Customer Reviews

Tonic Studios Guillotine Paper Trimmer 12-Inch-by-12-Inch

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Every review I read of this trimmer on other sites was dead spot on! It is glorious! It will cut the skinniest sliver off the thinnest paper if you need it to, even. Be sure to stand when using it, and you will always get that perfectly straight, clean cut. Blades never need replacing. And, despite its large footprint, it is deceivingly light to carry. Just find a bag large enough (not hard to do if you look outside of the scrapbook realm - I found a beach bag) and go.
The main reason I switched was because I want a straight cut. If I am going to go to the trouble of creating a handmade card or scrapbook page, I want to be able to cut my paper straight, and I just wasn't able to do that with the previous trimmers I had purchased.
The grids are really easy to align your paper with. Not only are they drawn on the surface, but they are actually engraved, so you can feel the grooves. Groovy, huh? It sure saves me a lot of time I used to spend recutting everything.
Get this one - you won't regret it!

The pros of this paper trimmer definitely outweigh the cons, but those cons are valid, so this falls just a bit short of a 5-star rating.

Pros:

1) Sharp blade that cuts accurately and repeatedly. A few reviewers have mentioned difficulty in seeing where the cut will be made, but I have had no problem in that regard. The device cuts straight along the metal edge every time.
2) Lightweight. Not a huge plus for me, but if you need to move it around a lot, it will be easy to do so.
3) Reasonably priced. There are a lot of paper cutters to choose from, but this one seems to be on the lower end of the cost scale, and without being a complete piece of junk. For ~$40, I doubt you can find one much better than this.

Cons:

1) While I have had no issues yet, I question the long-term durability of this product. Other than the steel cutting edges and some fasteners, it's made entirely of plastic. While this does make it lightweight (as mentioned above), it seems a little chincier than one with a wooden base. Depending on what you want, this may or may not matter. I recommend you consider the possible durability issues and make your own choice.
2) Cuts single pages extremely well, but has trouble when dealing with multiple pages. I haven't tested this extensively, so I don't know what the cutoff is, but I tried slicing through a junk mail letter containing a few folded pages, and the blade barely made a dent. You might be able to use this to cut two or even three pages at a time (though I'm not entirely sure), but if you're looking to cut through several pages at once, you might need something a little heftier.

Bottom line: If you don't need anything really sturdy/heavy duty, this is a great little trimmer for a great little price.

I bought this after checking out reviews here and on scrapbooking forums, which gave me a pretty good idea that this was a top contender. Especially for the price, it looked like this trimmer couldn't be beat. I've used it several times on thick card stock and am just delighted at the clean and straight cuts. The orange-tabbed clamps really help to ensure that paper does not shift around during cuts.

I've also botched a few cuts (user error) and had to remove about 1/16" slices. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this trimmer could remove such thin slices...perfectly straight. I strongly recommend this trimmer.

Although this paper cutter makes nice, clean cuts, it's tough trying to figure out just WHERE it will cut. There is a flat edge at the top of the grid, but that's not ideal since it's harder to see what you're doing. There is no straight edge to press the paper against at the front of the trimmer.

The clear "finger protector" is pretty cool and helps to hold the paper in place while cutting. All in all, makes nice cuts if you're an expert, but for occasional use it could get frustrating.

This trimmer provides accuracy of cut and ease of use. I like that! Most of the work that I want to do using a paper trimmer is with standard 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch copy/printer paper. This trimmer effortlessly makes smooth cuts where I want them... cool!

This was a good product at a good price. The trimmer is light weight which makes it very portable, yet sturdy enough to cut as much as you want. I only wish that it was able to cut more pieces as once. I got good clean cuts when cutting two sheets, but any more than that produced some rough edges. Overall I am very pleased with both the product and the service.

Before I ordered this product I read the reviews and they were right on the money! This paper trimmer is amazing! It's so lightweight that I will take it to crops with me. The blade is nice and sharp & it cuts from the top of the paper right down to edge of the paper. So many other paper cutters don't do this which is very frustrating. It has a handle storage in the back which you can use if you want. I prefer to keep mine right on the blade assembly. Which reminds me...you just pull it out of the box. No putting together (just the handle to slip on the blade). I'd highly recommend this to any scrapbooker or paper crafter!!!

With the first use of product I found the blade to be very, very dull. Tried to cut three sheets of cardstock and only had 3/4 of sharp cut ~ last quarter didn't cut :( Had gotten blade sharpen by professional ~ additional costs on my part :(

Wrote to Seller and didn't receive response. Do they care about the consumer after they send the product??? I couldn't verify they care ~

If you are looking for the best cutting machine that gives you accurate measurements every time, this is it. The paper holder was a little difficult to get use to holding down, but that's what makes the cuts so accurate. After the first couple of cuts, you'll have no problem remembering to hold down the paper holder. This is the best product for card making.

In general, this paper tripper is very nice. However, it does have one major flaw. The tool for pressing down on the paper as you cut (clear plastic finger guard) gets caught on the blade as you cut. So in order to have an unobstructed cut, you kind of have to pull sideways on the clear plastic bar to get it out of the way of the blade. Once you figure out how to get around this problem, it's very usable.

I contacted the seller about this problem and they wouldn't do anything to help me, and suggested I contact the manufacturer.