Feb12

paper cut.

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at the store in aisle seven

looking over things for my classroom

  this came into view

let me double check,

no,

guillotine not on my wishlist.

 

—

“ever since my childhood, i was haunted by the search for perfection.

an imperfectly cut paper literally made me ill. i would guillotine it.”

-hans arp, french-german sculptor, painter, and collagist

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72 responses »

  2. I so much relate to that! Last week our very sophisticated cutting machine (NOT a guillotine, but the model you pull/push the v.sharp knife along the border – VERY efficient) gave in. I was devastated because the cards (I‘m making them mostly myself and sometimes I have to cut them to the correct size) were mangled and the cutter jumped out of its spur…. There is no way to fix it, so it went to scrap metal collection. But I NEED a new one. So I can feel the pain.

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  6. I remember using those things. Seemed useful at the time.

    I can take a sheet of paper, fold and crease it over and over again with my fingers and tear it apart. Ta da! No rough edges. Left with a paper cut or too though. :(

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  7. I remember we had one of those in the Art Room at senior school. But it was much bigger, at least a yard across, and probably dated from the late 19th century. Not something you would want to see in a kindergarten though! :)
    Best wishes, Pete.

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  10. I can’t even keep sharp knives in my kitchen because I’m so prone to cutting myself. But I think I have that exact same paper cutter! I keep it in the box and only pull it out when I need to use it. I know it poses a danger to my fingers, but oh, the time it saves me and the straight edges it produces! The rewards definitely outweigh the risks for me. (Easy to say until I lose a finger, right?)

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  12. Oh…you’re making me chuckle. I was never very deft with a big ol’ paper cutter. I’d joke with my work friends (and sometimes students) that I was giving “free manicures” when I pulled out the guillotine monster from the supply room. No takers! Can’t imagine why! 😜

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  17. Dangerous, yet I remember every one of my classrooms having one as I was growing up. Kids weren’t allowed to touch them, but they were there for the teachers and TAs.

    The old ones I remember were solid, made of hardwood though, not cheap plastic.

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