Trimming Borders: What Tools?

Hi everyone,

I've seen some great expertly trimmed border decks on the forum and would love to do this to some of my decks. However, I don't know what tools to use. I need to have a tool that is reliable, easy to use, keeps the deck uniform, and of course looks like it was expertly done. What tools (trimming & rounding) do you recommend? What tools do you recommend to avoid at all cost? Many thanks.

tatsi

Oh my. Hornet, meet nest.

Opinions differ. I would say avoid trimmers at all costs and use scissors - good, long, sharp ones - and get a corner rounder from amazon. The small size.

This is mine.

Others get good results with trimmers. I find it far too easy to slice through a card by mistake, or slip and get it WAY off - this simply doesn't happen to me with scissors.

You may find the links in this post useful.

http://www.tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=761362&postcount=1

One thing. If you trim a Thoth - do NOT round the corners or you can't see the geometry !

Personally I prefer a cheap pair of sharp scissors, a 5mm corner rounder, and about 2 hours of free time. I prefer shorter scissors because for me I have more control over them. The long shears are unwieldy. So see, already, 2 opinions from the same camp--scissors!

Pretty much I'd say, you already know what tools you cut best using. Just use those same tools for your tarot cards.

Massive scissors. Big enough to swipe each side of the card without having to draw breath and do a second swipe.

A 5mm corner rounder.

Make a nice pot of tea (or coffee) and get into the rhythm.

That's all you need...

Sorry Carla, that's two big versus one small

Oh and the scissors have to be good quality.. *cough*..

Le Fanu said:

Sorry Carla, that's two big versus one small

Oh and the scissors have to be good quality.. *cough*..

Click to expand...

Who's counting? (And quality doesn't have to be expensive. *sniff*) Replace the word cheap with 'ordinary'. Meaning, you don't have to buy a special type.

Hey, I'm left-handed and according to my first grade teacher it's a miracle I learned to cut at all. I use what works for me.

I like long scissors too. Reasonable quality. I have found cheap ones blunt too easily, and kitchen shears leave the edges a little rougher than I'd like.

Smallish corner rounder.

Coffee and a movie.

I trim a few, and then round them. Small batches. Cut, round, cut, round. Because otherwise I find my thumb hurts too much with the rounder.

gregory said:

Oh my. Hornet, meet nest.

Opinions differ.

Click to expand...

They do!

I hate trimming with scissors (even long, high quality ones) and much prefer using a trimming tool. I use a paper trimmer with a blade, specifically the SureCut™ Scrapbooking Paper Trimmer (12") (Fiskars). It uses this replacement blade: TripleTrack™ Cutting Blades (Style I) (Fiskars)

ETA: A Tarot deck usually takes me 1 1/2 - 2 hours to trim perfectly using the trimmer listed above. My worst one, which wasn't that bad, was my Alchemical: Renewed trimming job done with scissors. I fixed it though (after the photos shown).

All of my cards come out the same exact size and the trimmer is simple to use. Just put the card down, make sure the blade is lined up to the border or area that you want to trim off, and slice! Simple.

I might add that I trim decks quite frequently. I love trimming decks! I've been an active participant in the Index: Pictures of Trimmed Decks (Expanded Thread) since last year.

I also use a 5 mm corner rounder.

tatsi, I see that you are in the USA. If you have a Michaels craft store near you, you can check the web site before you go and print up the weekly coupon (click the banner under "This Week's Coupons"). Normally, the coupons are 40% off a single item (so you should use this for the item that costs the most) and then ring up your other items in a second transaction, or there are other coupons as well.

Hope all of this helps! Then again, it may confuse you further.

Trimming Borders & Rounding Tools Suggestions

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions so far. I'm really surprised that so many trim the borders and round the corners free-hand using scissors and a rounder. Based on the expertly done pictures I was sure that a device was used in which cutting dimensions were chosen and then the card was put in place and 'hole-punched' out. I wish a device like that existed, since I'm nervous about doing this free-hand. I guess I better get some index cards to practice on

auracana: thanks for the suggestion. I feel more comfortable trying your technique, since for me the less free-hand the better.

tatsi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1p8HqSntfs

TarotOracle demonstrates.

tatsi said:

auracana: thanks for the suggestion. I feel more comfortable trying your technique, since for me the less free-hand the better.

tatsi

Click to expand...

You're welcome . There's another recent thread on trimming here: Tarot Trimming Tools-- Rotary Cutter & Corner Rounder where FaireMaiden listed the rotary trimmer she used, another option.

There's a lot of helpful content in that post too!