aluminum foil to sharpen it up. I do have 2 larger paper cutters as well. One is a Susis Unicut (made in Germany) that CM sold in the late 90's. I got it when they sold off their stock and actually got hold of a replacement blade a few years ago for when the time comes. It is heavy though so not one to travel with. It is a rotary trimmer. Maybe 10 years ago I got a Tonic trimmer that is the guillotine arm type. I got a 12x12 to cut larger pieces. So when I do traditional scrap I have 3 different trimmers that cover different sizes. But for all of them I find that I have to press down on the paper guard with my hand to hold it tight against the paper/photo to get the best cut.
Mine looks a lot like yours. It's a little older model though but basically the same thing - just all grey plastic. I like that I can get blades in the quilters section too! I'm guessing the pads have to be ordered online? I'm not sure I've seen them in the big box stores ... but maybe I just haven't been thinking that's the problem. I'm going to go it a whirl!
@jenn mccabe I watch a lot of paper scrappers on YouTube and a lot of them use this or the larger one. I still have a CARL personal paper trimmer that I've had for over 20 years now. It's a 12". It has a magnetic piece so that when the guide folds down, the paper stays in nice and tight. I loved it because it was super portable and I always got nice straight cuts. I've used it to score and perforate as well. You can still find it on the CARL website: https://www.carlmfg.com/dc-100-12-rotary-trimmer-205/
so many choices!!! thank you all - I wish there was a paper trimmer testing store - like how you can go in and get a feel for a camera before you buy it! that would be awesome!
Mine is all grey too, but that was the one that came up when I googled it. I bought my replacement strip in the store -- I can't recall which one, but most likely Joanns.
It has been awhile since I've used the Tonic. I bought it on the recommendations of many of my scrapbooking friends from another forum. We enabled each other with buying stuff all the time. Latest thing has been InstaPots so it hasn't been limited to scrapbooking items I haven't heard anything bad about Tonic trimmers from any of them over the years though. I at least know where mine is now... found it on the top shelf of a closet when I was working on cleaning out the closet earlier today.
SO true about enabling (all the things!). I am tempted to jump on the instapot thing too bc of all the talk here!
This is the one I have and have used for years on all my hybrid stuff. I also have the smaller 6” size of it. I love the wire guide. It has always given me perfect crisp cuts and the blade last me a long time.
You NEED the instapot in your life! We use ours almost every day. Best gift I ever got and the best thing I ever did was teach my husband to use it. We started the Keto diet this year and it has been a lifesaver for us.
I have a Fiskars one that's similar to Cheryl's CARL. It's old. It's the very older model of this one. I may not be a hybrid scrapper but I do cut paper and photos and I wanted STRAIGHT edges so my cutter is one of the few paper supplies I kept. But having said that, Cheryl has me thinking that I need one with a magnet to keep things aligned! I just hold my fingertips lightly against the inner guide so the blade doesn't move in the track.
