Cutting CD Covers in Bulk?

[ScreenPrinter123]

Currently, we're cutting CD covers 1 at a time with a regular paper cutter (for example, http://www.amazon.com/Swingline-ClassicCut-Guillotine-Paper-Trimmer/dp/B0006VS18Q). 

Provided our laser printer prints the cover close enough to the same spot on each page, which it appears on 1 test run to be doing, what do you recommend to be able to cut a bunch at one time in-house?  I've looked at Challenge's website (http://www.challengemachinery.com/products_paper_cutters.htm) -- any other ideas?  Looking to cut probably 50-100 pages at once around the cd cover (obviously so the print of the cover goes to the edges).  Challenge have competitors?  Any other suggestions in equipment for this purpose?  Wanting to cut down on the time this is requiring to do it 1 at a time (obviously).

Thanks.

[ebscreen]

Buy a huge cutter or bring a six pack to an offset shop.

[StuJohnston]

What ebscreen said. Cutters can be had for cheap, or free if you are willing to pay to haul it away. I got a 35" seybold that cuts a stack 5" high for the price of scrap iron. The biggest problem I had was moving the damned thing, it weighs over two tons.Awesome piece of machinery though.

[ScreenPrinter123]

I think I'd rather have it in house ... just not sure of all the brands out there and if it's called something other than a "paper cutter" that would work.  Trying to cut 1"-2" thick stacks of 11"x17" 28lb paper....

[mimosatexas]

I search for these on craigslist and a few forum classifieds daily in my part of the world (Texas).  Even the ancient manual ones go for $500+.  I have done a search for them literally every day for the last year and a half.  Common brands are Challenge, Polar Mohr, MBM (commonly called Triumph), and a few others.  I use keywords like guillotine, paper cutter, hydraulic cutter, etc.

Finding a good used one has been a crapshoot for me, and I'm not about to pay 5 grand for a new one.  Most of the affordable ones have some major issue, either with squareness, or the actual mechanics/electronics.  They almost all need either a new blade or blade sharpening, which isn't a big deal, but does add to the upfront cost in a less than obvious way.  Someone tell me where these magical affordable and working cutters are hiding!

[ZooCity]

We have a Triumph Ideal cutter that we are unfortunately selling if interested.  Probably not worth the ship but it's a more modern deal and not quite as heavy as the older ones.  I'm really hoping to find some place to stash it until space opens up for us but will likely have to sell.  Modern though it is I'm still not psyched about moving it.

http://www.digitsmith.com/cameo-22x30-diamond-chase-32x32-frames-triumph-ideal-6550-cutter-38620.html

This one does need blades sharpened.

[mimosatexas]

That Cameo is a beauty.  How many impressions?  It looks nice and clean.  I have literally an original Cameo24 from who knows how long ago.  the thing actually has plywood in a couple places.  Works like a champ though.  Few things have been tweaked or rebuilt with parts from Grainger.  Got it for $200

[StuJohnston]

Unless you need the digital read out and auto depth adjustment, the 'ancient' $500 cutters will do the same job that the multi thousand modern jobby will. On the other hand, I would at least hold out for one that the blade force is provided by the machine rather than myself.

As for where their hiding, it really is down to patience and perhaps a willingness to travel or ship. For full disclosure, I paid a little over $500 for my cutter and the only thing not so modern on it is that it requires manual engagement of a clutch via two levers to operate rather than two buttons.

Finding a 19"+ Cutter would be tons easier than the size that I got, so at least you have that going for ya.

The cameos are not so bad, but ever since I got a larger press that has pneumatics and a plc, I have been skimming craigslist and other sources for a more modern version of my little cameo. Most of the stuff that I have had to fix, I either had on hand or just took a trip to motion flow control and talked to an engineer there.

[mimosatexas]

This is what I deal with in Texas.  I search Austin, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio daily.

http://austin.craigslist.org/atq/4079781830.html
http://austin.craigslist.org/bfs/4034952060.html
http://austin.craigslist.org/atq/4063444161.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/bfs/4003433558.html
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/for/4049355012.html
http://houston.craigslist.org/hvo/4016962792.html (probably the best deal, though I'm always weary of the "as-is" in storage without power to test if it's working types...)

Seriously, I look every day and this is very much representative of what I've seen out there for the last year and a half.  Hell, some of the ones I linked have been listed that long and they just keep re-listing them every few weeks at the same price.  My favorite is the post where it says "poor condition" but still they want $3200.

[ZooCity]

The Cameo's in great shape (as many are, hard to kill these things) but lord knows how many impressions overall.  It would be a lot cleaner if we had it from the start but this came out of another flatstock shop.  The Tempo we got with it was the real doll of the lot though. 

I agree with Stu, the pneumatic sq/fld pressure + modern stroke controls are a real treat but the ol' Cameo gets it done all the same, just takes more wrenching around.

I really like the cutter we have though I haven't used it for reals.  It seems like the right mix of size/features/age.  Probably going to store it somewhere as I'd hate to give it up and buy a new one later for 12k. 

I wonder if the insurance/liability costs to the mfg isn't part of the high price tag on these new?

[ericheartsu]

I also look everyday on Craigslist. For the most part you can find cheaper ones at auctions, or in the north western part of the country. But they are always always always a huge problem moving them as they are SUPER heavy.

[Inkworks]

I drove 250 miles to pick up a flatstock drying rack I bought off of Craigslist for a smoking deal, while there the shop owner asked if I wanted the old manual 24" Challenger guillotine he had sitting there for free. Hell yes I did. It took some doing to get both into my 4 x 6' 55 year old utility trailer, the rack was strapped in sticking out the back and the load was quite unbalanced with the ridiculously top heavy guillotine off to one side in the front, so much so that on any left hand curve the trailer wheel would rub and smoke. I finally stopped and threw in some big rocks on the other side to level things out. The kicker is the highway I took is famous for being probably the worst mountain pass in Canada, they even have a television series about it, Highway through Hell

I love that old cutter, once I put in a new anvil cutting strip and had the blade sharpened it's as good as new, plus it's a great looking vintage piece of equipment. It looks just like this one:

[StuJohnston]

That's pretty much how I got my heidelberg diecutting/foil press. I went to pick up my paper cutter and he had it in the shop and kept talking to me about taking it, asking me how much I would pay for it and stuff. I told him that the cutter was about the amount of extra cash I had on hand so I couldn't buy it. Along the way, we discovered a large pallet of paper that we bought for nearly free. After we got the cutter and the paper on the trailer, we were pretty much at capacity. So when the guy started to hint that we could just haul it away so he would be rid of it, I had to say no unfortunately.

The next day, we decided to see if the offer was still good. He wanted scrap value, while that was certainly more cost than free, it was still a hell of a deal.

[GaryG]

Talk about steal deals- (paper cutter at end) we were faxed a list of a shop's equipment a few years ago,
and it was a complete small shop. The mega sign shop decided not to print tees anymore.
"Just want to get rid of it all"

We went over and as a test offered $500. He said he couldn't do that but how about $1000?

Ok for a thousand!
All virtually brand new~
Harco 4/4 manual
Harco 8' dryer
Drying rack 36X48/50 levels (try putting one of those back together again )
One arm 4' squeegee system
6' Wash out tank- only thing we really needed, but couldn't pass this up. 
Many inks/squeeges/extras

There was so much, driving away, with a trailer spilling over the edges, my wife says: "Did we get that paper cutter?"
Oh, crap, no! Back to get the cutter and wedge it among the ultimate haul!
(Kind of like the one above, but more simple)

***Did use a Challenge cutter years ago - very nice but used if you can if  not cutting regularly.
A manual cutter could propose problems with tight tolerances.

[StuJohnston]

Oh yeah, I should say, as was mentioned, if someone approached me with a stack of sheets to cut and 10-20 bones (depending on how good a buddy it is) I would definitely cut them.