Home Improvement | Using A Vinyl/Carpet Trimmer Tool

The tool does not come with blades - so the first thing is that you will need carpet trimmer blades. If you bought it off the shelf - they are normally next to it, I bought them in case it did not come with a blade and that paid off.

These blades are hooked, and very sharp, so keep them in, and return them to their dispenser, treat them with care. Use gloves if you have them to handle them safely!

This was probably a little confusing - as although there are not many screws, there are many permutations to set it up. Luckily I found one which made good sense.

The grey handle has screws to the left and right, and screws underneath.
The plate underneath should be considered a guide - it allows the device to glide smoothly over the carpet as the blade cuts. So far, beyond my initial investigation, I have not had another reason to unscrew the two screws holding the guide in.

The blade itself is actually fitted to one of the sides. Consider where you will be working, and the direction of the cut. Unscrew one side, and the panel should come off. There is an internal nut the other side of the bolt here, and it should be clipped in place. If it wanders, then you will need to remove the glide plate, reseat the nut and replace the guide plate.

Under the side panel, you will see there are standard Stanley blade style notches - the blade will sit in these, with one hook protruding from under the tool.
Now get yourself a blade from the dispenser. Handle it carefully - as noted many times, it is fiercely sharp, and hooked. Without gloves or due care, it is quite capable of burying itself in a finger and slicing other skin on the way back out!

Place the blade into the slot and over the two notches, and screw it down well. Make sure it is well held, but not overtightened.

The trimmer is now ready to use.

This is not a tutorial on laying carpet, but at this stage your grippers should be down, the underlay in place, and the carpet rolled out.

You will need to have cut the carpet until you have around 50mm (5 cm, 2 or 3 inches) flaps to trim away.

The carpet should be clear of any other trimmings and so on.

Try to get the carpet right into the corner made by the floor and the skirting. I found using a block of wood and kicking into the corner works for this.

Starting in one corner, place the device so the glide plate is face down, and the blade is pushed into the carpet between the wall and the floor. The front and rear guide plates should be flat on the wall, with the side into the wall.

Hold it firmly, and keeping it down and into the wall, push it along to the next corner. Once the initial cut is made, it will (with some resistance) glide through fairly well, just keep it going to the end.

As the meagre instructions say, there will be a few cm at the ends of the cut that you need to use a carpet knife or good strong sharp scissors to finish. Try to use a metal rule to keep them straight.

Be sure to remove the blade from the device when you have finished by unscrewing the side bolt. You should be able to put the blade back into the dispenser.

Screw the side plate back onto the side, and you are done.

Take care to store the blades safely. Never leave blades out on a floor or surface, never leave the tool armed when not in use. Never leave the tool where children can get to it.

All Home Improvement projects should be carried out safely. He who DIY's in a safe way, lives to DIY another day.

I do plenty of DIY around the house. Occasionally I come across a tool I do not understand. When preparing to trim carpet in a room recently furnished with floor to ceiling furniture, I bought this tool to help me do the job. After bringing it home and preparing to do the job I realised that what little there was in the way of instructions did not really tell me how to use it. I searched the web, and could not find anything. So I figured it out, and wrote my own guide.