Trimmed Borders/Altered Decks Index

celticnoodle

lark said:
It is really sharp and what also sold me on it the blade is self sharpening...bought it at Michel's with one of their 40% off coupons so only cost me about 11 dollars...I figured for that price if I didn't like it I could get something else, but I really love it, very compact, and perfect for card size cutting.

McFaire said:
Here is a thread specifically about cutting tools:

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=234568

Like Hallowed Night, I am having to say THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! A.T. people are so very, very sweet and helpful!!! Lark, I think I will go buy the Michaels one with a coupon too! :thumbsup:

I came very very close to buying the large one at Staples yesterday--but it was nearly $30.00 and I thought to myself that I should check elsewhere FIRST, as I also have to store this little bugger. It wouldn't be hard to store it at our farmhouse, but at the vacation home (where we will end up eventually all the time), a bit more difficult! So smaller is always better.

McFaire, thank you so very much for providing that thread too! I haven't read through the full 2 pages, but I am about to soon!

McFaire

You're welcome! I just happen to be on a trimming binge this week!

HallowedNight

I trimmed my Wildwood yesterday, and it turned out absolutely amazing! I'm super happy with it, it looks gorgeous and fits my hands so much better. I'll post pictures once I round the corners and do the edging (I have to wait for my corner rounder and ink pad to get here).

But in the meantime, I thought I'd give some tips for new trimmers, because trimming can be pretty nerve wracking in my very recent experience.

1) Make sure it's what you want to do! You can't have second thoughts once you chop a side off. Think about it a lot and be absolutely sure it's what you want. Look for pictures of the deck trimmed to see if you actually like the effect.
2) If you plan to trim a deck for aesthetic reasons (and not because the edges are old and fraying) do it as soon as possible after you get the deck. The more attached you are, the more nervous you'll be and the more upset you'll be if you mess something up.
3) IF YOU HAVE A GUILLOTINE CUTTER, USE IT. I used a guillotine for mine, and I'm so glad I did. It keeps your edges nice and smooth and even, and I'm pretty sure my hands would have fallen off if I hadn't used one. Other cutting tools would probably work well too.
4) Expect some weirdness. Every cut isn't going to be perfect. DO ONE CARD AT A TIME. If one card is a little wonky, it's not that noticeable, but if you try to do more than one at a time and mess a bunch up, you won't be a happy camper.
5) You'll get more confident as you go along! The first cut might be super scary (I know mine was, especially when it came out less than perfect), but you'll soon get into a rhythm and find out what works for you. You'll probably even be able to fix those weird things that happened when you were first figuring out what you were doing.
6) Ask questions! I'm so glad I got some advice on here before launching myself into this project. I was able to find the best tools and methods that would work for me and felt fairly confident going in. You'll generally always have to adjust your strategy a little when you finally get started, but having a solid knowledge base will make you feel much better. And then you'll also have an audience to show off your deck to when you're done. c:

I can't wait to show off my whole deck when it's done (I'm edging my Wildwood with a dark green to match the backs). I love trimming now!

McFaire

HallowedNight said:
I trimmed my Wildwood yesterday, and it turned out absolutely amazing! I'm super happy with it, it looks gorgeous and fits my hands so much better. I'll post pictures once I round the corners and do the edging (I have to wait for my corner rounder and ink pad to get here).

Looking forward to seeing it!

McFaire

HallowedNight said:
I trimmed my Wildwood yesterday, and it turned out absolutely amazing! /QUOTE]

Did you take the titles off? I'm thinking of trimming mine down to just the artwork.

HallowedNight

McFaire said:
Did you take the titles off? I'm thinking of trimming mine down to just the artwork.

I kept the titles intact and just cut the two long sides and the top. I don't really know the deck well enough to get rid of the words.

Also I got both my ink and corner rounder today, so I'll probably finish up the deck this evening! I'm so excited!

McFaire

HallowedNight said:
I kept the titles intact and just cut the two long sides and the top. I don't really know the deck well enough to get rid of the words.

Also I got both my ink and corner rounder today, so I'll probably finish up the deck this evening! I'm so excited!

Great! We're expecting pictures soon!

LindaMechele

HallowedNight said:
Did you round the edges afterwards or keep them sharp? I've seen people talking about edge-rounders, but I've never actually seen one.

I was going to buy a corner rounder, but never got around to it. On the two I've trimmed, I kind of like them square, so just lightly sanded the corners to take the sharp points off.

celticnoodle said:
Like Hallowed Night, I am having to say THANK YOU EVERYONE!!! A.T. people are so very, very sweet and helpful!!!

You're welcome, CN! Aren't ATers so helpful?! I would have never learned so easily about blinging decks if it weren't for people here.

And boy do I know about "smaller is better" - I'm about to move into a tiny house setup of about 400 square feet, so I think I may look into the cutter Lark was talking about and get rid of the bigger guillotine.

HallowedNight said:
I trimmed my Wildwood yesterday, and it turned out absolutely amazing! I'm super happy with it, it looks gorgeous and fits my hands so much better. I'll post pictures once I round the corners and do the edging (I have to wait for my corner rounder and ink pad to get here).

Yes, please do post photos! I'd LOVE to see them. Might give me the gumption to do mine. I can't decide if I'd like it better as is or trimmed, so seeing another trimmed would be great.

But in the meantime, I thought I'd give some tips for new trimmers, because trimming can be pretty nerve wracking in my very recent experience.

1) Make sure it's what you want to do! You can't have second thoughts once you chop a side off. Think about it a lot and be absolutely sure it's what you want. Look for pictures of the deck trimmed to see if you actually like the effect.
2) If you plan to trim a deck for aesthetic reasons (and not because the edges are old and fraying) do it as soon as possible after you get the deck. The more attached you are, the more nervous you'll be and the more upset you'll be if you mess something up.
3) IF YOU HAVE A GUILLOTINE CUTTER, USE IT. I used a guillotine for mine, and I'm so glad I did. It keeps your edges nice and smooth and even, and I'm pretty sure my hands would have fallen off if I hadn't used one. Other cutting tools would probably work well too.
4) Expect some weirdness. Every cut isn't going to be perfect. DO ONE CARD AT A TIME. If one card is a little wonky, it's not that noticeable, but if you try to do more than one at a time and mess a bunch up, you won't be a happy camper.
5) You'll get more confident as you go along! The first cut might be super scary (I know mine was, especially when it came out less than perfect), but you'll soon get into a rhythm and find out what works for you. You'll probably even be able to fix those weird things that happened when you were first figuring out what you were doing.
6) Ask questions! I'm so glad I got some advice on here before launching myself into this project. I was able to find the best tools and methods that would work for me and felt fairly confident going in. You'll generally always have to adjust your strategy a little when you finally get started, but having a solid knowledge base will make you feel much better. And then you'll also have an audience to show off your deck to when you're done. c:

I can't wait to show off my whole deck when it's done (I'm edging my Wildwood with a dark green to match the backs). I love trimming now!

Yes! I agree completely. I think I posted things like this in my How To thread - especially the "think it through" advice. It took me quite a while to come up with a plan, think on it, tweak it, then do it. Since I'd taken my time, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

HallowedNight said:
I kept the titles intact and just cut the two long sides and the top. I don't really know the deck well enough to get rid of the words.

Also I got both my ink and corner rounder today, so I'll probably finish up the deck this evening! I'm so excited!

Woot! Can't wait to see it!

McFaire

LindaMechele said:
I think I may look into the cutter Lark was talking about and get rid of the bigger guillotine.

I wanted a smaller one too because I have a large bulky rotary. I got the Fiskars 9" triple track. I like it.

HallowedNight

Alright!

The cards dried overnight and are now officially finished, so here's some pictures! ((I can't do attachments here, so I'll have to link to the photos.))

First, the Wildwood before trimming.
Then the trimmed deck and a sample of the rounded corners. I used a Sun-Star Kadomaru corner rounder and the small setting, which is 3mm.
Here's the whole deck with rounded corners.
And here's the edging! I used Tim Holtz's Distressed ink pads, and the color was Forest Moss. It's not an exact match to the backs (as you can see here), but it's pretty darn close and looks really good.
And finally here's a shot of a front of a card after edging. The color bled a bit, which I was initially upset about, but after edging a few I realized I actually love the effect. It makes the cards look old and earthy and covers up most of the tiny white bits I missed on some of the cards.

Overall, I absolutely love the final product. The cards are so much easier to handle and the art pops much more vividly. And the edges, which were kind of flaky before, feel much sturdier and smoother now. This is definitely one of my favorite decks now, I can't put it down!