Removing 25” Paragon paper cutter blade

We’re in the process of resuscitating an old Paragon paper cutter, and are trying to remove the blade for sharpening. The appears to be held in place by four bolts—but once those are removed, the blade is still firmly in place. It doesn’t appear that any other fasteners hold the blade in place. The blade definitely has not been off in a awhile, so there could be some rust bonding between the blade and the housing. But thought I would check to see if anyone knew if I’m missing something obvious. Thanks!

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Does this cutter have the normal adjusting screws that push against the top of the blade? Lower the blade holder all the way, then tighten the adjusting screws. They should shift a stubborn blade away from the holder.

A 30” Challenge blade has 6 bolts, so if this is similar at all it sounds like it might have 5, not 4 bolts. Make sure there are none hiding behind the bushings in the sides of the cutter. To get my blade out I have to loosen the leftmost 5 bolts with the blade in the upright position and the rightmost bolt in the down position.

PI’s suggestion is how I got a stubborn blade out the first time I had to—Hope it works for you.

Thanks for these—MM, it truly seems like just four bolts, but I’ll give it a thorough look again—thanks for these suggestions. PI—it does have two adjusting screws, but one is gunked up enough to not spin well in the threads. I think I’ll start with some loosening agent on them, get them working freely, and try to remove the blade that way. I’ll post a follow up.

BE VERY CAREFUL!!!!! Even a rusty dull old blade will cut off fingers.

On that note, I would mention that we always tried removing our stuck blade when the cutter was in the down position. Using the adjusting screws, you can see if the attachment mechanism and cutting arm move up as you screw the screws down instead of hoping to see the blade move out if it was in the upright position. I was worried the blade would just pop out once freed from whatever corrosion was keeping it in there, possibly damaging blade and fingers etc.

Cheers—thanks for the warnings—I’ll heed them.

Remove one of the bolts and find two long bolts with the same thread to act as handles (best if you can find bolts with smooth shafts and short threads, without that some tape around the threads will give less chance of cuts from the threads) with which to remove the blade. Every cutter would have had handles to remove the blades, but they get lost over the years. If your cutter has four bolts, put the blade in the down position, remove the outer two bolts, screw in the bolts to use as handles, then remove the two inner bolts. If the blade is stuck on with crud, some outward pressure with the bolts (handles) should free the blade. Use caution and have someone else around when changing a blade, third and fourth hands are sometimes very helpful. Plan your moves and take no chances.