In case you haven’t been around the past decade, scrapbooking is huge. It is a multi-million dollar business and is popular in both hard and computer formats. Although scrapbooking by means of a computer has its benefits, most of the people I know use traditional stamps, custom-printed cardstock, scissors, glue and printed photographs.

I have been asked on several occasions, by customers, family and friends, which paper cutter is the best for scrapbooking. A lot of it depends on what you plan on doing, but I have personally purchased the Carl RT-200 paper cutter for my wife and she loves it. I’ll explain.

The RT-200, although a low-volume cutter, is inexpensive and is packed with features. It uses a rotary blade, which ensures a straight cut every time. Not only that, but about 11 different blades are available depending on the cut you desire. This varies from a perforating blade and a deckle blade to scallop or Victorian blade. It cuts through cardstock and photographs without a problem.

You can find the Carl RT-200 cutter here. For the price you really can’t go wrong, especially considering the cost of ink stamps, thermography powder and other scrapbooking equipment. Good luck with your scrapbooking!

A few days ago I set up the Duplo V-350 in our show room to shoot an online video demo. I have used the Martin Yale 970A burster in the past. I used this to help gauge the performance of the V-350. I was surprised how easy it was to set up the V-350 for operation. Setting up the machine required a few simple adjustments. Once the adjustments were made, I fed the paper through the machine. This was easy to do thanks to a jog button.

After feeding paper through the machine I was able to see the paper being burst apart. Using the jog button I was able to run the machine with the protective cover open as I made sure things were operating properly. Once I let up on the jog button, the machine ceased to operate. Pressing the button forward allowed the machine to operate in continuously without having to keep the jog button pressed in. The machine cannot operate continuous mode unless the protective cover is down. This helps prevent personal injury.

I ended up running three different sizes of paper through the machine. The first stack I ran through the machine didn’t have tractor feed on the sides. The paper was perforated every four inches. I set the machine up for four-inch burst intervals. The V-350 ran flawlessly. The second stack of paper had tractor feed on the sides that was slit off using the V-350’s side slitters. It was burst every 11-inches along the perforations. The last stack of paper I ran through the machine was some billing forms that a customer had sent in for testing. The billing forms were burst every four-inches and had the side tractor feed slit off.

The machine created little mess and the papers came out the other side of the machine in order and organized, thanks to a conveyor-style exit tray. This was especially nice in comparison to bursters that throw bursted paper into a catch bin, leaving the paper unorganized.

To sum things up, I would rate the V-350 a solid five out of five stars. The components that are used to make the machine are high quality and the rubber rollers used to pull paper through the machine are very solid and should last a long time. You can find the Duplo V-350 here. The demo we shot should be available in a couple of weeks.