Gadget Addict Review – Tonic Guillotine Trimmer

Those of you who know me, know that I love my gadgets, tools, and any new techniques and I love my tech toys too. I’m asked quite often of my opinions of things, and when I’m not asked, I freely give them out anyhow! 😉

So, I thought I would start doing some reviews of products I have.

I’ll start with a product every paper crafter needs: A paper timmer.

I have tried many paper trimmers- brands and styles – and have been looking for the perfect one. I will admit that I have not found the PERFECT trimmer yet. If any manufacturer wants to design one based on my recommendations, let me know! LOL. However, I have found a really great one that I use with virtually every project now. It is the Tonic Studios 12″ Guillotine Paper Trimmer. I had read many good reviews on this trimmer and finally found an unbeatable price. I bought mine from Scrapbooking Alley for less than $35 and that’s with shipping. Tonic makes smaller guillotine cutters and rotary cutters so let me know what you think of those if you have one.

Things I like:

• Large size. With the large solid base, it can hold 12 x 12 papers without them bending or shifting as I’ve had on the smaller trimmers. Even though this may be large for portability, it is SUPER light and could easily be carried in a bag. I can balance it and hold it with three fingers. Some may count this as a negative, but I don’t. It does have a little cut out in the back so that you can carry it with one hand.
• Removable handle – I didn’t realize how much I would appreciate this feature. Nevertheless, b/c of it’s large footprint, it is nice to take the handle off and store it below so that it doesn’t stick out from my table.
• Clear finger guard and paper holder – this protects fingers and nails and holds the paper so that it does not shift. It’s also clear so that you can see through it to your paper.
• Clearly marked grid (read below b/c part of this is also in my Don’t Like list )
• IT CUTS STRAIGHT! I am getting perfect cuts every time now. There was some learning involved which I will explain below.
• IT CUTS CLEAN! same as above note in regards to learning curve.
• Self-sharpening. I do not have to sharpen the blade or buy a new one. The blade itself is also not sharp as in a knife blade. You can run your finger right over it and won’t get cut. So, it’s relatively safe if kids are around; though I’d still recommend supervision as with anything.
• Little magnet catcher – will hold clips, etc.
• Multipage cutting – you can cut more than 1 piece of paper, but I honestly haven’t tried to cut more than 2-3 at a time. I didn’t wanted to waste paper playing and would rather cut twice than get a bad cut by trying to cut too many at one time.
• Antiskid feet. There are little rubber feet on the bottom that keep it from moving when cutting.

Things I don’t like:

• Grid is only marked at 1/2″ increments. I would like to see the grid marked smaller. I also like the feature I’ve seen on other trimmers that have the most common paper / card sizes premarked on the grid. I think this would be a great bonus.
• It doesn’t come with great instructions. Sure, basic know how is available, but I think more tips and techniques would have been helpful.
• No clear markings for less than 1″ from blade are truly readable. Though I have learned how to subtract from the total to get a smaller cut.

In general, this is a great cutter and the best one I’ve tried so far and very affordable. I truly don’t have that many negatives to say about it if you’ll notice. I have spent many dollars on other trimmers. I couldn’t find any detailed instructions for using a cutter and many people assume that others all know how to use a guilllotine cutter correctly. However, you must know that when cutting with it, you need to ever so slightly bring the arm blade in toward the base so that clean contact is made. If not, it will bend your paper rather than cut it or give you an awful cut. When I learned to make this habit, I now get perfect cuts EVERY time. You’re not trying to bend the arm here, just make clean contact with the base. Also make sure you are firmly holding down the paper holder. This is important. If you are not firmly holding this down, your paper will not get a clean cut and may also shift.

You can trim the slightest sliver from an edge of paper with this cutter. I can cut my 8.5 x 11 cardstock in half and get perfect halves each time for my cards now. I can also finally cut off the small edge of manufacturer information label from many of my 12 x 12 papers clean and straight!

I would highly recommend this cutter and unless I found something will smaller grid markings that would give me a perfect cut, I would definitely buy again. However, this is so well made, I think it will last me for many many years.

Above is a picture of it sitting on my cutting table without the handle. See below where the handle fits? Isn’t that clever? You can also see the rubber feet and the cut out for carrying.

Here is the handle on the blade arm. Oh, and see the little clip sitting in the magnetic dip?

Here is a close up of the grid. Click on the picture for a closer view. You can also better see the clear paper holder / finger guard.