X-Acto Heavy-Duty 15" x 15" Paper Trimmer - Precision Cutting Tool for Scrapbooking, Card Making & Office Use

My old cutter was thrown away... so I looked and looked for a new one like the one I had before, but no such luck. I settled and got this one. WELL, now that I have it, I don't feel like I settled at all. I love it! It is really nice. I can cut 6 pages with no issue. The whole thing is light weight, so it was no issue for me to take it into work with all my other bags and coffee I carry each morning. If it breaks in the next two years, I wouldn't buy it again. However, if the third year comes around and it breaks, I think I would get this same one again.Hope this review helps you decide. There are 5 of us who use it, and we cut a lot of paper. :)This is a decent trimmer, would I run a business with it, probably not. Occasional home use so far and no issues. The only wood is pressed wood on the bottom, everything else including the handle is plastic. But for my use, no issues.I do a lot of calligraphy, so I needed an accurate paper cutter to properly size some of my work. I didn’t need an expensive commercial cutter, so I took a chance on this one…let me just say that I have zero complaints. I use this unit almost every day, and it performs flawlessly. If you plan on cutting several stacked pages at one time, it might present problems, but for 2 or 3 sheets at a time, no problem.I love this guillotine cutter. One of my favorite purchases from Amazon.Use this in our print shop for cutting paper rollsInto sheets when coming off of our printer. Real smooth and super sharp for easy cutting.Lines up cuts well. Pulls a little so you have to be steady, especially with thicker paper. But even still, very good for the $$$.Replaced a plastic 15" cutter that finally cracked after years of use with this one. It is made of wood and feels really solid. Cutter works as expected on all sorts of paper including Arches watercolor paper and Crescent mats that I use when framing.This is one of the solid heavy paper cutters that you would remember as a kid that felt like it might take a finger or two! We do landscape plans and this thing is exactly what we neededOverall, it will be fine for our purposes, but there were some scratches and minor damage to the bottom of the cutting board that made me think someone may have had this and returned it. Or something to cause some scratches to it upon unboxing it. Did not appear to have been scratched during transit as the box was fine. But other than that it will be much better than the old cutter it replaced!I worked in the graphic arts print production industry for 18 years. This is definitely not commercial grade. The wood base is light and plasticky. The blade doesn't have the commercial weight feel. The good point is that the ruler markings are plentiful and helpful to have so many so less moving the paper to align.I'm a school teacher now so it gets daily light use. It wouldn't stand up to daily copyshop use. Blade is sharp enough but of a lightweight metal. My biggest gripe is that the 5-6" of the blade closest to the handle has a hard time cutting paper without pulling it down and just creasing it. You have to be diligent to also push leftward while lowering the blade to get a clean cut. If you miss and do pull the paper down, it's too late to fix because the cut has angled and the sheet is creased where it got pulled down.The reason I'm keeping it is because the price of the "good commercial" ones cost much more than this one that I got on a sale price.This is a long term durability review as it was bought September 2018.Before this purchase I setup small jig whereas I had a table top with set ruler and by using a razor blade I cut what I needed. My jig sort of worked however it was time consuming and sitting there doing cut after cut was getting annoying and using scissors was just not going to cut it. (sorry for the pun)The local shops had similar to this guillotine type trimmer however those typical stores cost $300 + easy for the 18" x 18" size we bought from Amazon. The best part is that this has the X-ACTO brand name so I knew that I was going to get quality. I know this is a quality name from my schooling days as well as office job days since this was the brand name they all relied upon for such devices.We've used this a few times each week over the past year and have absolutely zero issue with any piece or component of this trimmer. The 'stay sharp' feature must work as it cuts like day 1, no pages torn or ripped but always a nice crisp edge left.The 18" x 18" size fit out needs nicely as at times we had various documents larger than average. We were looking at the 24" x 24" but that was too large for us.Before this I had seen 'value budget' type trimmers, had tried in stores as well as viewed their price points. The results of those budget type trimmers were nowhere near the quality of cut in this device. I would easily consider this commercial grade.The heavy wood platform has held up extremely well and has resisted scratches and dings.Not that i would recommend this for what I have done, this trimmer has also cut metal sheets, metal hobby crafting sheets. I've used this for SOFT metal such as copper and aluminum in 20 gauge and above. Yes, this does work and it cuts paper like a hot knife in butter for the next cut !I took a couple pictures. In the first picture I quickly cut a sheet of paper a number of times less than 1mm width. If this trimmer can do this, cutting less than even one mm width over and over I'd say that is darn accurate. I didn't even try hard either. If I did actually try I'm sure I could easily make that sheet of paper look like a pile of rice vermicelli noodles.Now it boils down to if we recommend this...whole heartedly that would be a yes. (sorry for the pun again)Helpful, is how I hope you find this review.I have loved using this paper cutter. It's accurate, easy to use, and can cut a few layers of cardboard at once. Of course it's not light - I don't have a clue why that's a category for this item. You get what you pay for, and quality paper cutters need to have some heft.The only *minor* issue I have is that when it's time to put the item away you can cut yourself from holding it on the blade side as the blade extends longer than the base, (not with the feet, just longer than the base), so I cut my finger the first time I put it away. Simple to avoid and haven't had any issues otherwise.The cutter is nice and sharp and quite strong, but it does not cut straight. I am cutting single sheets of 18 inch poster that spans the entire length of the cutting platform. The sheet was lined up with the guides and lined up to the top of the cutter. The cut at the top is straight, but by the end, it had drifted about 3mm. Its not noticeable unless you're trying to cut a poster with a printed cut line on it. Then you will see the the remnants of the printed border near the bottom of the poster.Professional grade for sure, if your looking at this for home use theres no question it'll handle whatever you throw at it. Sharp and accurate, love the ruler lines making quick work of any paper trimming. I use it for thick watercolor paper and cardstock and doesnt bind or warp the paper.