Mountains Of Mounts: Scissors Or Cutters?

Cougar01:

You must have caused a run on the bank. Staples is now out of stock!

I did a search for it at Staples.ca. Got over 28,000 suggested products, none of which was the CARL cutter.

I use this - it works spectacularly well. Scissors make a mess of mounts no matter how careful you are. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fiskars-...r-9/15702028

The thing I like about Fiskars cutters is that they use a knife blade (with replacement blades readily available) rather than a wheel or guillotine. What I don't like is their cost in Canada.

My Fiskars 9690 paper trimmer has worked well for me for a number of years now. Never had an issue & it will easily make thin trim cuts of under 1mm. Got mine @ Target years ago and they still carry the replacement cutters too.

I've been using the Carl rotary cutter mentioned above from Staples for a number of years with great success.

At my recent trip to Staples, though, I noticed that they no longer carry Carl products but have been replaced with Fiskars. I've never used their cutter but their scissors are great so I wouldn't expect a decrease in quality; maybe just a higher price.

Dan

Consumer grade products are, well, consumer grade. This is especially true of cutting blades. (For years I owned distribution and wholesaled scissors and hair cutting blades to professionals.) A quality cutting edge needs to be made with high carbon steel. High grade steel is not used in cheap products, in fact it is better to use lesser grade so the consumer needs to replace the cutting edge often.

The false economy of buying inexpensive cutting devices should not be a surprise to anyone. A quality pair of properly working scissors (>$40 - $100 US) will not pinch, grab, tear or leave a mess of a mount. (Of course, if you previously cut wire with them.) A quality pair of scissors will last a life time but you will probably need to have then sharpened once or twice.

The same thing applies to the blades in a mount cutter. If available, buy and use the best quality you can find, otherwise replace them very often.
Don

My wife is an avid seamstress/quilter. When she up-graded, I got one of the rotary cutters and small green cutting pads that she uses for fabric.

As long as I remember to change the rotary blade (once every 3 years), it cuts Scott/Prinz mounts perfectly and cleanly. The grid on the cutting pad helps make 90° cuts every time. I use a steel ruler with a cork back to hold the mount and run the rotary cutter along the steel edge.

That said, I have a healthy stock of Scott/Prinz mounts that come pre-cut to the common stamp sizes. That saves a load of time.

Some people cut mounts with scissors. Wow! I tried it. It looks easy. It is not. After making a mess of a few mounts, I bought a cheap paper cutter like gadget from Mystic. I worked fine for a couple of years, but now is getting dull. Time to get a new one.

Don

Don,

I've cut over 5,000 mounts with my Showgard and its still going strong!

Jack Kelley