If you could have been a fly on the wall at our ScrapHappy Reunion you would have seen and heard some interesting things. Of course another way to get the inside scoop is by reading the blog right here at ScrapHappy. Alison discusses what it takes to put an event of this scale together. Lindsy shared the top 10 best reasons to head to reunion. Today I want to share one specific conversation that might never had made it to a social media post: trimmers.
There were a number of comments on things that we love and hate about our most used tool. I decided this conversation needed to go bigger so I brought the topic to our entire ScrapHappy community. I’ve organized comments all about the pros and cons of some trimmers. I even share a bit of an industry “secret” at the end. So be sure not to miss that tidbit! If you need help choosing a trimmer this is the post for you!
Now, let’s dive into trimmer features.
What's in a trimmer?
Trimmers have one job: to cut paper. Sounds simple, but there is a whole lot of variation individual crafters look for in a trimmer. Do you want a self sharpening blade? Do you need to cut paper 17″ long? Do you want a platform you can see every measurement on, or will you fold out an extension arm for longer cuts? If you fold out an arm, where does the measurement break for the physical arm connection? Do you want a trimmer that can also do scoring? Or even more fuctions?
With so many options let’s break down what to expect from trimmers. Take a look at the three main trimmer styles.
Guillotine Trimmer
Rotary Trimmer
Slide Trimmer
These use a chopping style blade. This style blade tends to be self sharpening. They come in a wide range of sizes. However, they can pose a risk to fingers. In fact here is one comment on this trimmer style…
Another trimmer option with a self sharpening blade. It tends to be safer than the guillotine trimmer… but bulkier! So there are real tradeoffs when choosing a tool.
Slide trimmers are usually the most compact in size. These trimmers also tend to be the most affordable up front and may also include scoring functions. However the blades go dull quickly. Here is what one member said about blade replacements…
I’m too clumsy to use a guillotine trimmer. I’d cut off a finger. 🫣
I could have bought the [Tim Holtz] guillotine trimmer three times with what I’ve spent on blades for the Fiskars [slide] trimmer!
The Favorites
There was an interesting mix of people who loved a certain style of trimmer and those on the other end who did not! One of the biggest conversations was over the very popular Fiskars brand of trimmers.
I am a die hard Fiskars fan… The [SureCut] Deluxe… is my main trimmer. My favourite feature is that it has a steel wire that indicates where the blade will cut. This has made my trimming so much more accurate – especially when I’m cutting mats or trimming photos. Or cutting up a sheet of tags or journaling cards.
I have owned many Fiskars trimmers over the years. Almost every single one has had a slight tilt to the cutting. This was most noticible when cutting off branding strips or cutting apart journal card sheets or tags. The wire surely helped line things up right, but it became a total pet peeve of mine to have that basic tilt.
April also shared her love of the Stampin’ Up trimmer when she was part of the creative team. You can check out her post and see more photos if you want more details. I have to agree with April’s comments below. These are the exact reasons the Stampin’ Up trimmer is my go to. My only complaint is how often I have to change the blade. We’ll get to that more later though!
My perfect trimmer is the one from Stampin’ Up. All the frustrations I’ve had with other trimmers – it does not have. There is no gap/unmarked area on the ruler. It has an extra guide if the ruler is folded up for 6” so that you can align on 2 edges. I LOVE the scoring “blade” which is a loop, not just a shallower blade. [This] has been my experience with Fiskars trimmers, sometimes that shallow cut-score-line has ended up tearing.
Another point of personal difference centered on the basic functions of the trimmer. While some wanted the self sharpening blade, other’s wanted the very precise cutting.
I too have used the standard Fiskars trimmers for pretty much my entire scrapbooking life… I often cut exact mat sizes out of the corners, or gut my papers to a specific measurement. The rotary trimmers do not have this ability.
I gut my papers often so I have to have a slide trimmer. The rotary trimmers just can’t do that job! My Stampin’ Up trimmer does that plus it can score paper also. I don’t need a separate tool for scoring.
Exactly how many tools a crafter needs is personal. As I mentioned above, I like to minimize the number of tools I own. Yet sometimes, getting just the right job from a tool matters. That is the case with these two mini trimmers.
I have the small guillotine trimmer from TH and also love it for when I need to slice the tiniest of millimetres off a photo or mat!
I just picked up this little Creative Memories chop trimmer from our SH reunion. (We had a swap table and someone left it there.) I’m using it to trim photos and so far I love using a mini trimmer for my photos. Maybe having just one trimmer isn’t realistic??
We’ve seen some trimmers that people love. But what about the flip side? As I often say, all pros come with cons. So what is it about trimmers that falls flat?
The Less Than Ideal
Sometimes no matter which trimmer we choose, there is almost always a downside. It is important to know some of these cons of particular trimmers to help us make informed choices. While I’m not trying to pick on any particular trimmers, I do want to voice the realities. In fact here is one crafter’s tough reality.
I have almost ALL the trimmers, and I hate every one of them! I like the guillotines best for crisp, sharp cuts, but it’s very difficult to use them to precision-slice a sliver off the edge of a photo. The Fiskars trimmers my friends all love have just never made me happy—due to the wobble and also the bending it will sometimes leave on an edge. I like the idea of the Creative Memories rotary with interchangeable blades (and clever housing for the blades), so it’s great for a quick deckle edge or something—but it is not easy to use so not a workhorse. I have the Tim Holtz rotary media trimmer, which cuts beautifully but hard to see where exactly it will cut.
Honestly I’m with Beth on this trimmer topic. I know there is a reality to the pros and cons of any tool. But each trimmer I’ve tried seems to have annoying issues. Let’s hear some other thoughts.
[I have] a We R Makers guillotine trimmer but you have to cut carefully or the papers slide. And it’s loud.
Yeah, [the Fiskars has] a tiny tilt… Weirdly I find if I butt the paper to the bottom I don’t get the tilt, but when cutting off the branding strip, you can’t do that and line it up to the 12” mark. I pretty much ignore it most times. 🤷♀️ Guess I’m willing to be slightly askew! 😂
Over and over again I heard that the Fiskar trimmers cut slightly angled. I have experienced that myself! If this will bother you like it does me, you may want to look for another trimmer brand. However, if you are like Alison above, maybe you can make peace with this imperfection. The tradeoff is that these trimmers are widely available!
Another point of contention with trimmers is the self sharpening vs. blade replacement debate. Let’s look at that a bit more.
Trimmer Upkeep
If you have ever owned a slide trimmer you will know that you’ll need to have extra blades on hand. When the blade goes dull, you’ll get fuzzy edges to your projects that are just dissatisfying. Yet the hassle of keeping fresh blades around is real.
We’ve already mentioned the costs. Yet availability can be a real challenge as well!
I don’t use the We R Makers trimmer much for cutting as the replacement blades are super hard to find.
I was getting ready for a big card making event and realized I didn’t have any replacement blades. I tried looking at local craft stores with no luck. Since I bought my trimmer online I had to get the blades online too.
With dull blades being a big challenge, what is a crafter to do? Alison brings up two really good points in this upkeep conversation. Her biggest point is that Fiskars is a common brand. It is easy to find parts. Many local craft stores carry these trimmers and replacement blades.
Yet, if you are like me with a special brand, you might appreciate this longevity tip…
To maximize your trimmer blade life, be sure you cut both ways with your blade, and rotate it regularly. What I mean is, if you always cut from top to bottom, you will dull that side of your blade quite quickly. Alternate sliding the blade from top to bottom and bottom to top when cutting to use both sides evenly. And if you find your dominant side getting dull, remove the blade, rotate it and re-insert it so you are now mostly using the other side of the blade. You won’t have to replace your blades as often if you get in the habit of doing this.
Hacking Trimmers?
When I put out the call to tell me about trimmers I never expected so much response. One comment that surprised me was how people are modifying trimmers to meet their needs.
I have the Tim Holtz rotary media trimmer, which cuts beautifully but hard to see where exactly it will cut. I just saw this light idea on FB yesterday, but haven’t tried it yet.
Just so you know, some trimmers come with a built in light. The Cutterpillar brand is the one I think of first. You can see it in action below.
Like Beth, I also own the Tim Holtz rotary trimmer. It does a great job of fine cutting, staying sharp, and cutting thicker materials. Yet, like Beth I also have the issue of not being able to see where it is going to cut. That is because the blade track sits directly above the cutting surface. (I don’t know if the Cutterpillar has this problem. If you know, drop a comment!) I wonder if this light hack would help my TH trimmer?? See, there is always something to learn even if we’ve been crafting forever!
Speaking of helping solve a trimmer problem, I’ve had the wild idea of cutting part of my trimmer off! Let me explain. I tried the Tim Holtz slide trimmer and discovered I loved the shorter fold out arm on it. My current Stampin’ Up trimmer has an arm that folds out to reach 17″. I never cut paper that big! Plus the arm always crashes into piles of stuff on my desk. What would happen if I used a saw to just cut off the excess arm?? If I ever do this, I’ll let you know, LOL.
The Next Trimmer?
Due to the imperfect nature of trimmers, many comments mentioned trimmers that were on wish lists. We all own a trimmer already, so why do we have trimmers on our wishlists? We often think the next trimmer will be the one. Listen to these comments.
The cost of replacement blades annoys me.
I tried the Tim Holtz guillotine trimmer for the first time today and although it’s a bit pricey, I want it. It trimmed super fine slices with accuracy. Love that!
When I owned the craft store I brought in the Sizzix Scoring Board and Trimmer tool. It looks super fun and like it could do a lot of different things… [but] it looks big. Like too big to sit on my desk all the time like my Fiskars trimmer.
I was really looking forward to my new Tim Holtz slide trimmer. Since it was in the brick & mortar store I shop at I could go pick up replacement blades easily! Sadly I had two defective trimers in a row and I gave up. It is still on my mind to try again.
I have almost ALL the trimmers… I’m planning on checking out the one… mentioned that was a Stampin’ Up offshoot, so I can complete my trimmer collection. 🤣
Speaking of the Stampin’ up “offshoot” that brings us to the final portion of this post. There is some insider knowledge that can be helpful when choosing a trimmer.
Insider Look
Do you think that every brand of trimmer is unique? That isn’t quite the case. In fact many companies will make deals with manufactures. The deals allow them to place branding on a tool that already exists. Here is the biggest example I’ve come across in the trimmer world. Take a look at the four trimmers below.
They all look somewhat different, right? That is all dressing. The trimmers are exactly the same size and function. Note the little swoopy hole in the top center? The same. See the center line of measurements? The same. They also all have the same cutting and scoring blade options. The fold out arms are all the same length and fold out at the same measurement breaking point. These trimmers are identical, except for color and branding. Manufactures save money by making one model while changing superficial details for brand companies!
Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. In fact I found it a relief. I could more easily find replacement blades for my Stampin’ Up trimmer. Knowing that these brands are the same, I could add blades to whatever online order I’m placing. Many of the places I shop carry one version or another of these trimmers. The best final thing? I read that WalMart carries the BiraBira brand. So if I need blades right now, I can probably find one at a store near me!
There certainly is a lot to considered when buying a trimmer. I hope you have seen some of the reasons one trimmer or another may (or may not!) work for you. We are all different people with different crafty needs. Until the magical unicorn trimmer gets invented, posts like this can help inform our choices! If you want to add to the conversation, drop me a comment and I can include your opinion into this post for future readers.