A Complete Guide to Guillotine Paper Cutters

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Paper cutters and guillotine cutters are commonplace within a business or office setting. While in theory, using a guillotine paper cutter is a straightforward task, they are often not used properly. When users do not understand how to use these machines, they typically end up with poor cuts, botched documents, and more waste.

If you are experiencing problems using a guillotine paper cutter, you are not alone. There is far more skill and technique that goes into using it effectively than you would imagine. 

In this article, we will detail exactly how to use a guillotine paper cutter to produce perfect cuts, which will make your business more efficient.

How Do Guillotine Paper Cutters Benefit Businesses?

Most small and large organizations will have several uses for guillotine paper cutters. This is because they can be utilized across a huge amount of applications. In addition, this type of machinery has many benefits that you would struggle to find with lower-quality paper-cutting devices.

Paper cutters allow businesses to accomplish the most superb and precise cuts. When used correctly, they provide attention to detail, and an end product that you will not be able to find elsewhere. This is because they can cut through a large stack of paper while executing clean and straight edges every time.

Guillotine paper cutter structures and blades are also designed to be hard-wearing, and to last the test of time. This makes them a brilliant investment for businesses that deal with lots of paper-based documents and advertisements.

What Can Paper Cutters Be Used For?

Guillotine paper cutters are used in businesses for many different reasons, as their reliability and caliber are second to none. The common uses for guillotines within an organization are:

  • Poster Cutting
  • Letter Cutting
  • Leaflet Cutting
  • Flyer Cutting
  • Document Cutting
  • Business Card Cutting

These activities are very critical to businesses. Therefore, making sure that they have the correct apparatus to be able to cut large quantities of these materials efficiently is incredibly important.

Health & Safety Requirements for Guillotine Paper Cutters

Guillotine paper-cutting tools feature incredibly sharp blades and heavy machinery. Therefore, the health and safety of anybody using them should always be a priority. As with all potentially dangerous contraptions within a workplace, you must follow safety precautions when these devices are in use.

A majority of paper-cutting guillotines will feature some kind of safe lock. When the equipment is not in use, the safety lock must always be on. This is to ensure that no accidents or potential injuries occur while the product is not in operation.

While the guillotine is in use, the user must take great care and check that they are operating it properly. Using the machine in this way will minimize any risk of accidents.

How to Properly Use a Guillotine Paper Cutter

How to properly use a guillotine paper cutter is dependent on the type that you have. They come in manual, semi-automatic, and fully automatic models. Therefore, the techniques are different depending on which model you have.

Automatic guillotine paper cutters work very easily. First, you place the sheets of paper within the machine. Then, program exactly where you want the cut using a digital screen. Finally, bring down the blades to perform the cut. This will always provide the most accurate and neat finishes.

However, manual paper cutters have far more steps in their process. These steps are:

1 - Count the number of sheets that you are going to be cutting to determine whether or not your equipment can handle them all. If your machine cannot facilitate your stack of paper, then separate the sheets into smaller piles that it can handle.

2 - Place the sheets onto the base of the cutter. Using the measurement grid, measure out exactly where you want to make your cut so it is error-free. If your machine has a clamp, then see if the clamp is on to hold the paper in place.

3 - You can then start to bring down the blade slowly while making sure your hands are fully out of the blade's path. Then continue to bring down the blade and carry out the cut.

4 - Recycle any scrap paper, and also make sure that you put on the safety latch to avoid any potential injuries.

Guillotine Paper Cutter Maintenance Tips

Keep the Knife Sharp – The most noteworthy feature of any paper-cutting tool is its blade. Therefore, it is fundamental to keep the blade as sharp as possible. The sharper the blade is, the more precise and smooth the cut will be.

Regularly Clean After Use – Cleaning a guillotine paper cutter after use is incredibly important. If the equipment is unkept, and a build-up of old cuttings forms, you could start to see it becoming more and more incorrect. Making sure your paper cutter is clean will help to maintain its accuracy and efficiency.

Learn Operating Instructions by Heart – If a user does not fully understand how to use any paper-cutting machine, then this is where accidents and inaccuracies can creep in. Knowing exactly how to use it is key to not only keep its effectiveness, but also to adhere to health and safety practices.

Never Use More Clamp Pressure Than Is Needed – If you are applying too much pressure through your clamp, then you could start to see a reduced force available for cutting. Therefore, it is essential to find the correct balance and pressure required.

High-Quality Guillotine Paper Cutters from Whitaker Brothers

Here at Whitaker Brothers, we carry a huge collection of excellent commercial-grade guillotine paper cutters perfect for businesses of all sizes. Whether you call for paper trimmers to clean up the edges of significant documents, business card cutters to create the business cards of your dreams, or heavy-duty cutters for the more challenging materials, we can help.