The Accucut A425 looks
like a traditional rotary style paper trimmer. However, the A425pro has
a special four in one blade mechanism that allows you to quickly change
cutting styles for all types of projects.It is extremely simple to use with a quick blade change system that allows you to switch cutting styles within seconds.
Overview:
The Accucut A425 looks
like a traditional rotary style paper trimmer. However, the A425pro has
a special four in one blade mechanism that allows you to quickly change
cutting styles for all types of projects.
This inexpensive cutter is ideal for use in crafting, scrapbooking for for creating thermal binding covers for your documents.
It is extremely simple to use with a quick blade change system that allows you to switch cutting styles within seconds.
Strengths / Features:
The
A425pro allows you to quickly and easily choose between four different
cutting styles including straight cutting, wave cutting, perforating
and scoring. You can use the straight cutting blade to cut or trim your
documents, the wave cutting blade to create decorative edges, the
perforating blade to add a perforated section to your forms and
brochures and the scoring blade to prepare items for folding or for
creating your own thermal binding documents.
The dial-a-blade
mechanism on the A425pro allows you to quickly change cutting styles by
simply turning a dial on the blade unit. No other cutter makes
switching between cutting styles so easy.
The trimmer has a
12 inch long cutting length that can easily handle scrapbooking paper,
letter sized documents or other sized items.
Limitations / Weaknesses:
Although
it is great to be able to quickly and easily change cutting styles the
design of the dial-a-blade unit requires you to replace all four
cutting blades at a time if one blade becomes dull. Replacement blades
for this unit are somewhat expensive because the entire dial-a-blade
unit must be replaced. This is something to keep in mind if you plan on
doing any volume of cutting, scoring or perforating with this unit.
The
unit is rated for cutting up to ten sheets of paper at a time. However,
I had difficulty cutting more than 6-8 sheets of paper. Additionally,
it is difficult to cut a single sheet of thin paper with this unit
since the paper can bend over during cutting. This is a common problem
with rotary trimmers but is something worth noting.
The base
of the unit is somewhat small. This means that it is a little bit
difficult to use for scoring, perforating or cutting large format
documents.
Construction:
The A425pro
is built well but is really intended for light volume applications and
home use. It should be fine for this type of usage but most likely will
not hold up under heavy usage. It comes with a one year warranty from
GBC. However, the blades are not covered under this warranty and as I
mentioned before, the blades are somewhat expensive to replace. The
unit also uses cutting mats that are a consumable part and will
eventually need to be replaced.
Recommendation:
The
A425pro is really one of the only cutters of its kind. The ability to
easily switch cutting styles and the inclusion of a perforating blade
and scoring blade make it a great unit for craft projects, scrapbooking
or for design applications. However, the A425pro is not a commercial
grade rotary trimmer and is thus not recommended for applications where
any volume of cutting, perforating or scoring will be involved. Still,
it is a great machine and is probably the cheapest scoring device that
you will find anywhere.
This review was written by Jeff McRitchie who is the director of marketing for Mybinding.com
Jeff has written more than three hundred articles and more than two
hundred reviews on Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers,
3-Ring Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Supplies, Paper
Shredders and Paper Handling Equipment.
