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    XD-500 Paper Cutter
    January 30, 2008

    I know that most high volume letterpress printers have Challenge Guillotine Paper Cutters but for those who letterpress as a hobby or have a small invitation business the XD 500 is a good cutter for the price.  You can find these cutters online and on ebay for about $140.  It has a 12 x 12 base and it capable of cutting 300 sheets of 20lb paper.  I find that it makes nice clean cuts on Crane’s Lettra paper.  It obviously does not compare to a cast iron Challenge or the like but if you have very little space or on a budget this cutter works well.  If I have to be really picky, some negatives are that 1; when you first go to use it be prepared to throw out your first couple of cuts since they load grease up on the blade and 2; since Lettra is so soft when you lock down the paper, the bar leaves a minor dent on the top (or bottom depending on how your looking at it) of the paper.  I am a perfectionist so I do notice it but it really is insignificant. Again, I find this only happens with soft cotton papers such as Lettra.

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    Bookmark | Comments (16) Category: Updates | By Alexandra at 2:25 pm

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    • http://flickr.com/photos/bleivian Ben Leivian

      Thanks for the recommendation. You may be able to avoid the impression the clamp makes by placing a piece of chipboard (or scrap paper) on top of the stack. You can even place another below the stack to ensure a clean cut on the bottom sheet.

    • http://www.redtandemstudio.com hannah

      i’ve been looking at one of these on ebay, but i was hesitant to get one without much knowledge. good to know you are happy with it for the price. thanks!

    • linda freeland

      Thank you so much for the information. I had an old Martin Yale 7000E that needed a new blade. I contacted a local service center and was told that it would cost me over $200 to have it serviced. I read your comment and bought a XD-500 from eBay. I received the package within 3 days. Turns out it works better than my 7000E with the following improvements:

      1. The paper clamp plate has a vertical guide that insures the clamp plate won’t shift to the side as my old 7000E does.

      2. It is more compact but with similar capacity as that of the 7000E.

      3. It has measurement grids on the base.

      Ben was right. All the manual stack cutters leave minor dents on the top sheets. All you have to do is to put a piece of scrap paper on top of the stack, as instructed in my 7000E user’s manual. It is so far the best investment I have ever made! I love it.

    • Ming

      I was looking at this picture of your new cutter, and noticed behind it are some letterpress cabinets. Usually the ones I see are as tall as your chest or shoulder, but it looks like the ones you have are hip or waist high. Would you be able to let me know where you got them? I’m in the process of getting a tabletop press and not having a lot of room in my apartment, it would be a good idea to put the press ontop of one of these cabinets of type. I love the way your furniture rack is set up as well. If I’m wrong and it’s just the angle of the picture makes it look short, then I’m sorry, my bad!

    • http://lindsey.velloff.typepad.com lindsey

      Personally I like the QCM line of stack cutters. The new 8200M cuts through 360 sheets ( per website) and they have a lifetime warranty. I bought mine here at http://www.ishoppapercutters.com

    • Pingback: 2008-06-12 at Jason C. Romero’s Blog

    • http://www.hsm-shredders.com/ high security shredders

      This blog Is very informative , I am really pleased to post my comment on this blog . It helped me with ocean of knowledge so I really belive you will do much better in the future . Good job web master .

    • http://heartfish.com Hijiri

      Thank you so much for this information, I was looking around my first cutter and this sounds great! Just what I was looking for. I LOVE your work and blog, very very informative!! Thank you!

    • http://heartfish.com Hijiri

      Hi again-

      I purchased this cutter and used it for the first time today – it works just fine, but for some reason, it comes out a little crooked… I thought I was putting too much paper so I tried fewer (like 3 papers – Lettra 110 lb cotton papers) but it’s still doing the same… Is there any trick that you know of to cut it straight?!

      Thank you so much for your help!!
      Hijiri

    • http://www.dolcepress.com Alexandra

      Hi Hijiri,

      sometimes the ruler is not straight. You need to adjust it. All you do is flip the cutter over and you’ll see 2 screws holding the ruler together, loosen the screws and level your ruler.
      hope this helps.

      alex

    • Jennie

      Lindsey,

      Looks like the QCM is no longer on the iShop website. I found it here for $315
      .
      http://www.machinerunner.com/Catalog/Stack-Cutters/QCM-8200M-Paper-Cutter

    • JJ

      I am sooo interested. I want to cut 110LB cardstock for business cards. (10-up on letter index.) Is It easy to cut Biz cards?
      Is it a guillotine? Do I need a lot of arm/body strength to use it? I appreciate your help here.

    • http://www.dolcepress.com Alexandra

      Cutting paper is easy with a stack cutter just keep in mind you can’t cut a huge stack at once like on a real hydraulic cutter. The higher the paper stack and the wider the paper, the more strength is needed to cut.

      This cutter is good for hobby or occasional use. If you are cutting lots of stuff every week you’d be better off with a more professional cutter.

      Good luck!

    • Jody Kenney

      Thanks, Alex. I was about to buy a Challenge even though it was too big for my purposes. I just wanted something that worked! Your blog has helped me tremendously, and saved me over $200, which of course I will now go out and spend, immediately, on some wood type.

      You should be getting a commission from the XD folks!

    • http://profiles.google.com/oprion Darnus Aborigamus

      Thanks for the recommendation. The cost to performance on these little babies is quite amazing IMHO.

      Have
      you found a need to sharpen the blade since 2008?

      • http://www.dolcepress.com Dolce Press Staff

        Yes, we still have the tabletop cutter and use it for odd projects in the shop. We have since upgraded two times to larger hydraulic cutters. The first was a 19.5″ hydraulic cutter and the second, now our main one in use at the shop is a 30.5″ computerized cutter.

        The knife will need to be sharpened every so often, depending on how frequently you use it. You will also need to rotate and eventually replace the cutting stick as well.

    Dolce Press :: Blog is a letterpress printing resource providing designers and printers with news, updates, and how-to articles on letterpress printing and Dolce Press. Written by Alexandra Daley, the blog covers topics such as letterpress suppliers, troubleshooting, new products (social stationery, wedding invitations, baby announcements, imprintables, and greeting cards), and other topics of interest. Dolce Press is a small letterpress print shop located in Central New York (Ithaca, NY) that offers a variety of services and products including letterpress printing, offset lithography, embossing, engraving, embellishments, stationery, invitations, announcements, imprintables, and more. If you have comments, suggestions, or questions please contact us by phone (516.353.9284) or email (contact@dolcepress.com).
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