Hands down the most expensive, and also the most useful, tool in my studio is my Kutrimmer. I first used one of these wonders at the San Francisco Center for the Book and, after cutting Davey Board by hand for a bit, I went right out and found myself one.
(If you’ve ever spent hours cutting Davey Board with a craft knife or box cutter you know what I’m talking about here. I know, the key is multiple long and shallow cuts. One layer at a time. Patience. Patience. Patience. But there was more than one time that my patience ran out and I ended up with the knife getting stuck into the board or into me. Ouch.)
My first Kutrimmer was used and I found it on eBay. It needed a bit of a tune up, but served me well for several years. You know how people remember their first car? Well my first Kutrimmer was a model 1038. I could cut Davey Board as thick as it comes with one cut. It cut through a stack of Rives BFK like butter.
But, alas, I had to trim everything first. With a cutting length of only 14 3/4″, Davey Board sheets had to be cut in four pieces and Rives BFK had to be cut in half. I dreamed of the day I could put large sheets of paper right through it.
So, after years of service, I said thank you and goodbye to my 1038 and bought my current Kutrimmer, a model 1071. Wow! I can put a 22 x 30 sheet of Rives BFK (or several sheets) right into that 1071 and come out with a stack of paper cut into just the right sizes. I still have to trim the Davey Board sheets once before they fit, but I decided on the 1071 because it can still be lifted by a normal human (or two) and it can sit on a table. The next level of Kutrimmer comes as a table and I just don’t have room in my studio.
I bought my Kutrimmer from MyBinding.com (I have no association with them) because they had free shipping and the best price. Even better, when the finger guard came cracked, they got a brand new part shipped out lickety split. Any company with excellent customer service is a company I’ll recommend again and again.
My new Kutrimmer has a cutting length of 28 1/2″. Ooooh. Really. I spent the other day turning 50 sheets of Rives BFK into 300 sheets for Virtual/Reality and One Second of Time and, afterwards, when I was gazing at that lovely stack of beautiful, deckle edged, paper… Well, let’s just say it was as good as chocolate without the calories.
I certainly use other cutting tools and I’ll share those in other posts, but in the meantime, how do you cut your paper? Your Davey Board?
~Ginger
Midnight Musings 