Which cutter would you buy? (2 choices)

If you run a commercial shop and use the cutter each day, a spare blade is very nice to have and install while the dull blade is out to be sharpened. If not, you can work with one blade.
Either cutter will do the job if they have not been abused or broken.
If all else is equal, I believe I would go for the 20” blade and $50 cheaper.

Thanks, inky! Challenge is $275 now and is a shorter distance to travel. They seem pretty similar except for the rust on the challenge (which I can clean up), and the C&P being an inch wider.

A note of caution , have a call around and find out if you can get a new blade to suit your cutter off the shelf as a discontinued line make s for expensive replacement as the three machines i have can show . i have found that some of the ideal range have have been outlawed as it were and the company will not supply replacement blades , they then bombard you with literature of new models that are available !! Horrible position to be ibn is having a perfectly useable machine and no one supplyin new blades for it !!

Can’t you just have the blades sharpened?

Yes, they can be resharpened over and over- until they reach a point of wear that causes them to be too short to function within the machine’s adjustments.

Think of it this way; if you buy a car which no longer has parts available, unless it’s a specific car that is of value due to rarity- every time the parts go you have to labor to find new ones.

Cutters are theoretically built to last through you as far as wear is concerned, except for at one point: THE BLADE.

This is a part of the machine that constantly needs to be resharpened when it reaches a certain level of use.

I think Peter is trying to caution you because he has seen these situations in his own shop. If you don’t have a working cutter while the blade needs to be replaced, you’ll be forced to find another printer to cut your jobs- $, time (which is more $), headache from someone else doing part of your job (is their ability matched to yours?)- and you’ll need to wait for the new blade to be resharpened.

If I were you, I’d go for the bigger cutter if you feel comfortable moving it. that extra 1” might make a difference at some point. It’s always nice to have a bit more capability, and if you feel comfortable cleaning it and moving it and getting it up and working, plus can find a blade to fit it still, then you’re better off. Just my 2 cents about how to avoid losing more $.

i had an odd cutter long ago, no blades were available, there was a place that sharpened blades that would cut down larger blades and redrill them to fit smaller cutters.

So I found another cutter to throw into the mix. It is an old C&P guillotine 23”. $350, It’s larger, but I have to travel a bit farther to get it. Seller says there is one weld on the lever that he thinks may be a factory weld.