After years of printing on Canon--most recently the ipf-6400, I just got an Epson p-5370 17 inch printer. (The Canon died and I decided to move to a 17 inch as I haven't been printing so large lately). My main paper for years has been Epson Legacy Fibre. As I read the new manual I noticed that Epson warns against using the built-in paper cutter when roll printing ANY of the fine art papers, including Legacy Fibre. I don't know if it's because it dulls the blade, or if it leaves debris that could be damaging to the printer.
And I don't know if it would only be a problem with extensive use. Or is it a risk with any use. Yes, I could cut the paper with a scissors and then use my own paper cutter. But I sure don't want to have to do that.
Does anyone have any info/experience/advice about this? Thanks
The blade dulls more quickly cutting heavy media which causes the motor to work harder. Frequently replacing the blade might mitigate the issue. Epson used to offer an optional manual cutting attachment for their large format printers to deal with canvas and boards. I had that on the 9600 but frequently forgot to disable the auto cutter when using heavier paper. The auto cutter never failed on the thickest 10-12mil papers I used. Epson basically says "no" to cutting anything over 10mil. Rigid boards or some super thick papers that would otherwise pass through the printer almost certainly would break the auto cutter. The cutter is at the front so dust and fibers from cutting wouldn't normally get into the print area.
On the Epsons I've used, the cut and print heads were physically separate. So if you did damage the cutting motor, it shouldn't effect the print functionality. It is possible the internal error caused by a failed cutter might prevent the printer from running purely due to software. So no guarantee that a broken cutter would not put the printer out of service until repaired.