cuttermouse® paper cutter
Note: Cuttermouse was originally licensed to and manufactured and sold by Westcott® as Scissor Mouse™ in the USA and some oversea from 2012 to 2016 through retailers like Staples, Walmart, Walgreens and Amazon.
Cuttermouse is now completely owned, funded and controlled by Rayner Design Pty Ltd. The manufacture of the new tooling almost complete. Sales will commence in Australia in 2019.
This unique paper cutter does the job of scissors paper trimmers and guillotines but more quickly, easily, and safely, in a smaller, ergonomic package. Unlike most low cost trimmers which use a single, sharp short life knife or pizza-cutter type blade, cuttermouse uses a two blade shearing “rotary bypass” system which never needs to be replaced. It’s also light, robust, fun to use, and looks good sitting on a desk without any risk of marking it. As you can see from the 6 second demo below, it can be used with one finger if you like, and you don’t even need to hold the paper down. Kids of 2 can use it - try that with scissors!
Cuttermouse is impossible to use as a weapon or to self-harm and is therefore suitable for settings where paper cutting is currently banned for safety reasons. So far Bill has not been prevented from taking production samples on domestic or international flights in hand luggage.
The cutting action is light, continuous, and straight, but may be guided to follow a straight or slightly curved line or picture edge, either directly or offset using the graduated marks on the front to make a border. It can be stopped and turned at corners through any angle.
Fast, Straight, & Safe
A simple guide track can be used where perfect straightness is required. Curve-cutting versions have been designed and patented, and will be available in the future. A pocket size version cuts up to four sheets of standard 80gsm paper easily and cleanly.
There is considerable scope for future development to serve specific markets and functions: preschool to drawing office, straight cuts or curves, manual or powered, promotional gifts to prestige professional.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Where can I buy one?
From the second half of 2018, direct from cuttermouse.com.au.
How does it cut?
There are two blades, as with scissors, a fixed lower blade parallel to the table and just above it, and a rotating disc-shaped blade standing on edge so that its face runs against the flat blade’s edge, driven by the front wheels via three gears. The paper slides over the lower blade and is sheared when it reaches the rotating blade. The blades do not need to be sharp like knives so their cutting edges are close to 90°, which is why they can’t cut people.
Does it need spare parts?
The two blades will last a very long time and do not need replacing. The ‘lifter blade’ underneath is also long lasting, but is designed to be easily replaced in case it is accidentally broken, although it is made of tough nylon and can usually be bent back into shape.
How does it feed the paper? (warning - engineering concepts below)
The front wheels start to run over the paper and hold it down, then a flexible plastic lifter ‘blade’ which lightly skims the desktop gets under the paper edge and lifts it onto the horizontal lower blade. When the paper reaches the rotary blade it gets cut, pulled through the cutting zone, and then dropped back onto the table. The lifter contact pressure is so low it will not even mark French polish.
The cutter uses the same principle as anti-lock brakes (ABS) on a car to ensure reliable feeding of paper into the blades. The rotary blade is geared to travel not quite at paper speed but very slowly backwards: this gives maximum grip. But the sliding speed over the fixed blade is much faster, like a skidding tyre, so the friction is lower and cannot hold the paper back. The result is that paper doesn’t bunch up at the blades but goes through smoothly at any speed you like to cut.
Is there more technical information?
Yes, at cutterblog.
Note that as the original design was changed by Westcott according to their ideas and production facilities. The words and pictures below describe Bill’s original design. The new production version looks similar to the original, but there have been many design and production quality improvements.
Cuttermouse pre-production samples May 2018