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Cutter/trimmer vs knife and straight edge

Raghaus

New Member
What does everyone use, especially for very long cuts that have to be accurate? Do you prefer a knife and a straight edge, or a cutter/trimmer on a stand?
 

Jester

Slow is Fast
I use a portable trimmer on my work table. This is the style of tool:
311Q83jf-aL.jpg
 

jagsouthern

New Member
Keencut or Logan are good cutters for tabletop use. Like them both. The Logan is less expensive but Keencut has the reputation.
 

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Knife and often a straight-edge. Part of being a sign maker is having the ability to pull a line. With brush, pen, or knife. I have a 60 some inch Kleencut that I haven't used in at least 15 years. I'd make someone a heII of a deal on it.
 

Raghaus

New Member
Knife and often a straight-edge. Part of being a sign maker is having the ability to pull a line. With brush, pen, or knife. I have a 60 some inch Kleencut that I haven't used in at least 15 years. I'd make someone a heII of a deal on it.
Where are you located?
 

netsol

Active Member
we bought a fletcher 100" cutter on ebay
it was about a 3 hr drive, but i got it with the fletcher table
probably the best money i ever spent
i am terrible on long cuts & love to find equipment that compensates for my shortcomings
 

karst41

New Member
What does everyone use, especially for very long cuts that have to be accurate? Do you prefer a knife and a straight edge, or a cutter/trimmer on a stand?
Both!

If you are going to ink down a full roll and then cut.
MBM Kuttrimer Triumph 155 (61") rotary.
 

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ikarasu

Active Member
we have some straight edges that are 60"... Then for anything really long, we just use a 1" x 3" Aluminum bar that was 20 FT and we cut it down to 12 to fit on our rolls roller perfectly.

We played with the idea of electric trimmers before... But if you nest and have stuff rotated, it ends up being worthless of taking longer than a straight edge does...


Some stuff we cheat. Stuff like Vehicle wraps / kiosks we just throw a PDF trim box around it in onyx... then load it in to the graphtec and perf cut it out. Same with when we do a few hundred signs of various sizes... Rather than hand cut them, even a rough cut between the crop marks - we find it easier and quicker to perf cut between the crops on the graphtec.... then we just pop them out. It's way less labor intensive
 

netsol

Active Member
We have starrett 4', 6' & 8' straight edges, but now with that 100" fletcher gemini, they don't get used as much.
 

Sign Impressions

New Member
Knife and often a straight-edge. Part of being a sign maker is having the ability to pull a line. With brush, pen, or knife. I have a 60 some inch Kleencut that I haven't used in at least 15 years. I'd make someone a heII of a deal on it.
Bob
So why are you not using it? What are you using instead? what would you want for it?
 

jfiscus

Rap Master
We have a 96"+ keencut that gets used every day on shorter panels like van wraps. For the longer straight cuts it has to be a ruler and knife and we just roll it out/up on either end as we go.
 

Stacey K

I like making signs
Something that protects your fingers from the blade is most important. I have a 4' one similar to karst41 yellow one. The blade slips here and there and I'm glad my hand is protected.
 

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
Bob
So why are you not using it? What are you using instead? what would you want for it?
For me it's faster to use a knife, a knife and a straight edge if necessary, or a knife and a T-square if needed. I have a 24" and a 48" drywall T-square. That's just me, your mileage may vary.

I'd take $150.00 for it. Just so you know, it's not a KleenCut, It's a 60"+ Keencut Practik, sorry for any confusion. I paid about $600.00 for the whole shitteree back in the day. It includes a box of blades and a pair of end pieces that can be used to mount the cutter to a flat surface and raise it and lower it with levers. If anyone were interested and was sufficiently close I'd gladly include the Melamine coated ~24"x72" mounting board with an accurate but homemade jig for a moveable backstop with a 24" perpendicular stop. Or just take the leveler ends and the backstop jig and make your own board. Either way or not at all, I don't care. What isn't taken away eventually ends up in the local landfill.

Something that protects your fingers from the blade is most important. I have a 4' one similar to karst41 yellow one. The blade slips here and there and I'm glad my hand is protected.
You'd be far better served if you learn how not to cut yourself rather than rely on having just the right tool at hand to prevent it. A professional does not give undue reverence to his/her tools and is able to do a professional job with whatever is at hand, within reason. That would include not bleeding all over the job.

Where are you located?
I abide near Grand Junction Colorado.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
A lotta good advice here. Most of the time, the tool depends on the job needed. We have fletcher, keencut, 8', 10' and a 16' metal straight edges, all kindsa knives and the only thing ya need to keep in your head is..... all these things are meant to cut, so respect these tools as they can chop off digits, tips of fingers and dropping knives in your foot also hurts. The same rules that apply to power tools apply to these, just as well.
 

Sign Impressions

New Member
Bob
So why are you not using it? What are you using instead? what would you want for it?
we are looking at the benchtop model..........it looks like it is a lot heaver duty then the one you have.
we are looking to cut PVC and ACM after they have be printed..........until we can find a router
 
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