Guillotines although not in themselves a complicated issue, there is a bewildering array of machines available on the market.

Rotary Trimmers
Starting with the simplest the shear action and rotary trimmers. These are for simple cuts and trimming single sheets of paper and card up to about 30 sheets depending on which machine is purchased. These machines are available up to 1100mm cutting length with different blades for a variety of materials such as rubber, hardboard etc.

Ream Cutters
Moving on from the shear action are hand operated printroom guillotines or ream cutters as they as sometimes known. These use an entirely different type of cutting action. With these the paper is clamped with either a cam operated clamp or a screw action. This holds the paper from moving whilst the blade is brought down to cut. The blade comes down horizontally with a right to left movement. If the cutting needs to be very accurate this type of machine is essential.

Power Cutters
The next step up is the power operated machines. These start at 400mm wide and go up massive proportions depending on what sizes you need to cut. As with the hand operated machines clamping the paper is essential, again this is done by cam action screw or power clamping. Another addition to the power machines is the option of being able to programme the cutting so that you can set up regular jobs and thus ease the operation speed up the cutting process and prevent operator error.

Business Card Cutters
Some jobs however are not easy to cut on a guillotine. This is where business card cutters come into their own. These range from hand operated to fully automatic machines which are capable of reading register marks which move the cuts to match exactly the print, which often varies from sheet to sheet when digitally printed.

Beyond the business card cutters are the slitter/cutter/creasers which will handle up to SRA3 and again read the register marks to ensure that the cutting is extremely accurate on every sheet which passes through the machine. As well as the cutting creasing and perforating are useful functions, especially if it can be done at the same time as the cutting.

Anyone going into guillotines for the first time may need expert advice to help make the right decision