Cigar Cutter Recommendations:

[BrewMeister]

I have a Palio, and it is a quality cutter. I also have several of the freebie and $10 variety. All of them seem to loose their cutting capability after some normal use. Even the Palio. I contacted Palio to have it sharpened and they asked me to clean the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol before I sent it back to them for sharpening. And SHAZAAM, it cut like new again. And a quick cleaning of all my cheapy cutters improved their cutting performance as well.

In my experience what often appears to be a dulling of the blades, in reality is an accumulation of a tacky tobacco residue on the surface of the blades. This causes the blades to drag through the cigar, often slightly crashing the cigar or tearing the wrapper.

My recommendation, try cleaning the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol, you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I have a Palio, and it is a quality cutter. I also have several of the freebie and $10 variety. All of them seem to loose their cutting capability after some normal use. Even the Palio. I contacted Palio to have it sharpened and they asked me to clean the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol before I sent it back to them for sharpening. And SHAZAAM, it cut like new again. And a quick cleaning of all my cheapy cutters improved their cutting performance as well.

In my experience what often appears to be a dulling of the blades, in reality is an accumulation of a tacky tobacco residue on the surface of the blades. This causes the blades to drag through the cigar, often slightly crashing the cigar or tearing the wrapper.

My recommendation, try cleaning the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol, you may be pleasantly surprised.

BrewMeister - excellent point. I usually clean my Xikar every two months or so. I keep a box of "alcohol wipes" around for working on circuit boards and general electronic cleaning that work great. I'm sure rubbing alcohol has the same effect.

Regards - B.B.S.

 

[mysterea]

I've been using 'replacement razor blades' from home cheapo for months, and they've been great. Score the cap and you're good!

Of course I had no idea Wilkey had trademarked this technique, I thought I was a friggin genius, guess not!

That being said, it's about time I scooped a fancy schmansy cutter, since the 1c cutters I got from JR just aren't cutting it (yuk yuk)

Thanks for the tips, if anyone sees a cheap blade-type palio or xicar out there on sale place post it here. I need one!

Cheers,
Rob

 

[BrewMeister]

I've been using 'replacement razor blades' from home cheapo for months, and they've been great. Score the cap and you're good!

Of course I had no idea Wilkey had trademarked this technique, I thought I was a friggin genius, guess not!

That being said, it's about time I scooped a fancy schmansy cutter, since the 1c cutters I got from JR just aren't cutting it (yuk yuk)

Thanks for the tips, if anyone sees a cheap blade-type palio or xicar out there on sale place post it here. I need one!

Cheers,
Rob

Here you go, with a free T-shirt. :whistling:

 

[dannymer1974]

What about Lifetik 64 ring cutters? Mike has a deal for $9 on these......would that be like throwing $9 out the window?

 

[gtphale]

I use my fancy buck knife.

 

[Jan Primus]

I've owned both Palio and Xykar, it's pretty much a coin toss for me. The disadvantage of the Xykar is durablilty...drop it on a hard surface and watch those little screws come loose and your cutter falls apart. Luckily, the company really takes care of it's customers. The Xykar gets the edge on looks and feel imho.

The Palio cuts really nicely but I found the slide action a touch sticky, maybe it needed to be broken in or something but that was the only drawback imho. It also lets you rest a lit cigar on it as well, which can be handy. If you are used to this style of cutter, chances are you'll prefer it the Xykar.

I'd recommend buying one of each, one for the car and one for the house....chances are, you lose one of them eventually anyways.

 

[Herfin Bigdog]

Palio! Palio Cutter :thumbs:

Read the testimonials page. My testimonial is the first.

Palio has only two moving parts which means less chance of the cutter failing because one of those parts has failed. The blades are not self-honing or self sharpening. No cutter is regardless of what their manufacturer claims. You will not find this statement on the Palio website because it is not factual information.

Palio has a lifetime warranty. "If you feel that the Palio cigar cutter you purchased has lost it's ability to deliver a quality cut, assuming it has only been used for it's intended purpose (cigar preparation), at anytime during it's life of use. Simply return it to ANY Palio cigar cutter vendor for a replacement. No questions asked! On vacation in another country or state? If there's a Palio vendor near where you're staying, take it there and get a new one."

You don't even have to send it anywhere to get a new cutter! How great is that?

On Palio's Care and Maintenance page at the Palio website:
"Every so often you should wipe down the blades and tracks with rubbing alcohol. Carefully use a q-tip to clean in the tracks and around the inside edges of the blades. This will keep the blades from being damaged due to buildup of oily tobacco."

You can't go wrong with a Palio.

 

[MillhizzelPB]

I have a Palio, and it is a quality cutter. I also have several of the freebie and $10 variety. All of them seem to loose their cutting capability after some normal use. Even the Palio. I contacted Palio to have it sharpened and they asked me to clean the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol before I sent it back to them for sharpening. And SHAZAAM, it cut like new again. And a quick cleaning of all my cheapy cutters improved their cutting performance as well.

In my experience what often appears to be a dulling of the blades, in reality is an accumulation of a tacky tobacco residue on the surface of the blades. This causes the blades to drag through the cigar, often slightly crashing the cigar or tearing the wrapper.

My recommendation, try cleaning the blades with a bit of rubbing alcohol, you may be pleasantly surprised.

BrewMeister - excellent point. I usually clean my Xikar every two months or so. I keep a box of "alcohol wipes" around for working on circuit boards and general electronic cleaning that work great. I'm sure rubbing alcohol has the same effect.

Regards - B.B.S.

THIS IS SWEET! I wish i knew about this earlyer... my cutter cuts like a champ again! Thanks guys

 

[Hoss]

I have both a palio and a xikar double guillotine and like them both about equally. Although i had some trouble with the xikar coming apart when i first got it, after two replacements this one seems pretty sturdy and even might cut a little cleaner than the palio.

I use the above mentioned guillotines for torpedos, perfectos and smaller ring parejos. I usually wind up opting for a punch on larger ring parejos.

I have a Palio, Xicar, and a Wenger SAK. The SAK is the best of the three, and it'll open your beer, wine and C-Rats. What more could you ask for.

Doc.

I've never used a SAK, but not a bad idea, especially for the "score and lift" technique before mentioned.