8200M Heavy Duty Desktop Stack Paper Cutter

When the unit arrived there was very little to assemble. Attaching the handle and paper guide was all that it needed, and I was up and running.It's very smooth, and I use it for my hand-sewn books. Here are a few tips:1) When you open the box and before you use the device, make sure that the finger guard is resting flat on the device. I didn't and snapped it.2) Never do more than one work at a time. Don't pile up several individual works and expect it to cut straight. One at a time is better and doesn't add that much extra time.3) If you are doing more than one like-sized project, cut them one edge at a time. In other words, I cut five books by setting the paper guide once and cutting all top edges together, etc. This will make for more consistent products.4) Get a heavy terry cloth and wipe down the whole unit prior to using it the first time. There was a film of grease preservative all over it. Wipe the blade *last*. Even then cover your works with a paper top and bottom when cutting until the grease is gone.5) The unit can handle a lot of paper and various paper weights. However, be sure that you press it firmly with the wheel. Also, you may want to place some heavy board between the press and the paper (and away from the blade). I tightened too much and bent my signatures.6) The wider the paper the less likely it will cut all the way through. This can be solved by *very*carefully* adjusting the blade. I wouldn't recommend adjusting the blade. Just be aware of this gotcha.7) As others have warned, the blade it wickedly sharp. Don't touch it.I can't say better. Just the fact that I was able to cut about a two-week's worth of work in just one day says a lot.

I'm a little disappointed in the "accuracy" of the cuts on this device. It cuts fine. I'm very impressed with the way it will handle a pretty sizable stack of paper. In terms of quantity, it is everything I hoped for and more. My only problem is getting it to cut where I want it. The paper stop and associated scale (or measurements) will only get you close. The thumb screw used to lock down the stop forces the stop out of square so trying to cut a stack into several equal pieces is pretty tough. I cut, primarily, business cards and prescription pads. To save time I've had to cut wooden templates that I lay on the cutter and adjust the stop to it. That gives me an accurate cut every time. In my opinion, this is a pretty pricy piece of equipment to have left out that very important feature. Not sure I'd buy it again.

This is my second QCM Desktop Stacker Paper cutter. They have made several changes since I purchased the first one. The clamp mechanism does not stay tight resulting in skewed paper. Also, the blade dulled after about 20 cuts and wouldn't go through a stack of copy paper thicker than 50 sheets and even that was with tremendous force. Way over priced for a piece of junk.

I bought a refurbished model, and unfortunately had to return it, because the moving side gauge was crooked. It wouldn't align in a perfect square. I also had to manually align the back ruler to the blade. I had no luck in getting straight cuts. The cuts were always a little angled.But, I was very satisfied with the level of customer service that I received. I got a full refund, plus my return shipping cost. The seller agreed that the machine I had received was indeed defective and did offer to replace with a new one. Although, I cannot recommend the product, since the one I received was defective, I would definetely recommend this seller. They will work with you if you have any problems or questions. I am very satisfied with the final outcome, even though I had to return the cutter. I would not hesitate to purchase from this seller again, knowing that if there is a problem it will be well resolved.

This is a very good, but not flawless, paper cutter that we can recommend for cutting up stack of paper, including perfect-bound and saddle-stitched magazines.We purchased the QCM-8200M (12-inch) cutter in February 2011 specifically to work on a project where we were cutting up hundreds (nearly 1,000) magazines in order to scan them. We believe that these comments below would also apply to other QCM paper cutters of the same design.The cutter was heavier than expected. We had planned to keep it on a shelf and take it out only when needed, but ended up keeping it on a dedicated counter. At over 40 pounds, it was too heavy (and unwieldy) to keep moving, or to lift high enough to place on a shelf safely.For cutting, the process is easy: Place the magazine carefully into the cutter, spin the wheel to lock it into place, and slice by pulling down the arm. We used tape to mark the correct position for perfect-bound magazines, so we could slice off the binding and glue, while removing as little of the live matter as possible.Two problems.First, if we placed the magazines all the way forward against the back stop, and then locked it in place, the pages would slide and distort while slicing. Not good. We learned that we needed to stop the magazine from touching the back stop; we generally kept it about an inch back. We are not sure why this happens.The other problem is that with saddle-stitched magazines, there are staples. The cutter would slice effortlessly through the staples, but doing so nicked the blade. Frankly, we didn’t notice for a while, after which damage had been done; cuts aren’t as clean as they used to be.We then tried removing the staples with a staple remover, but then it became difficult to position the now-unbound magazine sheets properly. Ultimately, we chose to stop using the paper cutter on saddle-stitched magazines altogether. Instead, we removed the staples, folded the pages back and forth a few times, and then carefully tore the pages along the saddle seam.Overall, we are happy with the paper cutter. We are about 2/3 of the way through the project, and although we’re only using the cutter for perfect-bound magazines, it does a great job.NOTE: The blade is SHARP. We have nightmares about having children come anywhere near this paper cutter. There are lots of safety features that would help prevent accidents, and this design, with a shrouded blade, is clearly safer than a traditional cutter with a swinging blade. But still. Be careful!