Hand Cut Cards
 

I'm looking for any tips / advice on how to most effectively and precisely cut "hand cut" cards from a sheet so that the edges are even and so they will grade out at PSA? For example, do people use standard paper cutters or do they use any type of more sophisticated equipment or devices? Thanks - Eric

First of all no cards that are meant to be hand cut should carry a numerical designation.

If you insist on cutting I would use a sharp exact-o knife and straight edge. Paper cutters pull fibers and tear paper

Thanks Andrew, that is helpful. The cards I am thinking of cutting and grading do get graded numerically by PSA and they get labeled as hand cut.

If they are intended to be hand cut like Bazookas and strip cards then I don't see why not.

Wagner PSA 8. Made to be cut from the strip right? At what point does the "Hand cut" card stop being such? Trim it down to the tightest tolerances available for the highest grade and $$$ possible? If it is hand cut it should be Authentic only IMO.

Apples and oranges. T206s weren't made to be strip cards. I have no issue with a (what I consider stupid) numerical grade on strip cards. Anyone paying big money for a newly cut (or anytime cut) high grade strip card is a quandry to me. It's just crazy.

I wonder about cards that were meant to be broken apart, like the 1951 Topps Ringside boxing cards. These cards came as two card panels that could be separated. Most that get graded have had the tabs trimmed off. Does PSA tend to downgrade a card with the tabs left on versus cards that have those tabs trimmed? Here's an example of a raw card with the tabs still present on the left hand edge in case you aren't familiar with the issue.

100% agree

I have gotten PSA 10's and get PSA 9's fairly regularly with a standard paper cutter.

This is the one that I have.

And actually to be more correct I meant I don't have a problem with numerical grades AS LONG AS it also says Hand Cut on the flip.
I actually do have a bit of an issue with the mostly outdated policy of only putting a number grade on hand cut strip cards flips.
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So has Gizmo, Battlefield, and some others:D:D

Yeah I only say the card should get an A with Hand Cut designation. Its to hard to draw the line on how far is to far. Trim to the boarders or trim past them. It is to gray of an area. May be a good thread for the board to split hairs on?

Never understood the logic of why a hand cut card in a strip and designed to be cut if desired by a pair of scissors should be treated differently than a card cut by a piece of machinery for grading purposes.

Yes, I am fully aware this topic has been flogged well beyond the breaking point for a number of years. Probably in the top 10 of flogged to death subjects.

If a card was produced to be cut from a panel, strip, box, etc., then I don’t know why anyone would have an issue with cutting it.

I don't think most collectors have an issue with cutting a card, per se', that was meant to be cut except there are fewer and fewer original items everyday. It seems the real story is with the large amounts of money paid for high numerical grades on recently hand cut, 90-100 yrs old, vintage cards.

That’s why I disagree with having numerical grades assigned to any hand cut cards. I can buy them cheap on eBay and then trim them up and sell them to anyone without the need for disclosure because they are “Hand Cut” cards. I think as a community we all agree a fat boardered card trimmed down is a card that has been altered and only deserving of an Authentic grade. The argument now is that there was excess boarder left on the card and I just cut it to proper dimensions. That should justify numerical grading right?