Shoutout to the local print shop that told me their paper cutter is older than I am

I was picking up a job in Denver and the owner mentioned their main guillotine cutter is from 1978 and still holds perfect registration, which honestly blew my mind.

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin9282mo ago

Seriously? That just sounds like a shop that won't invest in proper gear. A 1978 cutter is a breakdown waiting to happen, no matter how "perfect" it seems today. Newer digital cutters are faster, safer, and way more accurate for complex jobs. Holding onto ancient equipment isn't a flex, it's just being cheap and stuck in the past.

dixon.nathan2mo ago

But what if it's a simple shop doing basic cuts all day... wouldn't the old reliable machine actually be the right tool for that job?

james_butler14d ago

Do you really need a 50k CNC router to cut a straight line on a 2x4 though? Sure, a 1978 cutter might need a little love now and then, but if all you do is basic cuts all day, that old thing is probably still doing fine. Not every shop needs to be a tech showcase, sometimes you just want the machine that hasnt tried to update its firmware mid-job. The digital cutter crowd acts like your grandpas table saw is going to explode the second you walk away. Then again, I guess gavin would rather see you spend six months making payments on a machine that can engrave your lunch order, just for cutting two-by-fours.