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Paper Guillotines by Afterprint Ltd

Paper Guillotines,

Cutters and Trimmers

As the UK’s premier specialist in print finishing equipment, we offer a wide range paper guillotines and trimmers to suit all requirements. Whether you are looking for a heavy duty industrial guillotine to use continually or you’re looking to complete small print jobs to a high quality, we have a machine to suit every need. We also offer expert advice to help you to get the best performance out of your machine.

Additional Information

Brands Available

Grafcut Paper Guillotines

Grafcut pride themselves on excellent Polish manufacturing and design with over 40 years’ experience in delivering industry leading print finishing machinery. Their expertise mean that they are an excellent addition to the collection we offer. From this amazing company we offer both hydraulic and electric guillotines to suit your preference with all models coming complete with an Intelligent IR Safety System, Colour Touch Screen Controls and plenty of professional features that are unrivalled by other manufacturers.

AfterPrint are proud to the be the UK Distributor for the Grafcut range of Print Finishing Machinery and welcome any trial of their machinery in our Cheshire Showroom.

Ideal Paper Guillotines

Ideal are the most recognisable company when it comes to paper guillotines. The vast range that they have available makes them our largest offering of paper guillotines. Ranging from industrial hydraulic guillotines to smaller, benchtop, compact guillotines. Ideal paper guillotines are a great addition for any business looking to reliably cut paper & card.

Ideal Paper Trimmers

Aside from having the most recognisable guillotines Ideal also offer a vast range of paper trimmers. From occasional use to larger table guillotines this manual collection is ideal for the craft market, Schools, offices or even home office environment.

Round Corner Cutters

Not all corners are square, and for this reason we now offer the option to invest in a round corner cutter. With options for the radius of your corners it is a great addition to your machinery arsenal. Round corner cutters are ideal for business cards, calendars and playing cards, amongst other medias.

Which guillotine is right for you?

When choosing a guillotine there are a few things you should consider to ensure you make the correct choice. These considerations are explained below and will assist you in making an informed decision on which guillotine is best for your application.

Many believe that Price should be the first consideration. However, whilst price is obviously a factor it should not be the first consideration when choosing a guillotine. First, you must consider your application and volumes. With 3 different formats of guillotines available, Guillotines, Paper Trimmers and Rotary Trimmers, it is easy to get confused, so what is the difference?

All 3 are referred to as guillotines, however, there is a distinct difference in their operation. Guillotines also referred to as Ream Cutters, cut large stacks of paper in one go, up to 1,000 sheets to be exact. Guillotines are often used in Commercial Print, Copy Shops, School/College Reprographic Rooms, Corporate In-plants, Universities or similar.

Paper trimmers are ideal for smaller volumes and can cut up to 50 sheets in one action, depending on the model. Paper trimmers are commonly used by Primary Schools, Craft Companies, Plan Printers and Corporate Accounts such as Architect’s offices.

Rotary Trimmers are designed to cut individual wide format prints in sizes up to 2,000mm in width. These are commonly used in Schools, Colleges, Sign Makers, Wide Format Printers, Photography Studios as well as Copy Shops & Exhibition Graphic companies. Most commonly used alongside a wide-format printer.

As a result, considering your application and volumes is the first and most imperative step to making the correct choice.

Once you have chosen the type of Paper Guillotine that works best for your application, you should now consider format sizes. What is the largest sheet size you need to cut? Remember this is not the finished size but the starting size to cut down from. Buying a guillotine that only cuts A4 when you use A3 is a costly mistake.

Further considerations in regard to paper size are particularly important when buying a Guillotine/Ream Cutter. For example, an Ideal 4315 will cut up to a 430mm width and a maximum depth behind the blade of 435mm. Digital print engines commonly print on SRA3 sheets measuring 450 x 320mm, therefore a smaller format guillotine such as the 4315 is not suited to that application.

Furthermore, it is important to remember that the larger the paper format you order from the paper mill the lower the cost. As a result, operating a guillotine that can handle a larger format than your printable size often ensures a faster return on investment. For example, an Ideal 4860 or Grafcut G52 can cut up to SRA2 in half, thus allowing you to order the larger format and save on inbound costs.

Next, you should consider the complexity of the work you need to produce. Paper trimmers such as the Ideal 1038 are ideal for trimming basic layouts, such as greeting cards. However, the greater the complexity of the layout the more difficult it becomes to guarantee accuracy. Business cards for example can require up to 20 different cut positions.

The more complex the layout the more the application leans towards a Guillotine. Then if you have higher volumes or multiple operators a programmable model would make life easier and remove the chance of errors. Guillotines such as the Grafcut G52 or G52H incorporate special business card modes in their programming. These modes allow the instant setup of complex applications making even the most tricky of work easy to manage.

The final consideration would be the volume of use the machine is going to be exposed to on a daily basis. Manual models such as the Ideal 4305 or 4705 are designed for accuracy but low volumes. The majority of the Ideal and Grafcut Guillotines are electro-mechanically operated offering reliable daily use over a 5-6 hour period. Hydraulically operated guillotines such as the Ideal 5560 or Grafcut G73H can handle a significantly higher volume of work. They are designed for constant daily use with a dedicated operator if necessary and can easily handle a 10+ hour shift in a busy print environment.

If you are still unsure about which model is best for your application then call our friendly team on 01925 611560 for expert advice.

Exceptional customer service and expert advice

Get in touch today on 01925 611 560