Photo trimmer

[Ed209]

Looking to buy a trimmer for photos mounted on self adhesive board that have been through a Drytac jet mounter.

It has to be super accurate and easy to see exactly where its going to trim and of course capable of cutting the mounted photos cleanly and preferably in one pass

At present using a see through framers rule with metal strip and scalpe

Dosent have to have a large cutting area but capable of say 10"x8"

Thanks Paul

[Not your average framer]

I suggest that you consider getting a smallish suitably size second hand Rotatrim. The work superbly well and they still support everything they ever made for spare parts and even sell refurbishment kits to replace the complete cutting head and rotary cutter blade. I have the maximum size one, which is about 50 inches long cutting length and it's probably 40 to 50 years old and still works well, when I need it.

It's well bashed about, but still going strong. When I get around to it, I refurbish it. The cost of refurbishing it is trivial and it's still good for a lot more years jet.

[Richard Photofusion]

It depends on the card thickness. Most of the Rotatrims are designed for 6-8 sheets of copier paper, though the technics will do thicker.

They do have sightlines, but certainy on the older ones, this is a bit hit or miss. The new Keencut Evolution 3 has a very precise cutting strip - literally cut by the blade, and has a very smart hover feature, where you can precisely position the material to be cut. Saw a dinky demo version at the sign show, that was only a couple of feet long. Not cheap.

As NYAF says, second hand RT's can be made as good as new for very little, and if you are regularly working with a set of standard sizes then you could make a jig to 8", 10" very quickly. Hmm, T-Tracks in the body of the trimmer...

Now I think about it, the RT trimmer I've got at home does have a moveable production stop on the bed, but, I'd not want to go much thicker than 1mm card on a regular basis.

[Ed209]

Evolution 3 looks good spoke to Keencut they said they are flying out they are very pleased with sales so far.
Very pricey so it is something for the future at the moment so will probably try and pick up a cheap Rotartrim for now or buy a new smallish one

[prospero]

Rotatrims are good but with any 'shearing' type single-wheel cutter, there is a rough side to the cut so it's
important to have this on the waste side.

[Ed209]

In that case I think I need to try one as I would want the bottom to be a clean cut as it would show on a 5mm raised float mounted photo

[Richard Photofusion]

What thickness and type of card are you using, as well as type of adhesive and printing paper - the overall package can have a big impact on the trimability of the sandwich.

[Ed209]

Normal photographic paper and the self adhesive board is 1500 microns is mainly what I have been using lately.
Also want to do general trimming of paper, posters etc.

[Not your average framer]

That's a job for a guillotine and you will need to keep the blade reasonably sharp to maintain good performance on both paper and card. Not really a job for most paper trimmers. I have a bench end guillotine, which probably has not had the blade sharpened for years, it cut boards really well, but there's a very definite nack to cutting thin paper with it. I would regard it as a bit iffy trimming a customers property on it, with getting the blade properly sharpened before using it on a customers artwork, or something on thin paper.

[Ed209]

So now I’m even more confused Think I need to try out the various options.
Any recommendations on a decent Guillotine?

[Not your average framer]

Decent guillotines don't come cheap, if you are buying a new one. Mine is an older bench end one and was bought second hand. There's no manufactures name on it, but it could be made by ideal. It's made of Sheffield steel and the cutting blade in between 10mm and 12mm thick. I bought it for something like about £30 to £40.

I've never had it sharpened, but it keeps on cutting o.k. There's a bit of a knack to using it and I pull the lever left against the bottom plate to get a really clean cut. It's only 30 inches long cutting capacity, which has not proved to be much of a limitation. It cuts MDF, all types of backing board, mountboard and paper if you are careful to maintain a clean cut with a blunt blade, but it's o.k. once you've got the nack.

Secondhand guillotines are out there if you look for them and nice and cheap too!