Suggest Paper Cutter?

[mmarkidi]

WE are an in-plant printer shopping for a new cutter. We've looked at Polar Mohr, Perfecta and Saber 36-37 in. models. Does anyone have good or bad feedback on these machines?

 

[tmason]

We have two Polar cutters and they are rock solid. We bought a third cutter last year to help cut "light duty jobs" and press stocks. The new machine is not a Polar and I will tell you, it is not nearly as smooth either.
When the blade comes down on the Polar, the motion is very fluid and smooth with little vibration or shock when the blade bottoms out. The new cutter feels like a freight train is passing by and it slammed into a bus at the crossing.
Next time, we will buy another Polar.

 

[ondemandbindery]

All of the cutter you have mentioned will do the job. But the reality of the business today is when you purchase something like this think about resale. And with that being said Polar has that pretty darn well wrapped up. One of my Vendors I deal with was telling me yesterday that Polar may be getting separated from Heidelberg which may not be such a bad thing. I have to ask why a 37" and not a 42". If you can justify the space this could open up options for you in the future. Just thinking outloud.....

 

[Craig]

Look at Baum (owned by Heidelberg), the cutter is a Polar that is re-skinned. I know this since I just bought a Baum folder and toured the factory.

 

[Alex@Challenge]

The BaumCUT 31.5 is a Polar-made cutter, but not the same as a POLAR 78 (hydraulic vs. gear-driven). The BaumCUT 26.4 is the same (almost) as a POLAR 66. In the size you are looking for, you have a few players to choose from - us included.

The comment about resale value is an important one. Polar and Perfecta are great machines. They have solid resale value, but then again so do ours.

Have a look around at your options, talk to a few dealers, ask for a list of references.

 

[ondemandbindery]

The other thing to think about is the logistics of a Technician for your cutter. That will play a big hand in your purchase also. The last thing you want is to pay someone a ton of hours to drive for service. I do not understand how the charges have gotten to where they are today with that but if I had a machine that was not branded like Polar but it has good rating and the service availabilty is nearby I would be all over it. A challenge would be a potential option also.