Dahle507 Personal Rotary Trimmer, 12" Cut Length, 7 Sheet Capacity, Self-Sharpening, Automatic Clamp, German Engineered Paper Cutter

My old guillotine paper cutter of 30+ years was finally showing its age and the cuts were getting less precise. At my work office, they had a large (48” cutting length) rotary cutter/trimmer and I liked the performance of the rotary style cutter, so I decided to look for a personal sized rotary cutter/trimmer for my home use.After checking out several, I decided on the Dahle 507, mainly for the rail that the cutting unit slides along. The rail maintains both the lateral and vertical positioning of the blade so that I only have to apply a forward/reverse motion, and not having to apply any vertical pressure to make the cut. The Dahle with the rotary blade makes excellent straight clean cuts (versus the guillotine cutter that would tend to pull the paper sideways during the cuts, resulting in cut lines that were not straight).Some down sides --- with the auto-clamp strip sitting on top of the counter-blade (the metal cutting edge), the small gray tray next to it, and the rail above the blade, it’s difficult to visually and precisely locate crop marks/trim lines to line up with the cutting edge. I ended up taping a small strip of contrasting color paper in the tray to better highlight the cutting edge so I could line up the cutting marks with the cutting edge (see photo).As delivered, the scale bars at the two ends were not square to the cutting edge. Since the scale bars are just held on with three screws each on the bottom, it’s pretty easy to adjust them and get them square with the cutting edge. In order to precisely square it up, you will also need to remove the rail (pop out the red clip at the end of the rail) and the plastic auto-clamp strip to allow you to place a square edge against the cutting edge and then adjust the scale bar(s).The width of the metal base only about 6.5” wide which is probably okay for most small projects. However, I deal with larger papers (typically 11” x 17”), so the 6.5” width is limiting. To deal with that, I made an extension with a piece of ½” thick board with a ¼” thick strip for backing to hold it place against the edge of the base. I then added my own paper guide markings (as measured from the cutting edge) for the specific cuts I need.Overall, I’ve been pretty happy with the Dahle 507. The affordable price and the clean straight cuts did it for me. The size and light weight makes it easy to store away.

This is a must if you print out your own photos, and with the quality of most of todays printers along with the proliferation of digital cameras, this should apply to just about everyone. Now, there is certainly better professional quality equipment out there, but after a great deal of searching around and many purchases that have since been returned, this is by far the best for its price. The construction is plastic and aluminum, but it appears to be quite sturdy (I've only owned it a couple days at this point).Operation is simple. You slide the photo to be trimmed underneath the clear guard, line it up (the edge of the guard is exactly where the cut will be made), and slide the blade across. You don't have to press down on the blade. It rides on a rail, so you don't have to worry about it moving any direction other than perfectly straight. Lastly, even though I don't think the photo slipping would be a problem without this, as the blade slides along the rail, it presses down on the clear guard, which in turn holds your photo in place. The cuts are always clean, and there's no guessing exactly where the cut will be made. There are even three other blades to cut different shaped edges.If I were to complain about anything, it would be the very sparse instruction, but the device is so easy to use, it's really all that is necessary.

I researched a while to get a better paper cutter than I had without spending a whole lot of money or one that would take up precious space. This one seemed to fit the bill. I also like that the blade is self sharpening! It has a solid feel to it when cutting paper. However, I find that the paper bed is a little slick and the paper often moves, you really have to hold it in place well to get a straight cut. The markings aren't what I was expecting. I often cut paper pieces that are not a pre-marked card size. In that regard I have to measure elsewhere and then put it in the cutter. Was hoping for markings that would enable me to do it all in one step.

Dahle are arguably the leaders of the paper trimming world and the 507 personal trimmer is a great home option with a lot of features from their higher price siblings. Before buying this model I looked at options from Carl and Fiskars. The Dahle 507 offers a rolling shear cutter head as opposed to the other options you might be considering in this price bracket and below. Where the competition are using a circular knife blade and plastic cutting bed that you have to replace all the time the Dahle 507 cuts like a pair of scissors.Construction on the 507 is a little spartan in comparison to its Dahle professional brothers. While it lacks some flair it doesn't give up much. The plastic end caps are securely attached to the cutting bed with screws. The cutting bed itself is made of metal and the outfeed is plastic. The rolling head sits on a square metal bar ensuring accurate cutting.Accessory cutting head are available separately to do Deckle edge, Wavy edge and perforation.In short it may be a little more expensive but it’s worth it to not have to replace the blade and cutting bed all the time.