Features You Should Consider While Buying A Paper Cutter
Paper cutters are indispensable when you need clean and precise paper cuts on a large scale. If you need to trim thousands of papers in the same size and shape in minutes a guillotine paper cutter is the best option. The versatility and precision of this heavy duty cutter make it a valuable tool for related business houses and large offices.
Paper cutters are indispensable when you need clean and precise paper cuts on a large scale. If you need to trim thousands of papers in the same size and shape in minutes a guillotine paper cutter is the best option. The versatility and precision of this heavy duty cutter make it a valuable tool for related business houses and large offices.
Since this tool is used for the fastest possible work with precision, certain features of the tool especially its safety features need to be considered first while buying the tool.
Read on to know what features you should consider while buying a heavy duty paper cutter or guillotine paper cutter.
Size Of The Cutter And Base
It should be your first and foremost consideration. Guillotine paper cutters or any types of paper cutters are available in lots of different sizes. The size aspect of this tool is considered based on the length of the blade and area of the base on which a stack of paper is placed. There are 12-inch, 15-inch, 18-inch, and many other lengths of cutting blades found in the market. At the same time, consider the area of the base. The paper sizes you normally need to re-size shouldn’t be bigger than the base. If the base is bigger than the paper size you normally resize, you can use the cutter for larger papers as well.
Quality Of The Blade
Every printing, binding, or resizing person knows that the quality of the finished product depends on the quality of the blade. They also need to take care of the speed of cutting the papers and the sustainability of the blades in the absence of regular maintenance. In some offices, the cutter is used ceaselessly for hours and days. So, if you are not examining the quality of the blade, the cutter may lose its relevance soon. Most of the common paper cutters are equipped with stainless razor-sharp blades. There are other qualities as well such as D-2 and tungsten carbide qualities.
The Sharpness Of The Blade
The blade of the cutter should be sharp enough to cut through the stack of papers at one go. It’s that sharpness of the blade on which the quality of tripping depends a lot. If the blade is sharp, the cutter and the human who uses it will be able to work fast with the utmost accuracy.
Cutting Capacity Of The Paper Cut
The next important thing you should consider is the cutting capacity of the guillotine paper cutter you have decided to buy. If you are going to use it for day-to-day office uses like in educational institutions and retail showrooms where lots of papers of equal sizes are required for printing daily, a cutting capacity of 10-15 papers at a time is sufficient. High quality paper cutters are equipped with sharp blades that can smoothly cut a bunch of paper including thick sheets easily. There are also heavy duty blades that can resize more than a hundred papers at a time. You have to choose one according to your need.
Safety Features Of Paper Cutter
Working on guillotine cutters has some risk always as there is a sharp and long blade you use. Sometimes, users need to work on the tool for a long time at a stretch and with high speed. This is why you should always take the safety matter of the cutter very seriously. The blade should be attached with a tension spring so that it doesn’t fall unnoticed, it should have a blade latch to lock the blade when not working, and there should a finger guard in the tool. If these three parts are there, anyone can use it confidently.
- The tension string remains attached to the blade and controls its movements. It prevents the blade from flipping unexpectedly. Tension spring makes the paper cutting process smooth-sailing.
- As the tool has a sharp blade, it’s too risky to keep the blade open when not working with it. A blade latch locks the blade and keeps the paper cutter safe. Just see the material of the latch. If it’s made of metal wire, it will last longer.
- A finger guard protects the fingers from slipping to the cutting zone. It’s not always possible to remain alert especially when you are working fast. A finger guard is designed along the edge of the base. It creates a barrier between your fingers and the blade. So, every time you touch the guard you become conscious as you know your fingers are too close to the blade. In some guillotine paper cutters, both sides of the blade are protected with guards.
Line Indicators
Keeping the papers straight is important to trim the papers nicely. But most people cannot keep the papers absolutely straight that results in faulty trimmed papers. On the base of a guillotine paper cutter straight lines and square areas remain market masking the cutting job much easier and faster. While buying a paper cutter ensure that the base of the cutter has the required straight-line marks.
Other Aspects
Apart from the above-mentioned aspects such as size, quality, and sharpness of the blade, cutting capacity of the paper cutter, safety features, etc, there are some other aspects as well that you may want to inspect. There is the paper clamp that keeps the stack of papers fixed and paper stop to keep the sheets flush. Though you may not find these features in every cutter, these features make the job easier, faster, and flawless. Users who need not use the paper cutters frequently find these parts useful.
Conclusion
While selecting the heavy duty paper cutter for your office or any other purpose keep in mind the above-mentioned aspects. To meet your daily office needs, you should pay special attention to the safety and precision of the cut. Check the size and quality of the blade as it determines the sustainability of the paper cutter. After each use, the blade should be locked with the latch and kept in a safe and dry place. Last but not the least, the tool should not be over-burdened, i.e. stack of paper to be resized should not be more than the upper limit.