Above is a picture of a sales ad for a Thorp Rotary Card Cutter.  This came out of the Franklin Type Foundry specimen book from 1889, page 9.  They were based out of Cincinnati, Ohio and sold many letterpress related items.  This one was found in a rough building in Browntown, Wis.  Covered in years of dust and coon crap.  It does need some attention even after cleaning.  In the picture just below you can see on the far left the upper rail has been broken off years ago.  Also at the end there is suppose to be a pin sticking out, it's broken/missing.  The pin is there to wrap a wire around and travels to a pin at the other end of the rail.  The wire travels through the back side of the cutter assembly and around some pulleys.  The pulleys align the wire to run around part of the rotary knife.  This then forces the rotary knife to spin as it's cutting, helping make for a cleaner cut that doesn't tear.  All of this is repairable....and once restored will look very sharp!!!!