Swingline ClassicCut Ingento Guillotine Paper Trimmer - 18 Inch Cutting Length, 15 Sheet Capacity, Maple Wood (1152) - Perfect for Office, School, Crafting & Scrapbooking Projects

This is a pretty and functional guillotine cutter. I had to make a tiny adjustment out of the box to properly square the cutter, but it's remained square for many cuts since that initial adjustment (picture 2). Some people here have wondered if the cutting/measurement surface is hardwood or veneer over plywood. It is veneer (picture 4), but it appears to be of very high quality. The structural legs (base) are hardwood. There is a small defect on the stationary portion of the cutting interface that caused a gouge in the upper blade (picture 3), but that damage is near the end of the 18" cutting surface, so I doubt it will be a problem for me often. I look forward to using this tool for years to come.This is an awesome paper cutter!!! I've rarely write reviews, but this definitely deserves it!General (Item Quality/ Shipping): I'm a professional artist and small business owner and find myself in need of a paper cutter quite often, as well as a tool that is very accurate. I decided to upgrade form my smaller Swingline (at least 30 years old and still works perfectly!), to cut larger items. I'm so glad I went with this model and brand again! This classic design and established company has stood the test of time for good reason. They still use the beautiful maple, sturdy base, and high quality metals/ machining. I know this item will last many years as my original did, since they use the same quality and materials. To note, I also appreciated the very quick shipping and professional, original packaging, and would highly recommend this seller. Also, just to note, if you're looking for a GBC brand, they are now called, Swingline, too!Accuracy/ Adjustability: When I was looking for my brand/ model, I was specifically interested in the accuracy and cut quality. I also wanted to learn more about overall adjustability. Just as with my original, this product is very accurate/ on square and provides a clean cut! (I would recommend performing a few test cuts, adjusting the bed blade (to follow) and/ or removing any residue from the blade prior to doing a formal project.) Directly out of the box, the cut was almost right on square, but I do like to be very accurate. As with the original, I was hoping the top ruler could be adjusted, and was happy to find this IS the case with this one as well! There is a little play in the top set screws, so with a framer's square, one can make fine-tuning adjustments to get the ruler-to-bed blade angle right on. Also, to note, the spring tension as well as initial offset (distance from the arm blade to bed blade) can be fully adjusted with standard tools. The spring is is accessed by an easy-to-remove saftey and dust cover. I wish all products were made with good engineering in mind!A note on the guillotine paper cutting method and design: These types of paper cutters can perform highly accurate results! The accuracy is related to two items: (1) The ruler-to-bed blade accuracy and adjustability, and (2) the method of cutting. As noted above, this model is accurate and more importantly, fully adjustable, therefore the first item is sorted out. The other part of achieving a very accurate square cut is with how you pull the blade. There is a sticker on this model that generally explains, but to elaborate, the blade should be pulled leftward with medium to medium-high pressure, most importantly, when starting the cut. A few practice cuts will show you the differences. As long as there is sufficient tension between the cutting blade and bed blade along the entire pull, the cut will be perfectly square. You'll find, when you pull further along in the cut, not as much leftward tension is needed, and when completing, hardly any. The most important part is the initial start; as long as you pull left at the initial part, you should have a very accurate cut, especially with this larger model (the size and weight of the parts help to give more accuracy/ repeatability). The reason for the above technique is due to the mechanics of the design. The cutting blade on the arm is held onto the bed via spring tension. If that spring were tightened so much the arm blade touched the bed blade to start, there would be too much friction and tension to pull the last part of the cut, especially if cutting heavier stock. Instead, there is a slight offset (distance from the arm blade to bed blade) at the start, so the cut can be completed. With the correct leftward tension, the arm blade will always be firmly against the bed blade (which, on this model, can be fully adjusted to be square to the bed), so the cut will also be square. I hope that helps!Overall, YES, this model can give you very accurate results when adjusted/ used correctly!!! That's good news for me and all of you looking for an investment that will deliver what you're looking for. YES! I would highly recommend this product!Thank you and God bless you and your projects!I use this for opening cat food bags,junk mail, Christmas wraping, and a lot more.Judging from the reviews the quality of the Swingline Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer's appear to vary greatly. However I brought one Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer and the one I got is pure awesome. It is solid heavy wood not cheap plastic. The cutting mechanism is heavy steel. The calibration was good but not great. The calibration is not scientifically accurate BUT; if all you need is a good basic straight cut within reasonable parameters this cutter is for you. The cuts are nice and clean with no ragged frayed edges, The cutter mechanism feels solid throughout the full range of its cutting motion. The cutter assembly or surface does not flex or bend as you cut materials as I have seen happen with cheap cutters. The Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer is NOT made of cheap particle board which tends to age badly, flex, de-laminate or loosen over time. This Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer is expensive but you can see the quality materials and workmanship that justifies the higher price. The Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer is on the slightly heavy side but not too heavy to move if needed. In a cutter a little weight is a good thing. Cuts poster board with no problem. Cuts 15 pages of normal grade paper with no problem. I create presentations for colleges and parents on autism related subjects and use the paper cutter to make question cards and ratings forms three to a sheet of 8x11 paper. I use the Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer to cut poster-board into smaller sizes easy to carry to presentations. I cut and trime pictures to size. In every case this Swingline ClassicCut Ingento 30 Inch Maple Guillotine Paper Trimmer works as expected without issue. This was a very expensive paper trimmer but its extra large size is exactly what I needed most to get my many jobs done quickly and without fuss. I have a full life and honestly don't have time to fuss with small cheap particle board or rigid plastic paper cutters that bend flex or cut badly. We have some VERY CHEAP flimsy paper cutters at work that are a pain to work with because they aged badly. A cheap paper cutter is not a good paper cutter when new and it will only get worse over time even with minimal use. I opted to spend more for quality and I likely will not be buying another paper cutter in my life time.First this is accurate and assembled perfectly. It works perfectly. I purchased an 18" to replace a 15" that was over 20 years old. It worked perfectly but needed a larger one. So buying Swingline was my first choice. Over this last winter my 18" has warped. The upper left corner needs about 1/10" of leather under it to keep it from wobbling. The cutter works great with a pad and I will keep it. Hoping it does not get worse.This review is for the 24" Ingento cutter. It is the one you were thinking of when you thought of a paper cutter - a solid block of real wood (maple?) and a cast iron handle with a curved steel blade. Swingline looks to be a division of ACCO, and this cutter is made in Taiwan. However, this one is different from the ancient one you used in school because it operates with light, finger-tip pressure and sounds perfect as the blade comes down. The spring is perfectly adjusted to hold up the blade up when you place your work, but does not take any effort to bring the blade down. The hook to hold the blade closed is a little lame - and definitely a cheapo part on a unit that costs this much. The platform is 25"X25", with a clear ruler and routed lines in a 1/2" grid. The cutter is huge, and the box even more so. Note the 12" ruler in the pictures is dwarfed. It says it's good for 15 sheets, but I found that a little optimistic - and found 8 was about right. However, my serious complaint with this cutter is price. This has a few board-feet of wood, and a few pounds of metal - none of which cost much. I bought a 3 in 1 roller, cutter, and bender for sheet metal that weighs in at 92 lb for the same price!!! What the heck!?! In summary, this is the one you want, but Acco charges so much you might want to wait for an Amazon Warehouse deal to get one.Well made, could be better for the price...overpriced. But it works very well for the function for which it is designed. Especially like the fact that the 'finger guard' can be removed to achieve cutting from both sides of a piece which is more than 18" wide. With most other cutters the 'idiot' guard cannot be removed thus.The back stop is not perpendicular to the cutting blade do you can't align your sheets by pushing the top edge of the paper against the back stop, you instead have to lign it up with the grid and hope you can hold it firmly in place.It is not light and takes lots of space but it works very well.Purchased to replace old one (20 plus years) This one looks like it should last 20 years.