HFS(R) Heavy Duty Guillotine Paper Cutter 400 Sheet Capacity | Solid Steel Construction (A4-12'' Paper Cutter)

Good cutter for the price -- even though I'm on my 2nd one. One problem is the packaging -- this cutter is heavy, and the winder on the paper compression bar sticks out. Though there is some styrofoam in the area, it's not enough for this sturdy part to survive rough handling -- my first cast iron handle was broken in half and the 8mm hardened steel shaft was bent -- not sure from what height this unit would have to be dropped to accomplish that, but FedEx managed it. Bottom line, this needs to be a user-installed part. To Amazon's credit, they picked up the broken cutter and I had a new one in less than a week. So save your packaging! until you check out your unit. Other users have complained that the handle on the winder comes off because an inner part breaks in half. It's not broken. Find the two pieces of plastic and put then together in the slot on the winder, then shove the handle back on. It's not the best design, but it works -- just don't pull on the handle, or it will come off. Finally to the cutter. The directions are almost non-existent, and those that are there are a laughable, unintelligible translation from Chinese. A real hoot. Basically follow these rules: 1) Only one set of hands on the cutter, period. 2) Use in good light. 3) Raise the compression bar enough to insert your sheaf, sheets, or book 4) Align the intended cut with the blade 5) Lower the compression bar enough to keep paper from moving. 6) Release the latch, pull on the handle, then re-raise the handle until it latches. Voila. I use this cutter to de-spine books and manuals for scanning. It chomps through anything I can get under the bar -- perhaps an inch-and-a-half -- like butter, and produces a clean cut. I have scanned a hundred thousand pages using this cutter. For the record, I use the cutter without the plastic safety shield -- it's much easier to see what I'm doing -- but reinstall the shield when the cutter isn't in use: the blade is sharp!. I can add that I took the first cutter apart trying to repair it on my own. I liked the engineering I saw. There's nothing "cheap" about this cutter for the price. Good luck with yours.

I was skeptical after all the reviews on various models on here. I took a chance and don’t regret it…but it’s also day 1 and I’m not running a business. I received what I believe is a new unit based on packaging. Instructions were easy but I had to figure out the feet on my own. Not too complicated but they do snap in if you press down on the unit. Within a few minutes I grabbed some scrap cardstock and cut 5.5” wide pieces easily. It was a variety of brands so after I cut once, the other piece had some that were longer than 5.5” so I popped that stack in and it cut the slivers off easily. And they measure exactly 5.5”. So far, so good. The caveats are that the guide bar can move at the free end. South end if you’re looking at it like a map. So I made sure that when I added my stack of cardstock that I didn’t push too hard on that section. I have no intention of cutting an entire ream of paper so this shouldn’t be an issue. I’m mostly cutting heavyweight cardstock, and I am tired of doing 2 sheets at a time. Another thing to note is that it does make an impression on the top piece of cardstock. It didn’t go through to the second, so I’ll be sure I have a scrap piece on top each time. Not a deal breaker. I waste more than that trying to cut individual sheets. The last thing I noticed was when I clamped the paper down. The top sheets of paper wanted to shift out so I repositioned, reclamped, making sure it stayed against the guide. No issues so that’s just a learning curve. Second cut was fine, without the need to readjust. When I raised the clamp for the first time there was some paper and marks where they must have tested it once before packaging. Otherwise it looks brand new. I will be back to rate the blade durability once I’ve used it for awhile. I’ve heard they dull quickly so it was important that I have a blade easily available. One other notes about the weight. It’s heavy but not so heavy that my aging arms couldn’t manage it. I carried it in from the porch and brought it downstairs and set on a sturdy set of drawers. I up won’t be moving it much, but if I decide it’s taking up too much real estate for the usage, I can put it in another room and bring it out periodically.

Overall a good paper cutter. But even though it sells as a 400 sheet capacity, I would not recommend cutting anything that thick. When cutting small length of paper it cuts with ease, but the thicker the stack and the longer it is, the more difficult it can be to cut and can be less accurate. Especially with card stock or index. Keep the stock height for card stock to .5 of inch or less. The movable cutting stop is challenging to set parallel to the blade. Even when the guide is parallel to the blade the fence is not at a 90% angle, it's slightly off. The movable guide is also not even. it's made of plastic and only claps at on end. And be careful when placing a stack of paper in, if one taps the guide too hard it will move. And recheck the guide after each cut, because it can move from the force of the cut, especially when cutting card stock or index. I've read complaints about the knob stripping out from over tightening, so it's a fine balance to apply enough pressure to hold it's position, especially when make multiply cuts the same size. I've used it long enough now that I needed to replace the cutting wick. That was interesting. You have to turn the cutter on it side. I can't image how difficult that would be on the larger size cutter (17'). It's very awkward to do. I have not needed to change the blade yet, I'll let you know how that goes later. The biggest disappointment is it's listed as a 12" cutter, that's only 12" in width not length. It should be 12" both ways. I purchased this cutter when my 18" 35 year old electric cuter, finally quit. A new one is several thousand dollars and I could not find a used one. My cutting needs were also less, but still needed to have something on hand. (self employed printer since 1997), so I opted for the 12" manual cutter rather than the 17" that they also sell. Given the price, I have to admit that over all it does the jobs I need for now, even though It requires many more cuts to get the job done. One more thing for safety, even though they have a plastic guide that covers the front of the blade, be carefully when removing paper from the cutter, the cutting edge of the blade is exposed and it is possible to nick your fingers, because that plastic guide moves up easily. So be mindful, the blade if very sharp.

Very well made machine and it saves me so much time in cutting my papers down to size. The only drawback is the 12 inch DOES NOT come with A5 size guide. Sometime missing the cut by a mm can make a difference although there is always a small % error Margin. The A5 is on the bigger size but that is a huge machine. Wish it would come on both

The HFS(R) 17" Heavy Duty Guillotine Paper Cutter arrived with a minor packaging blemish—possibly from the Clamping Handle rubbing against the Blade Holder Hood. Setup Observations: - Step #1 suggests placing the cutter on a flat surface. Realistically, you’ll need to place it upside down or on its side to proceed. - Step #2: Insert the four plastic feet securely. I used a rubber mallet to ensure a snug fit - otherwise, the cutter will be unbalanced. - Step #3: Two Allen wrenches are included. I used the larger to reverse the Clamping Handle. The purpose of the smaller wrench remains unclear. - Step #5: It is unclear the appropriate amount of tightening for the Clamping Handle to prevent shifting – overtightening resulted in wrist pain. - Step #7: Pressing the cutting handle too firmly also strained my wrists. Additionally, with each cut, the blade shaved slithers off the red blade pad. Performance Issues: - The Guide Ruler Lock Wheel can detach if turned too far counterclockwise. Reattaching it requires creativity. - The Guide Ruler doesn’t align straight. You must manually hold it in place while tightening, and hope that it doesn’t shift. - Despite all adjustments, every test cut was angled - not suitable for precise 90° joins. - Cuts are rough and jagged. The cutter also leaves dirt marks on boards that won’t clean off. Positives: - Cuts medium weight cardboard just fine. - There was an extra plastic foot, and five screws in the box - though the purpose of the screws is unclear. I need a reliable cutter for my current project. This one doesn’t cut it. It will be returned, and my search will continue.

Heavy (which is good) and might be bigger than you think. Consider the smaller size model if you don't really need the extra capacity. As far as operation: Flawless. No complaints here. Easily cuts through big stacks of paper. Nice, clean, crisp edges. Absolutely straight cuts.

Decent, but could be improved. I have now used it on about 100 books. Book clamp must be VERY firmly applied or pages may slip. Highly recommend cutting the covers off any hardcover books first, and separating thick ones into sections not more than 1/2" thick. After about 50 uses, the rotary knob came off, and out of it came two plastic components that hold the knob and a little bit of paper with Chinese writing on it... :) Anyway, using this requires a good bit of strength and a solid tabletop. The blade, while it has noticeably dulled with use, is really sharp initially - be careful!

I had a Premier brand guillotine paper cutter for the last 20 years, but it finally became too dull to use. I investigated the process to resharpen the blade and also to replace the blade, both options led to dead ends. I read the Amazon reviews and decided to purchase this one and I could not be more delighted with the product. It was shipped in a large cardboard box with formed Styrofoam packing to protect the product. It arrived in perfect shape even though this is a heavy product; it was marked 'team lift' because of the weight. Definitely not a toy! My normal use is to cut 65 lb. card stock across the 8 1/2 dimension. My old guillotine cutter could only cut a stack of 4 or 5 at a time. The HFS will cut as many as you can fit under the clamp, I estimate 150 or so. The cut is super accurate since the bed is marked for positioning the stock you wish to cut and the guide can be positioned for repetitive cuts. The quality of the cut is perfect; no jagged edges. I think it could easly cut 400 sheets of normal 20 or 25 lb bond with no trouble. The clamp butterfly screw was a little difficult to use at first, but after tightening it down several times it became more free and was easy to use thereafter There is a see-thru plastic guard that can be snapped on if you desire it. It only takes seconds to install or remove. The cutter is high quality, strong, accurate and heavy. No assembly is required except installing the cutter arm, which takes about 5 seconds and requires no tools -- just slide it on. I highly recommend this cutter.