Tonic Studio Paper trimmer review

These tutorials/reviews are a product of extensive reading, researching and lots of time spent on making them. Please do not copy, or share on your page (for promoting your items in your shop) unless I give you permission to do so. Please ask nicely....I won't say no...but you need to ask.... You can link it on your blogs if you have used these tutorials...please share the link with me when you do use these tutorials...I would love to stop by and see what you have done! 

I had a whole rant post typed up....but after I finished ranting...I felt so good...didn't want to post it...
Simply because people are not going to change by my ranting ... so I choose to walk away from such people... I tend to carry my heart on my sleeve and am not ashamed of it. That's what makes me who I am and maybe that's why I am prone to ranting so much... :p

So without further ranting ...here's my review.. Kinda picture heavy...

Here's my Tonic Studio 12x6 paper trimmer...its huge..I can tell you that..but worth every penny...There are many reasons why I chose this...over the Fiskars Sure Cut or any other trimmer. (sorry about the dark and glary photos, it is a cloudy day)

 This is how your trimmer looks when it arrives.... the other essential stuff is stored at the back...so its pretty compact...If I didn't have a space crunch, I would have gone for a 12x12 for sure....With a 40% discount from JoAnn's, this cost me around 20$. And free shipping courtesy mom and dad

 

This is how the extras store in the back. The extendable arm has slots which click in place. It will never fall off...that I can assure you. 

 

This is after I've attached the handle and the extendable arm. Usually I don't bother attaching the handle...but if I'm cutting heavy papers, I do use it. Its a fabulous soft grip...so if you're cutting 10 papers or 100, I doubt you would have a problem. 

My Pros

1.See the transparent thingie? It has two metal springs at each end...It holds your paper down, so that it doesnt shift while you're trimming or cutting. 

2. Space... I have a space crunch and needed something that would fit into a drawer and out of sight...this does the job perfectly. 

3. The foldout arm has a base that is again foldable. So your extendable arm doesn't bend down or break. Its a support.

  

4 .The top grid .. has markings in cms and inches....and has upto 6 inches... What I don't like though, is that I can't cut a half inch strip from a strip less than one inch. For that, my other small Fiskars guillotine comes handy.

5.. The bottom of the grid has markings for regular card sizes...4.25 and 5.5. I tend to use the top measuring scale. There is a scale again in the middle too...which I find useful in lining up. 

 6.  This is my biggest reason for buying a guillotine trimmer. Be it printer paper, thick 300 gsm card stock or 80 gsm papers, everything cuts like butter.  And I can challenge a Fiskars Sure cut to give me these cuts...I've seen thin papers get shredded like a blunt scissor cut it,on a Sure Cut...That made me sure that I needed this.

I can cut multiples of these strips and with ease....I didn't know what to label the extreme left strip..its half of a 1/16th strip....these look big, but try cutting these yourself and you'll get an idea. I might take some comparison photos and put up at a later date.

7. The second biggest reason...I don't have to replace the blade. This is a self sharpening blade..the more I use, the sharper it stays.  Less/more usage doesn't affect  it. With a Sure Cut or any trimmer that uses a blade, you are dependent on the availability of blades. With Sure Cut, if you cut the guiding wire, your trimmer is gone...You have to replace the rubber guide on which the blade glides every 6 months, and change the blade every 3-6 months depending on your usage.
        Me, I don't have to worry for the next 5 years.

CONS

My only grudge is the small distance between 6 - 6.5 is not that easy to judge. So for this measurement again, I have to rely on my small trimmer. But other than this...I really don't have major grudges....
Sure, they could have numbered on the sides, and given measurements too. But then it is impossible to have everything  I guess....

So, if you're deciding between a guillotine and a line trimmer, my suggestion would be the Guillotine...as for the brands, there are tons...Everyone has come out with their own paper trimmer, and if you wanted my opinion, I would say the X-acto Laser Paper trimmer but it retails for around 70-80$. After that is the Tonic Studio.

I haven't tried to cut multiple sheets, but I think I can cut at least 5-6 easily at one go. And one teensy warning, don't run your finger down the edge of the newly cut paper. I've had more paper cuts than I can figure out how I've got them!

If  you have an questions, go ahead ask me.

Paper Trimmers

These tutorials/reviews are a product of extensive reading, researching and lots of time spent on making them. Please do not copy, or share on your page (for promoting your items in your shop) unless I give you permission to do so. Please ask nicely....I won't say no...but you need to ask.... You can link it on your blogs if you have used these tutorials...please share the link with me when you do use these tutorials...I would love to stop by and see what you have done! 

Yes, yes...its finally the turn of the paper trimmers...I had to abandon my SIP (stamps ink and paper) post to get to this....You guys are one impatient lot! :)

Firstly there are three types of trimmers - one comes with a straight blade, the other comes with a rotary blade and the third comes with guillotine blade.

The straight blade/V-blade is the most common of the paper trimmers..It has a small blade that will slide in a specially designed track.

Pic courtesy-www2.fiskars.com

 There are many many brands available... There is Fiskars, Tonic, Carl, Cutterpede, Cricut, Martha Stewart etc..

These are just the different brands..but essentially all have the same kinds of blade.
Coming to the pro's and con's.
I personally don't prefer this kind of a trimmer, so far. But there are some who will swear by this kind of a trimmer. So its a choice you will have to make as to what to buy.

• Most of these are within the price range of 15-25$. 
• You get different blades for cutting and scoring, and additional zig-zag, waves, postage border, perforating etc (in some models)
• Clear ruler to see where the paper cuts through.
• Board sizes are up to 5 1/2 to 6 inches, and some come with a fold-able arm to measure papers up to 12". So if you open the foldaway arm, you can cut a 12x12 sheet of paper, in most.
• The main advantage with this is, you can start cutting in the middle of the sheet of paper, or add slots, which you can't with the other paper trimmers. 
• Blade cuts both ways.
• Highly portable. 

Cons-

• The need for replacement blades. All of these will need replacement blades every 6-8 months depending on your usage. Some have used blades for 2-3 yrs, some wear out a blade in 6 months. 
• There is chance with excessive usage, the carrier strip (the groove where the blade runs) may wear out..again that will need replacing.
• If you blades have started becoming dull, your paper cuts will feather out. 
• Since the clear plastic ruler sometimes gets scratched or cut while cutting paper, your groove itself will become crooked...again leading to inconsistent cuts. 

If this is the one that you want, going by the reviews, I would recommend the Fiskars SureCut Deluxe paper trimmer. 

So far, I have read the best reviews of this across all boards. Maybe one of you who owns this can do a review separately.( JK, wink wink..I'm hinting at you!) Here is a video showing this trimmer's short but sweet review

Coming to rotary trimmers..

They have a circular blade housed in a cassette holder.  I don’t know much about them, except that some of them come with a self sharpening tool within the cassette,  so everytime you use that cutter, you sharpen the blade as well…

They do last for a pretty long time. Again, the track in which the blade runs, might need replacing once a year …again depending on y our usage.

This is what the blades look like.

 Costs around 40-50$ on an average.

 There are some who swear by rotatry trimmers and some who would not use it. Here is the video of one such trimmer in action.

Fiskars, Carl, X-acto are some of the companies that have fantastic Rotary trimmers.

Now my favorite trimmers, The guillotine style trimmers.

 

Pic courtesty - Julia Stainton

Click on over to read the most wonderful review of this trimmer..Warning..I'm a highly biased when it comes to this kind of a trimmer..so I will favor this..form your own opinion on your usage.

Pro’s

• Self sharpening blade. Never needs replacing. At least not for 4-5 yrs .
• You can get very thin slivers of paper if needed. I have cut up to 2mm thin slivers and long thin curls for paper bouquet..
• Impossible to  cut your finger in the guillotine..(I tried once)
• Comes with a good paper gripper, to keep your paper steady while you’re cutting.

Cons

• You cannot cut into the middle of paper, to cut windows or slits.
• It takes a while to judge where the cut will be exactly.
• Bigger trimmers mean bigger handles..it can get a little bulky. (12x6, or 12x12)
• Since the blade is self sharpening, over time, it tends to shave very tiny bits of metal off the cutting edge..after 4-5 yrs, the lower edge may give you inconsistent cuts.
• There are no replacement blades, if your blade cuts wonky, its time to get a new one.

This is what I own.

My personal experience: 

I’ve had my Fiskars 8.5 x 5 trimmer for 5 yrs now. Never ever had a problem..Recently, I do find that my mats are inconsistent by 1-2 mm or so…you could never see in the cards, unless I tell you.

But other than that, no problem at all…I got the hang of judging my cut, within 3-5 days of using it.

Here's a short video of how they work

It is always recommended to cut all the way through to the end of the blade in this type of a cutter, to keep the blade sharp.

Best ones in this category are Fiskars, Tonic. Would recommend this without hesitation.

And now to the ones that are available in our market...

Morn Sun is one company from Taiwan...they're in the range of 800-1000. Very small base, but does come with multiple blades. 

I am hesitant to recommend this because of its small base. I don't know how steady it will hold the paper while you cut it. Anyone who has it, please share the review.

I haven't used it, but seen in my stationery superstore in Mumbai. Ananda Stationery in Chennai also stocks it. I think you could get it around in stationery stores that stores exclusive items..maybe Venus in pune, Anupam Stationery in Mumbai.

The other is Deli brand. They have 3 guillotine style trimmers. Plastic base, wooden base and metal base. The plastic is the most portable, and all are 12x12. So you need a place big enough to keep it. 

The last I inquired they were in the range of 1500-2000 Rs. 

 

 I have had a lot of problems getting the plastic one..and 6 months down the road, still haven't found it.

These are the only ones I know of. Keep updating me with what you know and I'll keep updating over here. 

P.S. I'm making a separate page for all the tutorials and basics info that I've done. Easy to locate, right under the header.