trimming round decks

tarotcognito

• #1

Hi all!

I'm starting to think about getting my hands on the Cloisters, but knowing my undying hatred of white borders, I know I wouldn't use it unless I trimmed them. Does anyone have any tips on how to successfully trim round decks? I did a forum-wide search and found some stuff on how to get rounded corners on standard decks, but nothing on round decks.

Thanks for sharing, and sorry if I missed a thread that answers this question.

 

GryffinSong

• #2

I think if it were me I'd just settle myself in for a long haul and do it by hand with my scissors. But with a round deck a riffle shuffle isn't very do-able anyway, so if they're a little off it won't matter all that much. Since the image has a clean edge, you should be able to follow it quite well by eye.

Good luck and post pics!!!

 

Laura Borealis

• #3

The only thing I can think of is a sharp pair of scissors and a steady hand.

I used to have a circle cutter... it was a massive object that you sat down on your paper, held firmly, and turned a crank to move the blade around. It DID cut precise circles, but you had to be extremely careful about alignment. If you were off by even a tiny fraction your circle-cut would be off center. BUT... it only cut one inch circles. It wasn't adjustable for anything bigger. And it would have balked at anything the thickness of a tarot card.

 

tarotcognito

• #4

Thanks for the replies, GS and LB. Knowing how paranoid I am about possibly slipping when using scissors on a rare OOP deck, I think I'd have to buy two Cloisters - one to have as an untouched backup in case I royally screwed up on the trim job. That's a handful of money for two decks, so I'll have to give it some more thought, methinks.

 

PathWalker

• #5

I'm a big fan of circular decks, and Cloisters in particular. But I wonder is it worth looking for something rectangular that you like as much?
It's just a fairly pared down RWS clone, to be really honest about it, and the price it's reaching these days, buying two would be a lot of money.

If you really couldn't use it like it is, I'd browse some more decks to see if I could find something else maybe

Best of luck whatever you decide
Pathwalker

 

Le Fanu

• #6

Hate to say this but I simply cannot imagine a hand-trimmed round deck ever looking good. It would be just impossible to get right.

Sorry!

 

Miss Divine

• #7

The only way to get it to look decent would probably be to carefully smooth out the edges with sandpaper. But I don't think I'd ever have the nerve to trim a round deck to be honest.

 

BodhiSeed

• #8

Le Fanu said:

Hate to say this but I simply cannot imagine a hand-trimmed round deck ever looking good. It would be just impossible to get right.

Sorry!

Click to expand...

You're right, Le Fanu. I tried with an oracle, and even with lines to guide me, it was impossible to stick to them when doing circular cutting. The cards looked okay, but I don't think I would EVER try it on an OOP deck.
Here's a picture posted of it I posted in the "Trimmed decks" thread:
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u211/kawaii_equals_disney/circlethingies.jpg

 

Le Fanu

• #9

They look beautiful, bodhran. But I suppose when they're all together they don't completely match up. It would be virtually impossible to get them exactly the same.

I have the Cloisters and I have to say, with round decks, as the focus is the centre of the circle (unlike rectangular cards) you seem to notice the borders less. Well I do anyway...

 

tarotcognito

• #10

Yeah, the jury's still out on whether I really want to attempt this. It's really the price/OOP factor that's giving me reason to pause.

I guess I must cogitate some more. Thanks for your advice, everyone.