2-Minute Tuesday: Paper Cutter Mag Pads – Protect Those Documents!

Working in the document finishing industry can be a curse – every time I’m handed a menu at a restaurant, I immediately scrutinize the binding method that was used. I do the same thing at a bookstore; before looking at the content of a book, I check the spine, cover and signature pages to see how well the book is constructed.  It absolutely drives my wife crazy!

I’ve purchased a few books recently that were obviously printed on-demand as one-off orders. Technology has enabled printers to print one book at a time and I have no doubt that this trend will continue to grow. The process to bind these one-off books is a bit different than traditional book binding methods and uses much lower-end equipment.

One of the on-demand books that I received had a spine that was obviously crushed by the paper cutter that was used to trim the book’s edges. I’m guessing that the printer didn’t adjust the clamp pressure, so I thought I would make a recommendation for them. The solution? Magnetic Cutter Clamp Pads…or as we like to call them, Magpads.

Magpads attach to the clamp of a cutter – this is the part of the cutter that holds the stack in place while the cut occurs – and does so with great force. When you’re cutting stacks of paper, this tremendous force is usually fine, but with delicate Perfect Bound books you can easily crush the spine of the book. Magpads provide enough cushion to eliminate this problem and will keep the spines of your books safe and sound.

And these aren’t just useful for books. If your cutter clamp is marking any paper at all, especially carbonless forms, a Magpad will take care of the problem. So don’t waste your time adjusting the clamp pressure on your cutter for a single, delicate job – just slap on a Magpad and you’re good to go!

Got a good cutter tip for us? Please share it as a comment below.