Rotary Trimmer

[Signed Out]

Looking to add a piece of equipment to the shop. We want a tabletop trimmer that we can cut/trim banner, poster, vinyl, coroplast, foam board, etc. Mainly we would like it for higher quantity jobs. For example, we have a job in now for 150 16"x12" posters, and 30 24"x18" posters. We print on 8.5 mil postermax. Currently we would print them and trim them by hand with a straight edge and knife for anything over 24", then we can "chop" the rest on a 24" guillotine cutter. I imagine a tabletop cutter would make this process much quicker. We would use it similarly to trim banners, coroplast, foamboard and decals.

Having never used one before, would a table top trimmer such as the foster evolution, or foster advanced rotary trimmer be the right tool for the job? What are the major differences between the 2? Is there a better type of trimmer to use? Better brand that doesn't cost as much as the fosters? We already have a foster steeltrak, which we use to trim signs, mostly ACM, coroplast, and pvc, but doesn't do anything for banners or posters.

Any feedback would be great.

 

[rjssigns]

What about something like this? http://www.royalsovereign.com/roll-...film-electric-trimmers/electric-trimmers.html

Another option: http://fotoba.com/index.php/en/

 

[jfiscus]

I used to have a cutter that looks a lot like the Foster Keencut 104". I know it cut down 8' length sheets...
It had a replaceable trapezoid blade (standard utility blades) and cut anything I put in it, accurately, every time. (even polymetal)
The clamp works great and it can cut multiple sheets at one time.
When doing multiple decals we would cut strips of rows and put a couple staples at one end and throw the stacks in there and it would fly through cutting them down.
It had a 4x8' table attached to it behind it so that your sheets would have somewhere to rest while cutting.
http://www.lexjet.com/i-16927-Keencut-Evolution-2-104in-Cutter-60388.aspx#

I wish they had one here!

A rotary cutter would burn through blades quickly, and rotary blades are mucho-expensive comparatively.

 

[LeLuni]

The Keencut is the one you want, not the rotary.

 

[CanuckSigns]

We have one leaning up against the wall for the last 2 years, I bought it and hate it. I can do basic trimming of decals and prints about 10x faster with a good safety ruler and a knife. It's very difficult to make small adjustments to the trimmers, such as when you are trying to trim a print to a line or something.

The have automatic ones out now that look pretty cool, but I don't do enough trimming to make it worthwhile, and I think there are size limitations to them as well.

 

[Signed Out]

We have one leaning up against the wall for the last 2 years, I bought it and hate it. I can do basic trimming of decals and prints about 10x faster with a good safety ruler and a knife. It's very difficult to make small adjustments to the trimmers, such as when you are trying to trim a print to a line or something.

The have automatic ones out now that look pretty cool, but I don't do enough trimming to make it worthwhile, and I think there are size limitations to them as well.

Do you want to sell it?

You said it's hard to make small adjustments. Can you elaborate on this? I figured that you would run one side of your print or substrate tight to one side of the trimmer to keep it square, and just slide it in until your trim mark is on the cutting edge, and if kept tight to one side then it would be square? Can you set up a jig or stop guides so you can feed your print to the same spot everytime?

 

[AF]

Do you want to sell it?

You said it's hard to make small adjustments. Can you elaborate on this? I figured that you would run one side of your print or substrate tight to one side of the trimmer to keep it square, and just slide it in until your trim mark is on the cutting edge, and if kept tight to one side then it would be square? Can you set up a jig or stop guides so you can feed your print to the same spot everytime?

The Keencuts do not have a fence but you can build your own fence from scraps around the shop for free. It is easy to set up temporary stops and jigs for repeatable cuts. I take scraps of sintra and tape them down to the table with double-sided tape for bulk processing. It is slower than a guillotine since the number of sheets you cut at a time is much less. The Evo is the easiest to make fine adjustments with because one lever lifts the entire cutting bar.