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julesjonesFeeling sufficiently better that some writing has been done. I've also written a couple of new Amazon reviews, although this time they're not of books.
Dahle 507 rotary trimmer: 5 stars - Excellent budget trimmer
This is from Dahle's budget range of rotary trimmers. "Budget? At _that_ price_?" I hear some of you cry -- but yes, this is the budget range, and the professional range is significantly more expensive. Having used both, I can say that the pro models are worth the money for intensive business use, but you can't go wrong with this model for hobby and light business use. While it's a lot more expensive than some entry level trimmers on the market, it does a far better job, and the self-sharpening blade means that lifetime costs are better.
The trimmer is soldily built, with a metal base and guide rail and hefty plastic trim. It's sturdy, rigid, and stays where it's put, while still being light enough to carry around. It's very quick and easy to use - simply slide the sheets under the transparent plastic clamp, line them up using the edge of the clamp as a guide, and run the blade carriage along the guide rail. The automatic clamp is pressed against the paper by the blade carriage, holding it firmly in place. And the clamp will hold a small stack of sheets in place so that the cut is accurate and burr-free on all of the sheets. The trimmer gives neat, clean, accurate cuts on anything from very light paper to medium card, and will happily handle a stack of five sheets of standard copy paper.
The blade is self-sharpening, and the design makes the blade fully enclosed except when changing blades, which is easy to do. The basic 507 model comes with a straight blade; the 507K also has three decorative blades (wavy, deckled and perforated). The decorative blades are slightly less accurate than the straight blade, and a little more difficult to use -- you'll probably need to practice on scrap sheets to get the feel of them first. You shouldn't need to buy replacement blades for a very long time, but they are available by mail order direct from Dahle.
The two drawbacks of the design - it's not possible to make internal cuts in a sheet of paper, as you have to start from the edge of a sheet, and you can't end a cut within a sheet at an exact point without a lot of practice. But for trimming items down to size this is a superb trimmer.
I have some minor nitpicks with this specific model, because I've been used to using one from the pro range at work. The base is relatively narrow, which makes it light and much easier to store than the full-sized pro model, but also means that you can't lay an A4/letter sheet of paper flat on the base -- the far edge of the paper will droop over the edge of the base. The rulers marked on the base are only in imperial, not both metric and imperial, and it's lacking the 1"/1cm grid that's sported by many of the pro models. But it does have rulers (marked to 1/8") on three sides, a protractor and a set of outlines for some of the standard photo sizes.
If I'd never had one from Dahle's pro range for comparison, I'd think this was the best trimmer I've ever seen. There are other sizes available in the range, both smaller and larger, but the 507's 12"/30cm capacity is probably the best general purpose size unless you have a specific need for a different size.
Fiskars Personal Paper Trimmer: 1 star - Cheap but complete waste of money
It may be cheap, but it's a complete waste of money, and I returned the one I bought. It's very inaccurate, and it tears the paper rather than cutting it. As for the claimed ability to cut five sheets at once, if you try that you'll find that the paper stack fans out because there's no way to clamp the paper. The resulting cuts are ragged, crooked, and in a different place on every sheet. There's no self-sharpening facility, and I suspect you'll be replacing blades often enough that you might as well spend the money up front and get a better quality cutter in the first place. The mechanism also means that the blade is exposed, and although it's safe when used correctly I would not allow a child to use this unsupervised. There are much safer cutters on the market.
If you really want something this cheap, get a cutting mat, non-slip ruler and craft knife. The results will be the same or better, and the replacement blades will be a lot cheaper.
Dahle 507 rotary trimmer: 5 stars - Excellent budget trimmer
This is from Dahle's budget range of rotary trimmers. "Budget? At _that_ price_?" I hear some of you cry -- but yes, this is the budget range, and the professional range is significantly more expensive. Having used both, I can say that the pro models are worth the money for intensive business use, but you can't go wrong with this model for hobby and light business use. While it's a lot more expensive than some entry level trimmers on the market, it does a far better job, and the self-sharpening blade means that lifetime costs are better.
The trimmer is soldily built, with a metal base and guide rail and hefty plastic trim. It's sturdy, rigid, and stays where it's put, while still being light enough to carry around. It's very quick and easy to use - simply slide the sheets under the transparent plastic clamp, line them up using the edge of the clamp as a guide, and run the blade carriage along the guide rail. The automatic clamp is pressed against the paper by the blade carriage, holding it firmly in place. And the clamp will hold a small stack of sheets in place so that the cut is accurate and burr-free on all of the sheets. The trimmer gives neat, clean, accurate cuts on anything from very light paper to medium card, and will happily handle a stack of five sheets of standard copy paper.
The blade is self-sharpening, and the design makes the blade fully enclosed except when changing blades, which is easy to do. The basic 507 model comes with a straight blade; the 507K also has three decorative blades (wavy, deckled and perforated). The decorative blades are slightly less accurate than the straight blade, and a little more difficult to use -- you'll probably need to practice on scrap sheets to get the feel of them first. You shouldn't need to buy replacement blades for a very long time, but they are available by mail order direct from Dahle.
The two drawbacks of the design - it's not possible to make internal cuts in a sheet of paper, as you have to start from the edge of a sheet, and you can't end a cut within a sheet at an exact point without a lot of practice. But for trimming items down to size this is a superb trimmer.
I have some minor nitpicks with this specific model, because I've been used to using one from the pro range at work. The base is relatively narrow, which makes it light and much easier to store than the full-sized pro model, but also means that you can't lay an A4/letter sheet of paper flat on the base -- the far edge of the paper will droop over the edge of the base. The rulers marked on the base are only in imperial, not both metric and imperial, and it's lacking the 1"/1cm grid that's sported by many of the pro models. But it does have rulers (marked to 1/8") on three sides, a protractor and a set of outlines for some of the standard photo sizes.
If I'd never had one from Dahle's pro range for comparison, I'd think this was the best trimmer I've ever seen. There are other sizes available in the range, both smaller and larger, but the 507's 12"/30cm capacity is probably the best general purpose size unless you have a specific need for a different size.
Fiskars Personal Paper Trimmer: 1 star - Cheap but complete waste of money
It may be cheap, but it's a complete waste of money, and I returned the one I bought. It's very inaccurate, and it tears the paper rather than cutting it. As for the claimed ability to cut five sheets at once, if you try that you'll find that the paper stack fans out because there's no way to clamp the paper. The resulting cuts are ragged, crooked, and in a different place on every sheet. There's no self-sharpening facility, and I suspect you'll be replacing blades often enough that you might as well spend the money up front and get a better quality cutter in the first place. The mechanism also means that the blade is exposed, and although it's safe when used correctly I would not allow a child to use this unsupervised. There are much safer cutters on the market.
If you really want something this cheap, get a cutting mat, non-slip ruler and craft knife. The results will be the same or better, and the replacement blades will be a lot cheaper.
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Date: 2006-06-08 08:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-08 02:15 pm (UTC)