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.
| Manufacturer | Dahle |
|---|---|
| Brand | Dahle |
| Item Weight | 1 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 17.25 x 8.25 x 2.25 inches |
| Item model number | 00507-20047 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Blue |
| Material Type | Metal, Steel, Plastic |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 1 Count (Pack of 1) |
| Manufacturer Part Number | 00507-20047 |
