Attention, trimmers: What are your trimming tools of choice?

FLizarraga

There have been threads here and there about trimming tools, but I think it may be time to unify.

Here, in a nutshell, are mine:

Long scissors: http://www.amazon.com/We-Memory-Keepers-Precision-Scissors/dp/B002RG8ABG/aeclectic/ (got mine from Walmart, though)

Corner rounder #1: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00161O87S/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1/aeclectic/

Corner rounder #2: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076FJ7SS/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item/aeclectic/

ETA: The trimmed/altered decks thread with additional links is here:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=4269698&posted=1#top
 

Padma

Myself I use a small and very sharp, pointed, wedge-shaped x-acto blade that screws into a long, pen-like rubber-coated handle, a cork-back stainless steel ruler (they don't slide around), and a self-healing cutting mat.

Oh, and a steady hand! :laugh:
 

Rose Lalonde

Nice thread. I've rounded the corners on several decks but so far have only trimmed one (my Mary-el with titles intact). I used:

Fiskars Softouch Micro-Tip Scissors. Slight spring action open that makes it easy on the hand, and precise cutting.

And like FLizarraga said, the Sunstar Kadomaru Corner Rounder - It includes 3mm, 5mm & 8mm, and it's never given me a bad corner.

(Tip from another ATer - can't remember who: After rounding a deck, I fold a piece of foil and cut it with the rounder several times to help sharpen.)
 

Annabelle

Those corner rounders (both of them) look quite similar to the ones I have for deck trimming purposes. I also have a fairly standard Fiskars paper cutter for cutting straight lines.

I have a lot of paper cutting supplies, in truth, including an array of sharp scissors, because I used to do a lot of scherenschnitte.

But . . . my absolute favorite trimmed tarot deck is one that I did using a pair of ordinary household scissors, and nothing else. Just freehand, in candlelight, during a bad storm. It's one of my many copies of the Thoth deck; while I normally prefer to use the Thoth with the borders intact, I wanted to see what one would look like without them.

It's quite charming, and it feels more like "my own" somehow. Like a personal deck. The edges aren't exactly even, but it doesn't bother me at all.

Edited to add -- I just spotted that Padma mentioned a self-healing cutting mat. Indeed, I'd consider that an essential piece of equipment if you are going to do much deck trimming or paper cutting.
 

kalliope

I'll add mine here too for consolidation's sake. I use a guillotine paper cutter with a movable guide. They're more expensive than other options to get one w/ a guide, but it's the best tool I've found. The one I have seems to be discontinued, but here's a Martha Stewart model that is more reasonable than others. If you use the guide for accurate placement and press down on the card to hold it in firmly in place, it shouldn't move at all and will give a perfect cut. You can read more about how I go about cutting an entire deck (cut all the tops, then all the right sides, etc...) in an old post of mine about trimming here.

I have both of the corner rounders that FLizarraga listed, but haven't tried the 3mm one (#2) yet. The 5mm (#1) was my favorite out of a few I'd tried before that. I prefer these smaller rounders, but they are a little harder to find.

A lot of people use scissors, but I don't care for them because a) my hand gets cramped after all that intense cutting, b) a perfectly straight cut isn't guaranteed, and c) it's difficult to cut the cards exactly the same size by sight alone. Having the cards the same size is a lot more important to me than having the cards be identical visually, so #3 was a big dealbreaker for scissors for me.

I don't recommend the scrapbooking sliding razor trimmers, either. They were nice to use and could be very precise, but I tried a few and they all frayed the edges of cards, as in frayed the coating from the paper base so the edges splayed.
 

FLizarraga

I knew this was going to be interesting, but it's getting wild. :)

Edited to add -- I just spotted that Padma mentioned a self-healing cutting mat. Indeed, I'd consider that an essential piece of equipment if you are going to do much deck trimming or paper cutting.

And, before today, I didn't even know what THAT was! :bugeyed:
 

SarahJoy

Myself I use a small and very sharp, pointed, wedge-shaped x-acto blade that screws into a long, pen-like rubber-coated handle, a cork-back stainless steel ruler (they don't slide around), and a self-healing cutting mat.

Oh, and a steady hand! :laugh:

This is what I use, too.
 

kalliope

Hi Flizz!
In the main Trimming thread you posted what I quote below, but I decided to put my question here since it's tool specific. Do you remember what the grit number of the sandpaper that you used was? (300? 400? 600? 800?) I'm considering doing that "softening" treatment to my TdM decks.

Also, which 2.5mm corner rounder to you have? I have the Sun-Star Kadomaru with the 3mm, and it's great, but I'm tempted by some of the 2mm and 2.5mm rounders I see on Amazon and I wonder if they're any good. Does anyone have any experience with the ones I've listed below, or others to recommend? I'm also wondering if the difference between 3mm and 2mm would be enough to make it worth buying yet another corner rounder. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

--2mm Rounder (the cheaper one)
--2mm Deluxe (expensive)
--2.5mm Heavy Duty (also relatively expensive)


If you want to keep your corners square but don't want them to hurt your fingers, you can gently blunt the points card by card using fine or ultra fine grit sandpaper. I did it to a trimmed Thoth and it worked great.

A sort of compromise is to use a 2.5mm corner rounder. The corners stay just square enough for visual effect.
 

FLizarraga

Hi Flizz!
In the main Trimming thread you posted what I quote below, but I decided to put my question here since it's tool specific. Do you remember what the grit number of the sandpaper that you used was? (300? 400? 600? 800?) I'm considering doing that "softening" treatment to my TdM decks.

I find 220 good enough, but I guess 300 would be even better.

Also, which 2.5mm corner rounder to you have? I have the Sun-Star Kadomaru with the 3mm, and it's great, but I'm tempted by some of the 2mm and 2.5mm rounders I see on Amazon and I wonder if they're any good. Does anyone have any experience with the ones I've listed below, or others to recommend? I'm also wondering if the difference between 3mm and 2mm would be enough to make it worth buying yet another corner rounder. Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Wow, you're a real pro! :thumbsup:

The two I use are El Super Cheapo, and I find that they get the job done.

The one I use the most is this one, 5mm, which I guess is the industry standard:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00161O87S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For smaller (2.5mm) and larger corners (can't remember, 8 or 10mm), this is the one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Star-Kado...1430944751&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=kadumaro+pro

I would say try it. The difference between 2mm and 3mm, while not huge, should be noticeable to the eye.
 

kalliope

I find 220 good enough, but I guess 300 would be even better.

Good to know!

Wow, you're a real pro! :thumbsup:

The two I use are El Super Cheapo, and I find that they get the job done.

The one I use the most is this one, 5mm, which I guess is the industry standard:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00161O87S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For smaller (2.5mm) and larger corners (can't remember, 8 or 10mm), this is the one:

http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Star-Kado...1430944751&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=kadumaro+pro

I would say try it. The difference between 2mm and 3mm, while not huge, should be noticeable to the eye.

Hey goofy, if I'm a pro, so are you, because the fancy sounding rounder I named is the one in your second link! I also have the 5mm you linked, and the same one in the 3mm version (Extra Small, maybe?). So I'm El Cheapo too. I'm only thinking of the expensive 2mm cutters at this point. ;)

The "small" selection on the Sun-Star is 3mm according to their packaging, at least. I wish I could see examples of a 3mm and 2mm cut next to each other to compare, so I know if I should even bother pining for a smaller rounder!