Best cutter for Film
 

On 6/9/2009 5:31 AM Garry spake thus:

Anyone care to offer an informed opinion on the best cutter for sheet
film?
My only experience was way back in the day where the studio I worked
at as a young buck bought 8x10 buy the van load and yours truly would
use a guillotine(non rotary) cutter to cut to the required size. Do
rotary cutters work better?

Based on my experience cutting various things, I'd say the standard
paper cutter would be the best. (Not a guillotine, which would consist
of a vertical-moving blade; only big paper cutters, like the ones
printers use, have that.) Results in the least handling and potential
scratching of the film stock.

Who knew when I joined this group some time ago I'd be deluged with
such helpful solititations for so many useful products that I never
knew I needed. ;-}

Yes, Usenet is turning into Spam Central, isn't it? Blame Google and
their misbegotten Google Groups (aka SpamPortal) for much of that.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Best cutter for Film
 

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 6/9/2009 5:31 AM Garry spake thus:

Anyone care to offer an informed opinion on the best cutter for sheet
film?
My only experience was way back in the day where the studio I worked
at as a young buck bought 8x10 buy the van load and yours truly would
use a guillotine(non rotary) cutter to cut to the required size. Do
rotary cutters work better?

Based on my experience cutting various things, I'd say the standard paper
cutter would be the best. (Not a guillotine, which would consist of a
vertical-moving blade; only big paper cutters, like the ones printers use,
have that.) Results in the least handling and potential scratching of the
film stock.


I think that a "true" guillotine would probably be best, because they
usually clamp down on the item before the blade makes the cut. But I'd be
willing to bet that the OP probably doesn't have one of those in his
darkroom!
I agree with David N that a standard paper cutter would be best, especially
if the blade handle is gently pushed toward the baseboard as the cut is
made. I think that a rotary cutter might tend to push the material in the
direction of the cut, possibly scratching it against the baseboard.

Best cutter for Film
 

On 6/9/2009 1:20 PM K W Hart spake thus:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...

On 6/9/2009 5:31 AM Garry spake thus:

Anyone care to offer an informed opinion on the best cutter for sheet
film?
My only experience was way back in the day where the studio I worked
at as a young buck bought 8x10 buy the van load and yours truly would
use a guillotine(non rotary) cutter to cut to the required size. Do
rotary cutters work better?

Based on my experience cutting various things, I'd say the standard paper
cutter would be the best. (Not a guillotine, which would consist of a
vertical-moving blade; only big paper cutters, like the ones printers use,
have that.) Results in the least handling and potential scratching of the
film stock.

I think that a "true" guillotine would probably be best, because they
usually clamp down on the item before the blade makes the cut. But I'd be
willing to bet that the OP probably doesn't have one of those in his
darkroom!

Probably not. I used to have such a cutter (a 20" Polar to go with my
Heidelberg press when I owned a print shop). The best way to cut film
would be on such a cutter, in a stack with padding at the top and
bottom. Of course, you'd have to figure out a way to get all the lights
out, which wouldn't be easy, especially on new modren cutters that have
display screens and other lights that can't be turned off.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Best cutter for Film
 

On 6/10/2009 6:11 AM spake thus:

On Jun 9, 4:20 pm, "K W Hart" wrote:

I think that a "true" guillotine would probably be best, because they
usually clamp down on the item before the blade makes the cut. But I'd be
willing to bet that the OP probably doesn't have one of those in his
darkroom!

Just curious what's an OP?

Original poster (the one who started the thread).


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism

Best cutter for Film
 

On 6/10/2009 6:09 AM spake thus:

On Jun 9, 1:59 pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:

Based on my experience cutting various things, I'd say the standard
paper cutter would be the best. (Not a guillotine, which would consist
of a vertical-moving blade; only big paper cutters, like the ones
printers use, have that.) Results in the least handling and potential
scratching of the film stock.

When I wrote "guillotine" I realized that was not the correct term.
What I used to cut 8x10 down to mostly 4x5 some 5x7 in my past life
was a large very good paper cutter.

What you used was what I referred to as a "standard paper cutter".
They're relatively cheap and easily gotten.

For cutting in the dark, you can attach stops (strips of cardboard) to
the baseboard with tape. When I've done this I wear a pair of cotton
gloves to avoid fingerprinting the film.


--
Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism