The Guillotine Choice

Whether you are a first-time buyer, or a veteran of the print industry, shopping for a new guillotine paper cutter offers you a wealth of choice. The print industry has changed dramatically in recent years with the emergence of high-speed digital presses and the infiltration of larger format printing into even the smallest print facilities.  From the finishing equipment perspective, one piece of equipment that has continued to be the most important part of the production process is the paper cutter. When purchased correctly to meet your specific needs and serviced regularly it can provide years of reliable operation. 

Sydney Stone has a team of sales and service experts which will provide the necessary guidance to help you through the process of a new paper cutter purchase. Many prints shops today have a very old paper cutter which requires replacement as it lacks automation, modern safety features, or replacement parts support from the manufacturer.  Another common scenario is the current machine is either too big or too small for their current applications. Offset printers that have switched to digital printing processes will no longer need a cutter in the 36” to 61” range, which are designed to cut downs skids of larger parent stock to feed a printing press. Conversely, many of the small format cutter paper cutters initially offered to digital printers had a cutting width of under 17” which leaves them unable to cut down a full-bleed 12” x 18” sheet which has become the industry standard for digital print. 

The options for a customer when looking for a new paper cutter are plentiful but do not need to be confusing. But before we move on, let's talk about an extremely important issue to first consider when considering the purchase of a new or used paper cutter, safety, and compliance in Canada. 

Safety and Compliance for Paper Cutters being sold in Canada

Before an electrical product or piece of electrical equipment is used, sold, displayed, or advertised for sale in Canada, it must be approved by an accredited certification or evaluation agency. The item must carry the office marking or label of the agency which indicates that the product has been independently assessed for safety. These rules define the standards for safe electrical products and electrical installations in Canada, and when followed, protect the public, workers, and contractors as well as business owners. For a list of the recognized certification marks see here: https://esasafe.com/electrical-products/recognized-certification-marks/ 

While many retail products for home use may carry a CSA designation, production equipment for the printing industry will most likely be certified by laboratories such as ULc, Entela, and TUV. Alternatively, a local inspection is done on-site by companies in Canada offering these services such and ESA, JBL, and other independent engineering firms. Sydney stone has made it a policy to only offer new paper cutters and reconditioned paper cutters that meet and have applied and these recognized certification marks. 

Now let’s look at the different types of paper cutters based on their method of operation sold by Sydney Stone. 

Electric Stack Paper Cutters

Electric guillotine cutters are one of the more popular designs sold today for small to medium-sized print shops. They are a compact, affordable option and are a perfect fit for most digital print shops as they offer features like automatic clamping, digital cut line lights, programmability, and low maintenance requirements. These machines are the preferred choice amongst shops working in the 12” x 18” to 14“ x 20” paper sizes. 

A common misconception with electric cutters is that they don’t have enough strength to cut through heavier substrates. This is not true; they have a tremendous amount of mechanical cutting pressure due to the gearbox used for the operation of the machine. What this design does lack is the ability to adjust the clamping pressure. Where this feature is helpful is in the shops doing a lot of heavy card stocks, laminated or UV coated material. Not having this feature doesn’t mean you cannot do these types of applications; it just means you may need to do things such as limit the lift heights you are putting into the cutter.  

Electrically driven stack paper cutters are available starting with the semi-automatic EBA 4815 18.7” wide model which offers electric cut, manual clamping, and manual back gauge adjustments. This range then extends using the same 18.7” wide platform to add power clamping on the EBA 4850, programmable back gauge control with memory on the EBA 4855 and finally a safety light barrier on the EBA 4860 at the top of the range. 

Many of the latest digital printing presses are now able to print larger sheet sizes to increase productivity and efficiency and it is no longer uncommon to have the requirement to finish printed sheets on 13” x 19” or 14” x 20”, and most recently paper stocks up to 26”. For this purpose, EBA offers two models in each the 20.5” width ( EBA 5255 with plastic safety shield ) and EBA 5260 ( safety light barrier) and two models in the 26” cutting width, ( EBA 6655 with plastic safety shield ) and the EBA 6660 ( safety light barrier ) .  To see the entire range please of EBA Electric stack cutters offered by Sydney Stone please  CLICK HERE 

Key benefits of an electric cutter:

• Powerful gearbox for cut cutting
• Lower capital cost 
• Smaller footprint