Paper shredders

Richard

There are loads for sale.

I would suggest a hand powered one because there is less to go wrong and you can put it anywhere without worrying about electric cables and sockets.

Also for convenience, make sure the slot will take A4.

Regards

Mick

Like everything else, you get what you pay for. Ultimately it's the blades that are important. I have "wasted" two electric ones costing about £60.00 as I have to do a lot of shredding. Electrics still OK but blades are now blunt. Latest is one costing about £200.00 in Costco which can even shred CD's. How much sshredding you will do influences what you actually need.

I'd imagine most are these days, but be sure to check it's a cross cut shredder and not something that just makes vertical strips.

I expect beyond that price buys a bigger, more powerful motor and blades that can handle either more, or thicker paper.

Paul

quote:

Originally posted by Richard S:
Interesting and alarming feature in today's Guardian about identity fraud.

...

Anyone have any recommendations?

Richard S

I've thought about it and frankly I'm considering digging a hole in the back garden in which to put my papers before setting fire to them...

If it's important enough to shred, the bin raiders may consider using sellotape...

We got one last year for work, and it has proved very usefull. We have a few years worth of invoices etc, as well as all our personal stuff to shred.
We used to try & burn it it next doors wood burner, but it never worked properly, as anyone who has tried to burn a lot of paper will tell you.. and it aint exactly environmentaly friendly! So an office shredder it was.
Check A) the width of the cutting blades. (3-5mm max) & if you want to do it 100% then get a cross cut. No amount of sellotape will help then.
We then use ours as void fill packaging, so it all helps to pay for the shredder and saves on buying in those polystyrene chips.

Ah the joys of the wood burner.

TBH we do not get any important stuff from the bank in paper form anymore, all we get is new interest rises etc but nothing on the paper work.

The credit card bills just have your name address and last four digits of the card plus your outstanding bill (frudsters are welcome to that!)

After that what is their that they can reasonably do anything with? Recipts? They don't show bank details.

Have been using a Fellowes P400C-2 for years now without any trouble. It's cross-cut so they'd have to be very keen to recosntruct anything, especially after the guinea pigs have bedded down on them for a week!
Ocassionaly I have to dispose of larger quantities and use a wood burning stove. Stuff it full, couple of firelighters underneath and leave it for 24hrs. Burns incredibly slowly but reduces everything to fine ash.

Willy.

Larger quantities? What are you people doing?

We get around 3 letters a day on average, I could probably flush the lot down the bog if I was that worried.

Hi All,

I think the Enron forum is probably the place to find definitive answers to this question...

I wore out a Fellowes cross-cut shredder (it was 40 quid, I forget which model - first thing I shredded was the instruction manual )

Being the curious tyke that I am I took apart the stricken machine and found that whilst the blades were all steel, the final gears that meshed the blades together were plastic, and had stripped a few teeth.

Now I use a Rexel V-15s (also cross-cut) which claims to have 'all-steel' construction, and seeing as the bin and housing are plastic, I assume that means the drivetrain is all steel. Has so far outlived the Fellowes by a factor of 2, so I'm ahead because it was 'only' 1.5 times the price.

This should help...

Rich.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Larger quantities? What are you people doing?

The shredder is fine for domestic requirements (just shredded some charity DD mandates with my details already printed on). I work as a consultant and accumulate masses of paper to do with each project. Way too much for my humble shredder so it get's burnt (after 5 years).

Willy.

quote:

Originally posted by BobPaterso:
Latest is one costing about £200.00 in Costco which can even shred CD's.

COOL! I was going to (just for a laugh) try that on my el cheapo Fellows 4 sheet jobby (£12 from Staples) but figured it'd kill it.

Personally though, I want a shredder that can shred another shredder

All this talk of identity theft makes me think Mr Blair might have it right with these wonderful new Identity Cards he has been offering.

Or am I being manipulated?

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Larger quantities? What are you people doing?

We get around 3 letters a day on average, I could probably flush the lot down the bog if I was that worried.

We now refer to our postman as the ghostman.

Don't flush ordinary paper as it doesn't break down like bog paper and could quickly block a drain.

Woodburning stoves are good waste disposals for plain paper. But avoid burning glossy printed matter (advertising shit & magazines) due to the toxic smoke produced. No milk cartons either. For the same reason.

quote:

Originally posted by Adam Meredith:
All this talk of identity theft makes me think Mr Blair might have it right with these wonderful new Identity Cards he has been offering.

Or am I being manipulated?

Collecting all our personal data in a single system with "Public Sector" specified security....should make the process of identity theft a whole lot easier.

http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39153444,00.htm

Willy.

When chucking out your statements, chuck some dog crap on top, seems a good idea to me.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
When chucking out your statements, chuck some dog crap on top, seems a good idea to me.

Some are born geniuses. Others have it thrust upon them.

Guys, there's a milspec on shredders. Look it up, source a machine that conforms. The bits that come out are so small, it's unlikely anyone could reassemble and make intelligible data from your old gas bill. These things will shred plastic, steel, carboard, paper - don't get your tie caught.

I spent a good couple of half days servicing one, years ago. The synchronisation of the wheels is everything, in the end.

Mind you, might be cheaper to source a small domestic incinerator than one of those milspec units.

PS - just occured to me - unsure if they are rated for dispensing with dog turds. I should imagine the lingering smell might preclude the unit from residing within the house.