The Royal 1840MX is a wonderful machine. When we bought it we were looking for a heavy-duty shredder because were cleaning house and had a large quantity of paper to dispose of. Our previous experience with shredding was using a couple of wastebasket-style shredders. When we started shopping for a shredder this time we had already decided against getting another wastebasket-style one. The capacity of that kind of shredder is meager even for our normally modest needs. Our wastebasket-style shredders frequently jammed, and quit working altogether after shredding the equivalent of a few reams of paper. (To be fair, it may well have been our fault they quit working, because we did not realize at the time that shredders need to be lubricated, self-evident though that now seems.) This time we were looking for a shredder that would accept paper in large batches; would not constantly require cooling off; would not jam; and would not prematurely wear out. The Fellowes Powershred 99Ci seems to be the current shredder of choice for home shredding, and if it had not been for our backlog of paper, we likely would have purchased the Fellowes. But in view of our backlog, the 40 minute runtime of the Royal shredder was decisive. Even setting that consideration aside, however, we are extremely glad we have the Royal.
We have now finished our first round of shredding, which produced about 45 bags of shredded paper, amounting to roughly 35 cubic feet. In operation the shredder is not loud (though when using it for long periods, as we did, it is a good idea to be kind to your ears and wear ear protection). The two slots for inserting paper are convenient to use. The display messages ("ready," "bin full," "overheat," "overload") are reliable and easy to read. The shredder jammed once but was easily unjammed. It overheated once but cooled off in a few minutes and was ready to use again. The bin is easily emptied and put back into the shredder, and a vacuum cleaner easily takes up the scattered shreds in the bin and shredder cavity. The shredder is easily moved around on its rollers (which were attached on arrival). The cord (which has a two-prong polarized plug) is appropriate in length (5'). Getting rid of our accumulated papers with this machine was highly gratifying. It is like a giant shark whose jaws just keep swallowing up paper no matter how much you feed into it.
The shredder is a handsome piece of business equipment, and is now sitting by the wall in the study, waiting for occasional but essential use, such as getting rid of everyday junk mail with personal information in it.
We have made notes for the purpose of reminding ourselves how to use the shredder again, after we finish some fine-grained sorting in preparation for the next marathon shredding. Perhaps someone might find something useful in our notes.
1. Safety The first principle of operating a shredder is, of course, safety. Like a stove for example, a shredder is safe as long as it is properly used, but if it is used carelessly it can cause serious damage. As is observed in the shredder's documentation, every year in this country a small number of people lose fingers in shredders. The danger lies in the way a shredder works: the blades grab, hold onto, and slice anything that is inserted into the slots. That includes fingers, neckties, scarves, and necklaces. Consequently one should be careful about what one is wearing when using the shredder. Children should never be allowed to use a shredder under any circumstances, even under adult supervision (little fingers can easily enter the slots). Nor should the shredder be left on (and therefore ready to start shredding) in a place where curious fingers, paws, or beaks might be tempted to investigate the slots.
2. Startup When the shredder is turned on, the motor will run, causing the blades to turn, for about three seconds. Paper inserted into a slot before or during this three-second period will be shredded. After the three-second period, inserting paper will cause the motor to start, the blades to turn, and inserted paper to be shredded.
2. Batch size The stated capacity of the shredder, per batch, is 18 sheets of bond paper or the equivalent. To avoid jamming, we took this as an upper limit, and tried to feed batches of about ten sheets. This enabled us, when shredding piles of jumbled papers, to keep the size of the batches below 18 pages. There was no real advantage in pushing the limit of batch size, and we knew from experience that clearing jams can be a real nuisance.
3. The shredder slots The shredder has two slots that feed into the same opening. The top slot (narrow and slightly less than 5" long) is convenient for envelopes and papers of similar size, as long as their edges are firm. The shredder's blades most readily grab paper with a sharp, firm edge (like the edges of a new envelope). A batch with soft or uneven edges is more readily grabbed through the lower slot (about .5" wide and slightly more than 8.5" long). When shredding a batch with irregular edges, it may be most effective to insert it into the lower slot by leading with one sharp, firm corner; the blades will usually grab that corner and pull the rest of the batch in after it. It is possible to do this with batches wider than 8.5", but that should probably be avoided, since it seems to produce clogs at either end of the blades.
4. Getting the shredder to grab the paper When one inserts jumbled papers or worn paper, the blades often fail to catch the paper, while the motor and blades continue to grind away. One's natural response is likely to be to push the batch farther in, while trying not to put one's finger's "too far" into the slot. NEVER DO THAT. Instead, cut out a piece of medium to heavy cardboard (from the flap of a cardboard box, for example), fold it as necessary, and use the cardboard to push the batch into the slot until it catches, while keeping one's fingers entirely outside the slot. (Sometimes the lead edge of the cardboard will be partially shredded when you withdraw it.)
5. Emptying the bin The shredder's "bin full" message is entirely reliable. When it lights, and after the machine has been turned off (as a general precaution), the bin should be pulled out about an inch, then gently pulled in and out, an inch or two, a few times. This settles the confetti and prevents it from spilling when the bin is fully removed from the shredder. Bags for the bin can be purchased (presumably much like vacuum cleaner bags), but emptying the bin into an ordinary 13-gallon garbage bag works perfectly well. After the bin has been removed from the shredder, the bag should be slid down around the bin all the way to the bottom (to prevent confetti from spilling). Then the bin, surrounded on five sides by the bag, should be turned upside down and slowly pulled up and out of the bag, with the top of the bag always being kept above the level of the confetti on all four sides. A vacuum cleaner easily cleans out remaining bits of confetti from both the bin and the shredder's cavity.
6. Jams We cleared some lesser jams by using the reverse button. When we had our one serious jam, we tried removing the bin, then looking up at the blades with a flashlight and inspection mirror, and removing all the bits of paper from them with long needle-nosed pliers. (It goes without saying that when doing this, one should first turn off the machine, and never put one's fingers anywhere near the blades.) This procedure did not work. What did work was simply pushing a credit card well down into top slot, repeatedly, from one end of the top slot to the other.
7. Lubrication We have no technical background or knowledge in this area, but common sense and ordinary experience tell us that a shredder's blades are constantly subjected to friction, and also that paper tends to absorb moisture from whatever it comes into contact with. Therefore, following a recommendation we found on another post, we lubricated the shredder's blades every time we shredded one binful of paper. (We purchased shredder lubricating oil for this purpose. It is true that an obscure web page of a manufacturer lists the sole ingredient of shredder lubricating oil as canola oil, and there are posts from people who do use canola oil to lubricate their shredders. However, if you are familiar with canola oil, and you open a bottle of shredder lubricating oil, you will immediately recognize that the two kinds of oil are very different from one another. You would never put shredder lubricating oil on your salad, and you might want to think twice before using canola oil to lubricate your shredder.) After shredding a binful of paper, we waited until we had shredded enough paper to cover the bottom of the bin, so it would not get lubricating oil on it. Then we folded a letter-size sheet of paper up like a letter, and ran a generous bead of lubricating oil along the inside of one of the creases. Then we then refolded the paper and fed it into the shredder. The shredder continues to work as well after 45 bins worth of shredding as it did when we got it.
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This Item  Royal 1840MX Cross Cut Paper Shredder |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | -17% $99.99 List: $119.99 | -6% $49.99 List: $53.11 | $254.79 | -39% $378.56 List: $619.99 | $137.49 |
| Delivery | — | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it May 15 - 17 | Get it May 15 - 16 | — |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Noise level | ||||||
| Safety Features | ||||||
| Maneuverability | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Bonsaii US | Highflyer214 | Shoplet | Amazon.com |
| capacity | 8.5 gallons | 6 gallons | 5.5 gallons | 25 liters | 44 liters | 5 gallons |
| sheet capacity | 18 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 150 | 120 |
| cut type | Cross Cut | Cross Cut | Cross Cut | Cross Cut | Cross Cut | Micro Cut |
| operation mode | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| weight | 38 pounds | 5.17 kilograms | 10.74 pounds | 33.96 pounds | 33.7 pounds | 24.25 pounds |
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GerrryM
Best shredder for the price. Professional quality!
Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2016Style: Model - 1840MXVerified Purchase
Amazon Customer
Awesome heavy duty shreader
Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2016Style: Model - 1840MXVerified Purchase
France Poulin
Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2016Style: Model - 1840MXVerified Purchase
Frank Scott
Just works and works and works
Reviewed in Canada on June 12, 2014Style: Model - 1840MXVerified Purchase
