Shredders

[Will Rickards WT]

Got any recommendations under $100?

I had one that I bought for like $25 or something.
It was at least cross cut and 5 sheet capacity.
It started leaking a yellowish substance which I assume was the lubricant and then it just seized one day and stopped working.

I've got some birthday money and I'm looking for something reliable.

I've found the Xerox 8X at staples for $49.94

Also heard the Fellowes Powershred were good from epinions.
Looking at this one.

 

[Bozo]

K Mart sells one for around $30.

Bozo :mrgrn:

 

[Mickey]

I use a Fellowes myself. Cross-cut, five sheet at a time, can do staples. It's probably more important that you keep the cutting teeth properly lubricated with machine oil. I dribble a bit every time I notice the shred speed slow down (likely due to increased friction). Office Depot was having a sale at the time. I think it ran about $40 or so.

 

[Clocker]

I use a Fellowes myself. Cross-cut, five sheet at a time, can do staples. It's probably more important that you keep the cutting teeth properly lubricated with machine oil. I dribble a bit every time I notice the shred speed slow down (likely due to increased friction). Office Depot was having a sale at the time. I think it ran about $40 or so.

Looks like Walmart has one for about $38

 

[Buck]

Fellowes here too. I think I bought mine at Costco.

 

[mubs]

While the machines are rugged enough, the switches seem more prone to break. Back in the days when shredders were horribly expensive (~1997), I bought a small one that worked fine, but the switch went kaput after about 14 months of sporadic use.

I bought a larger Fellowes cross-cut sometime in 1999, and the switch will not now move to the "reverse" position, resulting in small jams of shredded paper. I have to lift the heavy mechanism out, rotate the rollers by hand and pull little pieces of paper out. Why on earth don't they put switches that match the mechanism in terms of duty cycle?

 

[Buck]

That is a shame mubs. My shredder is in my office hooked up to an outlet that is operated by a wall switch. Thus, the switch on my shredder is always on, and the power is operated otherwise.

 

[mubs]

In the Fellowes instance, Buck, the switch is a 3-way switch - center position is off, depress one way is forward (shred) and depress the other way is reverse, which spits out the accumulated crud between the teeth and if there is a paper jam, clears it. The reverse part of the switch is broken.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

So it seems like the cheaper Xerox would be fine as long as I maintain the lubrication?

 

[Will Rickards]

I tried the 8 Page xerox one with a recent junkmail still in the envelope. No dice. Shreds half of it then jams. Bah. I want something that I can just shove the unopened mail into. And I don't want to lift the heavy shredder head of the bin. So I look for one with a pull out bin and like 12 page or more rating.

So I find that the 15 Page Xerox with a list price of $150. It is discontinued, so I try to get staples to sell me the floor model. One store said no, they can import it from another. Another store said sure, but at $150.

So I go to ebay and find three listed. And I bid.
Only thing is I always lose these freakin' ebay auctions.
For instance on this one the shipping is $20 bucks so I'll never bid more than $30. Here is hoping I win and it is what the auction says it is.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

woohoo won the auction! 41.25 for a $150 shredder.

 

[Buck]

woohoo won the auction! 41.25 for a $150 shredder.

Congratulations!