NT Cutter Aluminum Die-Cast Body Heavy-Duty Circle Cutter, 1-3/16 Inches 10-1/4 Inches Diameter, 1 Cutter (C-3000GP)

OK if you need to cut circles in any type of fabric, then this is the product you are looking for. I bought this to cut literally 4000 holes in a project(s) I have . I am cutting thick canvas , parts of which are triple thick, so think a real thick canvas knapsack of the sort then army used to issue, but with triple layers seamed together. It does it, no problem.Moreover, the size of the holes I am cutting need to be both precise and repeatable. This thing can do both. I can't imagine a better tool for this massive project.I will try to explain what you're seing in the picture how each part moves and what part it plays in making cuts so you get an idea of how this things works, which for me was not obvious from the picture.First however let me describe the materials, which are absoutely first class throughout and completely appropriate to their function:1) thick aluminum, which is what the body is made of2) steel which is what the incredibly tough blade, it's holder, the round screw-like thing in the middle of the orange handle and the spike (not pictured) on the underside are made of3) hard plastic, which is what the small round adjustment knobs are made of and4) slightly softer but incredibly tough plastic, which is what the big orange knob is made of.Each of these materials is tough beyond what is needed for any likely project and for that reason this thing is a true workman's tool. It's overbuilt the way a hammer's steel head is "overbuilt", meaning whatever else happens, you don't worry about your hammer's steel head breaking all of a sudden. Ditto every part of this thing.The design is so well thought out to the task at hand- cutting precise, repeatably sized circles in any kind of cloth - that the one improvement I felt it needed - an easier way to adjust a set screw holding the blade, turned out to be unnecessary; it was just that I was not taking advantage of the function they had already provided me.Literally every other element of the design is useful and necessary,.There is a spike on the underside of this thing, just under the orange handle. It enters the fabric and defines the center of the circle (the center of rotation) while cutting. It has to stay put while you turn the body around it or the whole cut would be ruined. It never failed me, not even once, not even a little.The spike is fairly sharp and made of steel and even better the depth the spike is easily and reliably adjusted by turning what looks like a screw in the middle of the handle in the picture. The adjusability of the spike is important because the spike has to dig just slightly deeper than the blade does to get a good rotation but the blade, for it's part, has to dig to various depths depending on what you're cutting. So the spike has to be adjustable in response to the blade's depth of cut. Both are adjustable and both stay in place once adjusted.The three holes you see are so you can observe what is under the cutter so you can align it precisely on your fabric. You can position yourself to see exactly where the spike on the underside of the handle is positioned. I was able to position to the very thread I wanted.The big orange handle fits like a cover over an aluminum knob ( which you can't see in the picture) and serves to give you leverage as you rotate the entire thing to effect your cut. The big orange handle is appropriately sized to give you enough leverage for even tough material; you can really apply rotational force with it.The handle itself is tough, seems like it will never break or wear out. It fits to the aluminum knob it covers by matched a series of grooves, so it will not slip but at the same time, you can pull it off by pulling upwards (which you would never do during cutting, just the opposite, the pressure is all downwards) so it's not relying on glue or screws - both ultimately fallible things under repeated force- to unite the orange handle to the knob. The knob is deeply ribbed so your hand never slips. The plastic is some special purpose plastic not easily identified by me. It's not soft but it's not just hard thick plastic either. It has some extremely small amount of softness to it.The cutter blade just lasts and lasts. Literally I went though 1000 plus holes before it showed any sign of getting even the least bit dull and even then it was still cutting completely clean, perfectly round circles out of the canvas . The blades are not like xacto-knife blades, but more like small chisel blades, thick enough to think about re-sharpening and made of tool-steel.You can adjust the depth of the blade and also, of course the distance the blade is from the spike, which distance defines the circumference of the circle you are cutting.The scale is in cm, but a quick trip to the web will convert cm to inches and this is what I did, then wrote what equivalencies I needed down on a card for reference. I am not sure of the largest size it will cut (they tell you) but the thing you'll want to know is it will cut ANY size circle from it's largest to smallest.I will now try to describe how the size of the circle it cuts is adjusted.The two small orange knobs you see are set screws. You loosen them to adjust the circle size, then tighten them again before you cut.The thing they are setting is a metal slider one extreme end of which houses the blade (held in place by a third set screw which sets the depth of cut).You can slide the metal, blade-holding thing forward (towards the big orange handle) and backwards (away from orange handle).As you slide it, the blade is moved further or closer to the handle.It is possible to slide it completely out and away from the body , it's a separate removable piece, and you have to do this when you change the blade's depth of cut, so that you can get at the set screw holding the blade to its depth.If you just slide it but not so far away so as to remove it from the track completely, then you are changing the circumference of the circle you are cutting, because the blade is moving either towards or away from the spike.If you run out of room to slide the blade, but you still want a bigger circle, then you simply take the slide completely out, flip it around so the blade is near the edge of the tool instead of the handle, put it back in. This has the effect of positioning the blade (which remember is fixed to only one end of the slider) at it's previous maximum size, while the slide can be slid away from the handle once more, this time with the blade moving out, past the body, whereas before it could only extend to the end of the body.I realize that that is confusing but if you do get this item, re-read it while holding the cutter and you'll see what I am trying to communicate. It's actually a very clever way to get very small and very large circles from a tool that itself is not that big.The really great thing about the slider is the housing it slides in is very clearly marked in cm each of which is divided into 5 equal parts. The marking here is printed and crystal clear, (as on a really good metal ruler) and there are two such "rulers" one on either side of the slider.One is for when the slider is flipped as I described above, so that the blade can come as close to the spike as possible and the other is for when you have flipped the slider so the blade starts further from the blade, then moves outward away from the body, making larger and larger circles (as described before.. still somewhat confusing to just say in words ..lol)What this means to you is you can always find the exact same position you had previously and you can reliably hit any size exactly to the 1/10th of a cm (which would be directly between two marks) . This is an incredible level of precision and translating from cm to inches is a small price to pay. I rounded inches up or down to 1/10th of a cm.Another aspect of the design that desrves praise is how many opportunities to peer at the exact location of the spike there are. This is critical, because where the spike is defines the exact position of the circle. I was able to position the spike literally to within a thread of where I had marked it should be on my canvas. In fact, I was able to visually guide it so as to bump it thread by thread over the weave of the canvas.Over an absolutely huge amount of space, 30ft, I was able to repeatedly visually position this thing within a thread of where I wanted it to be. My design had zero room for error or any kind of cumulative deviation over that 30 feet and I had literally zero error in my measurements and then using this tool I was able to execute to thread-level precision.Which brings me to my last observation. The cutter is absolutely perfectly symmetrical from left to right and the spike is absolutely dead center between them. This is enormously helpful if you are cutting anything whose pattern is being bisected by your circle or for some reason there should be an even amount of uncut space to the left and to the right of the hole you are cutting.You can eyeball those equal distances to the limit of human ability (approx 1/64th of an inch) and KNOW that the circle you cut will be dead on centered with an absolutely even amount of empty space to the left and the right of the circle.For a few weeks in my life it was my job to cut 1000's of different sized circles out of huge expanses of very thick canvas to inhuman standards of precision of both size and location. I can't imagine another tool which would have enabled me do this, unless that tool was a robot. What that means to you is there is zero chance this tool will fail you in any way.We have hundreds of tools and this is one of the world's truly great ones. Japanese toolmakers don't kid around; they hold themselves to incredibly high standards of material, design and workmanship and when they're done they leave nothing on the table in terms of improvments. I was the lucky beneficiary of all that thoughful effort and attention to minute detail. If the designers of this tool are reading this,. I just want to say "thanks". For potential buyers . really, this is the tool for you, no question about it.

Really live this tool and have been using it for a couple of years now. It is very sturdy, simple to use and cuts accuratly every tome. If you tighten both locks on the slide arm you are able to repeatedly cut same sized circles with out readjustment. Now, the downside. The blades do not last long especially in cardboard. However there is a simple and affordable solution. Whenever cutting cardboard or foam core, simply use the disposable "xacto" blades you can buy in bulk for relatively low cost. Tighten the retainer screw directly onto the the blade with a screwdriver to get a firm hold ( careful to avoid over tightening). And as long as you turn into same direction of the cutting edge, you're good to go. Save the heavier blades recommended for the cutter on the heavier materials such as vinyl, rubber and thin plexiglass. Overall I have been extremely pleased with this tool and expect to get many more years from the cutter.

Great circle cutter.

I purchased this cutter specifically to cut out holes in vinyl ceiling tiles for the LED can lights for our basement remodel. First off, it is very well made and very solid. The large rubber knob/handle on the top is excellent for rotating the cutter. The center pin on the center bottom of the cutter ensures the cutter stays in place and the depth is also adjustable by turning the small knob in the center of the handle. The only thing I thought would be a minor issue is the screw that holds the blade looks like it should go through the hole in the blade. I thought it would be a problem by not securing the blade, but it turns out that the screw does secure the blade (without going through the hole in the blade) and because it doesn't go through the hole in the blade, it actually allows you to adjust the depth of the blade which worked out well for the ceiling tiles I was cutting. As others have mentioned it does take a little practice. When cutting the tiles I punched a hole in the center of the tile to put the center pin in and placed wood underneath the tile when I made the cut. On a couple of tiles the cutter pin jumped out of the vinyl tile hole, so be careful of that happening. If I need to cut more tiles I will drill a small hole into the wood for the center pin to sit in while making the cut so it doesn't move on the tile. One last thing, I thought I was missing the blade when I went to use the cutter until I finally noticed the small clear blade storage area underneath the handle.

I bought this circle cutter to cut out a series of circles in mat board as part of a poster framing project. My main issue is needing a circle cut out of 2 5/8 inch diameter and most of them don’t go that small. This model just barely meets that criteria and after some adjustments, I was able to cut perfect, smooth edge circles in the practice mat board. The only issues I have are the adjustment for the center point doesn’t stay tight, and the screw downs for the blade carrier need to be more substantial.The body of the tool is nice and heavy duty, and the handle is large enough to grip easily, which helps tremendously in the process of turning it to make the circle cut out. I’m sure this tool could cut through thick linoleum with ease as well.

It can’t hold steadily at center point even though I put a cutting board under. Might work with a thin materials.

I love this cutter! The quality of the product is excellent and it's extremely accurate. So far I have cut corrigated cardboard and card stock. I am a middle school art teacher and this cutter makes my job so much easier. No more using a compass and cutting out circles by hand. This cutter saves me so much time and aggravation I can't believe I didn't buy this years ago. Worth every penny.

There is a bit of a learning curve to use, but when you get used to it, it is a great tool.