Dahle 550 Professional A4 Self-Sharpening Paper Trimmer, Dual Guide Bar, Automatic Clamp, Safety Protection Cutter

I have only had this a couple of weeks and did quite a bit of research on paper trimmers before making a decision. So far really pleased with the cutting so far. I have always had one of the small paper trimmers which leaves a slightly ‘turned’ edge on the cut - this does not. Yes it is a bit large and heavier than the normal crafters trimmer, but it is very stable so helps with accuracy. The guidelines are clear and the gauge helpful to align paper. It stores upright neatly under my desk. Would recommend.

As a mixed media artist I tend to build my work onto the paper thus often leading to warping or using heavy gsm papers. This trimmer has made light work of cutting through all of it. Which is very impressive as many others have failed. I find that I can get 100% accuracy in finding where I want to cut and a straight cut every time. Also with the double rotary bar the gig feels solid and does not wobble unlike other single bar trimmers!I couldn’t be happier with this paper trimmer and I would recommend it thoroughly!

Wasn’t expecting to pay this when I first starting looking into it, but glad I purchased this version. I trim sizes up to and including a1 on this - it’s brilliant. Easy to use

Works great although the arm stop arrived damaged with the magnet fallen off. Super glue will sort this out

First of all, this is a quality item, you can tell it has been made really well. My only issue is accuracy, you can not get an accurate cut with one of these, and even though the build quality on it does mitigate some of these issues, the paper still slips when cutting, so you miss cut, also it isn't accurate, it takes so long getting used to it, in the end it just seemed easier to do things by hand with an x acto knife, probably easier to cut big blocks of paper, but no good for what I needed it for.

Firstly it’s quite big 58x36cm. This allows for a cutting length of 34cm. I use it in the darkroom cutting paper to size. It can handle 2-3 sheets of heavy weight fibre paper producing a very clean edge. It feels very stable and with the automatic clamp the paper can’t slip either. Ideal for cutting photos to precise size. I’m impressed

I bought the Dahle 556 Trimmer to cut cardstock mounting boards. These are well within the stated thickness capacity of this trimmer. However, the structure is just not rigid enough for a trimmer of this large size. The long rail on which the trimming blade runs is too flexible, unless you press very hard it allows the blade to lift off the fixed metal trimming edge it cuts against and run on top of it instead, giving you a distorted cut and ruining the card before it jams completely. This also blunts the blade edge very quickly and the problem just gets worse, making the trimmer unusable.If you need a trimmer this large buy a Dahle 446 instead. They cost a bit more for this size but are more rigid and hence work properly!

It allows you to cut very accurately and it is self sharpening