Like others, I purchased this product in order to remove the binding from books. Thus far I've removed the bindings only from (pretty thick - 60+ page) magazines. This Gillotine slices through no problem. The tool is heavy duty. I have it on the floor and when the handle is raised it's like 3'.The black thing that repositions on the surface is made of rubber so once you tighten it, it isn't going anywhere. If you have a bunch of books the same size you can just position that thing where you want and you don't have to re-evaulate where you want the book everytime you put one in. The blade is sharp. I wiped it off with a paper towel due to the other reviews just to get the grease off. I haven't taken the device apart to see exactly how the long handle attaches to the unit that pushes the blade down. It does take a little bit of force to do the cut but nothing a 12 year old couldn't do.Literally all you have to do to start cutting is take the thing out of the box, screw one handle on (can be done by hand) and shove the long handle onto it's post. The smaller handle you just use to tighten your book or whatever against the surface so it doesn't go anywhere when you cut. Pair this up with a scanner containing a straight document feeder and you will have no problems converting all of your books to digital. For scanners you can do a kodak i1220 plus if you can find one used or get a scansnap.For the price you can't beat this. It was a great purchase!