rockets4kids
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- Feb 6, 2011
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So, I have been in a hobby knife quandry for a while now. I do a lot of crafting, and I use the ubiquitous hobby knife in many of them. Perhaps 20 years ago I purchased a 100-pack of #11 blades and have been gradually working through them. I have several handles, and I rotate blades through them. My favorite (the one that holds the blade best) gets the sharpest blade, and my older, more worn handles that don't hold the blade so well get the more worn, duller, blades with broken tips. But I was never really happy with the standard, classic X-Acto handle. In addition to never being able to secure the blade properly, it was just slightly too slim, and too short, and not quite heavy enough, and it didn't have anything to keep it from rolling across (and far too often off) of my crafting table.
Well, I finally went through all of my blades about a month ago, and picked up a five-pack from the local office supply store because I needed a fresh blade *now.* I was immediately shocked at the poor quality of new-stock X-Acto blades. I did some searching, found out that there are alternatives, and found one store that had most of the types I wanted to experiment with, as well as a good selection of handles, and also reasonable shipping.
So, I placed an order:
While waiting for my order, I learned how to sharpen my old blades. I learned how to sharpen even the worst back to almost-new condition. That may sound silly, but what I *really* learned was how to spend 15 seconds touching up a blade, so that I can maintain any blade in nearly-new condition for about the same amount of time it takes to put a new blade in. Most importantly, I can do this after every 5 minutes of heavy cutting without even thinking about it.
So my order came, and I was excited at the prospect of finding a good handle (the new blades were secondary at this point) and not a single one in the bunch was any better (overall) than the old standard X-Acto handle that I had been using -- and not terribly liking.
So, the gears in my head starting turning, and I designed this:
This is a 5/16" x 6" common hex bolt with 1" threads. I hacksawed the
threads off, and hacksawed a groove for the blade. The blade was
epoxy-ed in place, and a grip wrapped with some nylon cord. The hex
head was ground down for aesthetics, but retains the flats to keep it
from rolling off my bench. The handle was polished in my drill press.
Took about a half hour to design/make. The pic is my of first
prototype. I can probably make more in much less time. The
thickness, weight, length, heft, and balance are all *perfect*, at
least for my tastes. The blade is absolutely secure. The only thing
I would change is the use of black cordage for the grip wrap.
Total cost: 70 cents for the bolt, 20 cents for the blade, and a few
cents for the epoxy and cordage.
BEST HOBBY KNIFE EVAR!
;-)
Well, I finally went through all of my blades about a month ago, and picked up a five-pack from the local office supply store because I needed a fresh blade *now.* I was immediately shocked at the poor quality of new-stock X-Acto blades. I did some searching, found out that there are alternatives, and found one store that had most of the types I wanted to experiment with, as well as a good selection of handles, and also reasonable shipping.
So, I placed an order:
While waiting for my order, I learned how to sharpen my old blades. I learned how to sharpen even the worst back to almost-new condition. That may sound silly, but what I *really* learned was how to spend 15 seconds touching up a blade, so that I can maintain any blade in nearly-new condition for about the same amount of time it takes to put a new blade in. Most importantly, I can do this after every 5 minutes of heavy cutting without even thinking about it.
So my order came, and I was excited at the prospect of finding a good handle (the new blades were secondary at this point) and not a single one in the bunch was any better (overall) than the old standard X-Acto handle that I had been using -- and not terribly liking.
So, the gears in my head starting turning, and I designed this:
This is a 5/16" x 6" common hex bolt with 1" threads. I hacksawed the
threads off, and hacksawed a groove for the blade. The blade was
epoxy-ed in place, and a grip wrapped with some nylon cord. The hex
head was ground down for aesthetics, but retains the flats to keep it
from rolling off my bench. The handle was polished in my drill press.
Took about a half hour to design/make. The pic is my of first
prototype. I can probably make more in much less time. The
thickness, weight, length, heft, and balance are all *perfect*, at
least for my tastes. The blade is absolutely secure. The only thing
I would change is the use of black cordage for the grip wrap.
Total cost: 70 cents for the bolt, 20 cents for the blade, and a few
cents for the epoxy and cordage.
BEST HOBBY KNIFE EVAR!
;-)