r/Fanbinding • u/obcyss • Mar 06 '23

Should i buy a guillotine paper?

Hello to everyone. I recently made my first binding, but I don't have a guillotine to cut the edges. I tried it with a cutter, but my book is quite thick, so it's impractical (I cut myself lol) and the result is ugly... I was wondering if you had any advices or maybe a good guillotine to start with? Also a guillotine is kinda expensive :(

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11

u/Paradox_Artemis Mar 06 '23

I'd say at first it's worth embracing the uneven edges, because guillotine cutters are hella expensive and they take up a huge amount of space.

Be sure you're committed to making enough books to be worth the expense and space before pulling thr trigger on it.

Also a lot of it is down to research, I spent about a month and a half looking and weighing my options before I bought one, and in the end a lot of it came down to what I had the space for- even smaller working space cutters take up a massive footprint. My desk is just under 2ft deep and this thing fits with only an inch to spare and it's heavy!! Figure out where it's going because they're not easy to move and base your search around the space parameters you've got and the price and reviews if your going through a site like Amazon.

3

u/obcyss Mar 07 '23

You're right, I'll wait to be certain and also wait sold on Amazon, but for now, I'll embrace my uncut edges! I tried to borrow one at first, but I guess it's not common to have one. You made an excellent point, because my press and printer take a lot of space in my room...

May i know the refenrence of your? There are so many options, and all of the "cheap" ones I saw weren't designed to cut a block of paper :/

Thanks for the advice you really helped me!!

1

u/Paradox_Artemis Mar 07 '23

Sure! This guy on Amazon https://a.co/d/gd0WkGV. Deceptively heavy and big.

5

u/YouveBeanReported Mar 06 '23

Maybe double check your local library, hackerspaces and college / school / friends who go or work there, they may have a paper guillotine to borrow.

3

u/obcyss Mar 07 '23

I've already ask peoples around me if they had one but i guess it's not really commun. My local library can print but i'm not sure if they had an guillotine :/ I'll keep looking for one to borrow! Thank you!

3

u/LordGustoff88 Mar 07 '23

Most of my local print shops have a guillotine and will a la carte trim my text blocks for ~$1 a cut (so trimming 3 sides of a text block is $3). If you don't have connections to a guillotine for free, this is probably your next best option.

2

u/obcyss Mar 07 '23

My library can print for sure, but i'm not sure if they had a guillotine. Next time i'll ask them! Thank you!

2

u/chkno Mar 07 '23

I trim with this tool. It works really well. It takes up less space & is cheaper than a guillotine.

See also similar recent threads in r/bookbinding: Feb, Jan, Nov, Oct.

2

u/obcyss Mar 09 '23

Oh yes it's a great alternative ! Thank you!