When using a guillotine trimmer, think safety. The blades are very sharp and it’s important to read the user manual before attempting to operate the cutter or change the blades. Never attempt to hone or sharpen the blade yourself.

Your choice for a paper cutter should be based on the volume of books that you intend to make. If you make on-demand to one-hundred books per year, a manual cutter is great for budget conscious applications. For short and medium book production, an electric guillotine is recommended, if only to save your arm muscles! For long runs or daily production, consider investing in a three-knife trimmer.

There are two key points to remember about trimmers:

1. Always make sure that the blade is sharp! As a general rule, a blade will become dull after 25-30 hours of usage, or 3,000 to 5,000 cuts. How do you know when to change the blade? If the cutter hesitates or the paper doesn’t cut the paper vertically, it’s time for a blade change. It’s recommended that you invest in a back-up blade, install the back-up when the other is out for sharpening. Depending on the cutter, make sure that your service sharpens the blade at the correct angle.
2. Use a "false clamp" to prevent the book spine from crushing. When trimming across the spine, the clamp pressure can crush the book spine even prior to trimming. The false clamp attaches magnetically to the bottom of the clamp. It has a hollow area located just above the book spine. The rest of false clamp makes contact with the book block without crushing.