Dahle 50464 Oil-Free Paper Shredder w/Jam Protection, SmartPower, German Engineered, 24 Sheet Max, Security Level P-4, 3-5 Users

The Dahle 50464 is the throughput model of Dahle's 30-gallon oil-free office line: 24 sheets per pass through a 12-inch throat, against 18 sheets and 10.25 inches on the otherwise identical 50414. You pay for that in noise - 52 dB rather than 46 - and in 24 pounds of extra machine. For an office that shreds in batches rather than a sheet at a time, and that regularly has to deal with paper wider than legal, it is the better-matched machine.

Key Features

• 12-inch feed opening. Wide enough for 11 x 17 tabloid fed flat, which the 10.25-inch models in this line cannot take without folding.
• 24 sheets per pass at 20 lb bond. The highest per-pass rating of any 30-gallon machine in Dahle's oil-free office range.
• P-4 cross-cut, 1/8" x 1 9/16". Meets the level most written destruction policies specify for personal data.
• Chain-driven, continuous-duty motor. Dahle specifies a chain drive rather than a belt on this model for slip-free power under sustained load.
• Trident Grip jam protection. Three continuous points of contact on the sheet, which is what makes a 24-sheet stack feed without skewing.
• Oil-free cutting head. No lubricant, no oiling routine, no oil in the waste bag.
• Two-year warranty with lifetime cutting cylinders. As published on Dahle's spec sheet for the model.

Specifications

Figures above are as published by Dahle for this model. Dahle quotes sheet capacity under ideal conditions - new cutting cylinders, a cold motor and a supply at nominal voltage and frequency. Dahle does not publish a motor wattage, amperage or duty-cycle figure for this shredder.

What's in the Box

Dahle does not publish a full packing list for this model. What ships is the assembled shredder on its waste-bin cabinet with lockable casters, the power cord and the instruction manual.

• Shred bags are not included. The 30 gallons bin takes Dahle shred bags item #20725, sold separately in boxes of 100.
• No oil, oiling sheets or lubricant of any kind are required or supplied - this cutting head runs dry by design.

Who Should Buy This - and Who Should Not

Choose the 50464 if the shredder is fed in batches - end-of-project file clear-outs, records retention purges, a shared machine that people visit with an armful rather than a page. The 12-inch throat also matters more often than buyers expect: engineering drawings, spreadsheets printed on tabloid and folded brochures all stop being a problem.

It is the wrong machine if the shredder sits three feet from someone's desk. At 52 dB and 119 pounds it is a corridor or copy-room machine, and the Dahle 50414 does the same P-4 job at 46 dB for a quieter room. If you need still more - a bigger bin rather than a wider throat - the Dahle 50514 gives you 26 sheets and 38 gallons, and the 50564 gives you a 16-inch throat and 45 gallons. If dust is the concern rather than volume, the CleanTEC line adds a fine-particulate filter that this model does not have.