HFS(R) Heavy Duty Guillotine Paper Cutter Commercial Metal Base (A3-17'')

I bought this for my bookbinding hobby and if you have ever tried trimming a text block with a knife you will understand why. Bookbinding is a very low-cost craft but in my view this piece of kit is essential and it is the only pricey tool you need to get. It works beautifully and is so satisfying to use. My only caveat is that when you first use it you must cut some waste paper initially to remove the oil used for transit. I didn't do that and so ruined a lovely text block. However, that was a one-off. It's a magnificent machine. By the way there are useful YouTube videos on how to adjust and maintain the blade.

Changing the blade on my HFS guillotine was essential because they do wear down. It was all a bit scary because the blades are super-sharp. But I got the job done wearing a pair of tough gardening gloves for the risky parts. The guillotine is back to its efficient self. I've given the item 4 stars rather than 5 because I think it should be shipped with a blade holder to make the swap safer. You need to take the old blade off and I used lots of bubble wrap to grab it and the new blade with.

There are cheaper guillotines out there, but if you need to make accurate cuts on text blocks without slowly using a craft knife and a steel ruler then this is the one to buy. It works straight out of the box. There are some easy to follow YouTube videos made by HFS that show how to make adjustments, change the blade etc. I haven’t tried to cut through hundreds of sheets, but a text block about 1/2 inch thick is no problem at all. The blade eventually cuts into a square plastic bar that is sacrificial, and this will probably result in a loss of cleanliness of your cuts, but the bar can be rotated and turned end for end to give 8 surfaces for the blade to work on. Fresh sacrificial bars and blades are available. Be warned though, this is heavy and ideally once it’s in your workshop you’ll probably want to leave it in place! An excellent piece of kit.

Good quality even if a little expensive

The guillotine cuts through approx 3cm. It requires some effort but has now done about 30 books of this size without loss of sharpness. Two minor issues I've had to work around: 1. Books tend to warp a little whilst being cut, so I tend to break them into 2 thinner sections to reduce the effect 2. The last few pages don't cut cleanly, hence the scissors in the attached photo. I've tried putting scrap paper underneath the books, but that makes so much mess! Overall, very pleased.

I love this machine so much that I named her Harriet. I print notebooks and I just love how much paper it can cut at a time and how accurate the measurements are. A true workhorse.

Great Guillotine for the money, extremely sharp blade, I do a bit of bookbinding, this is just the job for triming down book block to finished size. Did have to make a small adjustment to the clamp, as it was not clamping evenly along the lenght of the cut, which meant it could make the paper, but after watching a YouTube video, I adjusted it, now it's spot on. Great guillotine for the money and is a lot better than expected, love it

What a machine. This is the sturdiest guillotine I've ever used. Really sharp, sturdy and accurate. My wife uses it for her bookmaking and binding, and it does what it says. Wouldn't get anything else.

Todo bien aún que llegó más corto.. lo bueno que tengo otra de la medida y la ocupé.

Die Ware ist von hoher Qualität

Pour le moment j'ai utilisé cette machine pour raccourcir en hauteur des livres pour qu'ils passent mieux sur certaines étagères. Je l'utiliserai ensuite pour changer la reliure de certains livres de partitions de musique, pour des reliures en ressorts, plus pratique pour tourner et maintenir les pages. Mes premières expériences sont positives. La coupe d'une centaine de feuilles ne fait pas de problème. Cette machine est solide, le maintien du livre pour qu'il ne bouge pas pendant la coupe est fiable. En négatif je dirai qu'il manque une documentation en français. Je n'ose dévisser le stopruler par peur d'avoir beaucoup de mal à le remettre. Pourtant j'ai besoin de le faire. J'aurais eu besoin d'une explication en français.

Dopo varie ricerche ho preferito scegliere questo prodotto per esigenze professionali. Consegnato in tempi rapidi; ben imballato. Nessun graffio o ammaccatura. Superficie lucida. Prodotto solido e resistente, con appositi sostegni antiscivolo. Da evidenziare che la posizione della maniglia può trarre in inganno, in quanto, al momento dell'imballaggio, viene montata al contrario solo per una maggiore protezione del prodotto stesso. Semplicemente deve essere staccata e rimontata usando l'apposita chiave a brugola fornita dal produttore. Taglio della carta netto e preciso, senza nessun tipo di sbavatura o piegatura. Questo rende la creazione di quaderni o blocchi per appunti molto professionali, dall'aspetto estremamente gradevole. Di facile utilizzo, anche se avrei preferito le istruzioni in italiano. Dopo alcuni mesi di prova posso sostenere di aver fatto un'ottima scelta.

WORKS BEAUTFULLY, ONCE YOU HAVE EATEN YOUR BREAFAST PORRIDGE TO OPEN AND TRANSPORT THE WEIGHTY PRODUCT, TO YOUR DESK' CLEAN CUT REQUIRING LESS MUSCLE THAN I IMAGINED FOR TRIMMING A 360 PAGE BOOK THE CUTTER FOOLED ME. BEFORE EXECUTING ITS MISSION, THE LOCK BUTTON HAS TO BE PRESSED. THE DOWNSIDE - THE TOOL BOX. SEALED BEYOND MACHINE EXTRACTING PRESSURE. ANS REMAINS SO. THE MEASURING BAR, WONT'S LOCK. SUSPICION FALLS ON INCOMPLETE ASSEMBLY. CAN BE WORKED AROUND, BUT THE PRICE SUGGEST A MORE THOROUGH INSPECTION BE TAKEN BEFORE LEAVING FACTORY. PROVIDING THE BLADE HAS A SATISFACTORY LIFE SPAN, NO INDICATION TO THE SERVITUDE OF CHOPS - THEN I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A SATISFACTORY RELATIONSHIP. IF NOT, NOTICE WILL BE SHARED ON THIS PLATFORM.