Best Hobby Knife Evar!

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rockets4kids

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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:

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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:

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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!

;-)
 
I still have a blade in one of my handles that's been there since I began building balsa planes in the early 60's. Not much left, but it still will shave the hair off your arm!

My father showed my the blade sharpening trick back then! You want to really finish them off scary sharp? Use a leather razor strop & give them a few strokes after using a stone.


Nice little knife you have there!
 
I like that knife. I have many that are so cheaply made. I am going to lowes tonight.
 
A hard stone and a leather belt = a sharp blade. Something I learned in the Scouts that has served me well for 50 years.

Sent from my mobile phone.
 
It is somewhat odd that I never thought to sharpen my X-Acto blades before, because I thoroughly enjoy sharpening the rest of my knives. In fact, when I brought up the topic of locating quality new-stock blades (on a mailing list) and someone replied that I should sharpen the ones I already have, my first instinct was to laugh at the thought of sharpening a 20 cent disposable blade.

When I actually tried it, and realized how easy it was and how well it works, I was completely hooked. For the past week, I have had a stone and a strop on my bench and I love it! A wicked-sharp blade *all* the time is a wonderful thing! And now I have it in an equally wonderful handle!
 
Thanks for this post. In all these years it never occurred to me to sharpen x-acto blades. Great tip.
 
We have this discussion at least once a year I'm surprised Gus you've never seen or thought about Sharpening or Keeping your X-acto (and all blades) razor sharp all the time.

How it blade is sharpened depends on what this use will be. While ALL my cutting tools, chisels, knifes, Axes will shave they all have different edge and angle requirements.

For #11 & #2 X-acto long pointed razor sharp blade most use a 20° angle on both sides. some (Myself included) have found a slightly flater 15° angle give a sharper cutting edge but it dulls a bit faster so I have made it a habbit to give may knife about 20 strokes on both sides every time I pick it up. it's easy once you make or buy a strop and a chunk of white jewelers rouge.

Here are a few I've made and use regularly. any old scrap leather,belt or shoe (flesh side UP) can be used as a strop.
Hope this helps.

Sharpening Strops-a-sm_5 dif strops & cake rouge_10-26-06.jpg

Buds Strop-a_.5 x 3in Red Oak & Leather Guard_10-20-09.JPG

Buds Strop-e1_3pic .5x3x18 RedOak & Leather pg_10-20-09.JPG
 
As far as new blades go I found the Testor's #11 blades to be by far the sharpest blade you can get. I use a stainless steel straight edge on fins and most of the time it's 1 pass to cut out fins, even across the grain. I had some #11 scalpels, don't use them anymore, the Testor's blades were much sharper( as tested against personal skin:eyepop:)
 
Any special technique for sharpening an x-acto blade?

Yes. There are several techniques for sharpening an X-acto. Fortunately, the carbon steel is *remarkably* easy to sharpen. If you have struggled over getting a good edge on stainless, it is nothing at all like that. I have learned a *lot* in the past week and I'll be trying to document it in better detail at some point. But I'll give you a few tips to go on.

The first tip, and possibly most important, deals with the tip! The nice feathered tip that is so sharp when new and wears down (or worse, snaps) far too quickly. The way to get that back is to sand down the *back* of the blade at a shallow angle to regain the feathered tip. I used a cheap, rough (hand) grinding stone to re-claim by thoroughly abused blades. Maintenance is done with 150 - 320 grit emery paper.

I have been using the "scary sharp" method of sharpening which involves using high-quality auto finishing sandpaper. Google it for details. I had never heard of it as of a week ago. I went through 320, 600, 1500 grit in my reclaiming process. The final edge comes with a strop. Once you have a good strop, you can give your blade an amazing amount of abuse and then 20 seconds on the strop will make it -- and I mean this -- *better* than new.

The re-ground edge angles are going to be less than the factory edges, so they will stay sharper longer. And the not-quite-so-feathered tip is going to be better supported, so it is not likely to snap any more.

In other news, I have discovered the art of knife making, and that I *really* enjoy it. I now have nearly a dozen custom knives, any and all of which will likely outlive me.
 
I keep my Buck Arkansas Stones and oil on the workbench so they'll be handy.

My method uses these two Arkansas Stones and a can of Norton's Sharpening Oil. Wet the coarse stone with oil and "slice off" a thin slice of the stone. I do about 10 slices in each direction. Wipe the blade clean with a paper towel.

Next up is the smaller Hard Arkansas Stone. Same drill. Oil the stone, "slice off" about 10 slices in each direction.

Be careful not to cross contaminate the two stones with oil from the other. Well, the Hard Arkansas Stone is the one to protect.

In the interest of preserving your Arkansas Stones, don't use water on them or use them dry. The oil is to carry away the slurry and prevent it from filling the grain of the stones.

A strop can be used to straighten the edge or remove the "burr" but for what we do, it's a bit of overkill. I do strop my other knives, tho.

As others have already observed, even brand new blades aren't all that sharp right out of the box. I still have the original blades that came with my Uber Skiver back in the 1970's and they're still razor sharp.
 
There is a Tandy Leather Factory in East Hartford, CT, so I picked up some 1-1/2" wide leather strap out of the remnant box--at $20/lb it only cost me $2. Nothing for gas--I had to be there anyway for a dentist appointment. Made two strops last night--with enough leather to make one or two more.:D
 
So for a total leather noob like me, which side is the flesh side, the smooth or the fuzzy?

The smooth side is the side where hair use to be, the flesh side is the fuzzy side, covering all that beefy deliciousness.
 
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my fiskars cadillac knife, first hobby knife i luv.

I got one of these in my recent order of commercial handles and I agree. Had I not gone a step further to make my own handles, this is the one I would be using. At $3.79 it is an exceptional deal and highly recommended.

The Fiskars "Ergonomic" handle is not nearly so good. In fact, it is the one I dislike the most. It does not hold the blade securely, and the core actually rotates to set an angle with respect to the triangular handle. Getting it to what you think you want is a pain, and then it isn't.
 
A strop can be used to straighten the edge or remove the "burr" but for what we do, it's a bit of overkill. I do strop my other knives, tho.

I am not entirely sure about this. I am still very much a novice when it comes to sharpening razor blades, and this is the first time that I have really used the strop in my knife sharpening. Much of what have read with regards to this type of sharpening comes from the straight razor shaving forums. While a bare leather or linnen strop (that is, without any abrasive compound) is generally used for de-burring after sharpening on a stone, the use of a strop with an abrasive can be used for regular touch-up work. In fact, I believe it is preferable to use the strop in this way for as long as it will quickly produce a good edge. The strop removes far less material from the blade than a stone thus prolonging the overall life of the blade. Only take the blade back to the stone when necessary.

My recent experience seems to support this. Once I put a good edge on the blades with my "stone" I found that I can just use the strop to maintain it. I do a *lot* of cutting of corrugated cardboard and cereal-box cardboard which really does a number of the edge. Quick use of the abrasive-impregnated strop really does wonders restoring a blade dulled in this manner.
 
So for a total leather noob like me, which side is the flesh side, the smooth or the fuzzy?

Peachtree:
Fuzzy is the flesh side, Smooth side is what used to be the "Hair" coated side.

Rocketsforkids:
I have several knifes that have never been on a sharpening stone since the factory edge was put on them at the factory... Like all knifes and blades when they come from the factory (Including X-acto or whoevers hobby knife blade) they ALL have a simple factory edge which means they have a wire edge..tiny edge wires of metal jusst barely attached. these make the edge "seem" shape when in fact is it not.

The very first thing I do when replacing a broken hobby knife blade is to strop it to razor sharpness removing this "wire edge".

Changing the factory set sharpened angle is another story. If you want really super razor sharpness you'll need to sharpen the blade like a razor. that is 0° on one side and 15 to 20 ° on the other. The process can take awhile stropping or can be done a bit faster on a good arkansas stone then stropped. Sharpening on a stone we push the blade as if cutting a very thin slice off the stone, where Stropping is done in reverse Pulling the blade backwards at our set angle across the rouge coated leather strop.
 
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Like all knifes and blades when they come from the factory (Including X-acto or whoevers hobby knife blade) they ALL have a simple factory edge which means they have a wire edge..tiny edge wires of metal jusst barely attached. these make the edge "seem" shape when in fact is it not.

The very first thing I do when replacing a broken hobby knife blade is to strop it to razor sharpness removing this "wire edge".

Now that I know what a sharp hobby blade is *supposed* be, I agree entirely. I used to think that a fresh hobby blade was sharp, but that is no longer the case!

Changing the factory set sharpened angle is another story. If you want really super razor sharpness you'll need to sharpen the blade like a razor. that is 0° on one side and 15 to 20 ° on the other.

I am actually grinding a slightly steeper angle on my blades. All of the old X-Acto blades that I had been saving had just a single grind on the edge (as opposed to the double-grind on the Excel blades recently purchased) and when I re-sharpened them I added that second bevel. The bevel is not "hard" as with a new blade, partly because I am not skilled enough yet to maintain the consistent angle required, but mostly the chrome-green strop is agressive enough to round-over any hard edges.

In any case, what I am finding is that even though my tips are not quite as feathered and the edge angle is more steep, they cut better and edge lasts much longer than a factory grind.
 
I'm not sure you are going to find a strop, but that's not a problem because just about any type of leather will probably work. If you have an old leather belt, that will probably work just fine. I'm using some scraps I picked up for a buck a piece at the local craft store. The secret, I am finding, is how you work it in.

As to the polishing compound, I have been told that any type of chrome or metal polish will work, or even whitening/polishing toothpaste. If you have anything like this around, just give it a shot to see if it works. If you are going to purchase something, I believe a bar of "chrome green" is going to be about the best you can find. At the high end, you can get a fine grade of chrome green powder, mix it with alcohol, and spray it onto a hard wool-felt pad. That seems to be what the true knife fetishists use.
 
What stores would sell a strop and the rouge to put on it? I live in Indy so I have access to the usual retinue of chain stores.

As previously posted you'll be hard pressed to find a ready made strop unless possibly from a barbar supply but even there they would be raw reinforced leather that would need to be "seasoned" using jewelers rouge.
Liquid rouge are not recommended as they tend to soak the leather which can sour it, break down the fibres and/or mold.

Most of the Leather suppliers sell 1/8lb round cakes or 1/4lb cakes for just a couple bucks that will last a very long time.

As mentioned in an earlier post any old leather piece will do for a strop as long as it's about 1-1/2" to 3" wide and as long as you want to make your strop. in the earlier photo I showed 5 or 6 different size strops I use on a regular basis.
the leather does not have to be backed with wood. Stiff plastic or other backing material can be used as long as it well give the user a solid unbending surface to help control and maintain the blade drawing angle.
I mounted a 10oz leather scrap to the top of one of my plastic Xacto knife kit storage boxes so I can strop the blade after selecting the knife for the job from the set. The important thing is to have a strop handy where ever you are going to be using a cutting tool.
 
There seems to be quite a bit of technique when it comes to seasoning and maintaining your strop. For example, the bar of polishing compound I have is simply far too hard and waxy to work into the leather. I had read that the heat from the friction of a buffing wheel is used to soften the wax in the bar, so I decided to simulate that by putting my piece of leather in the toaster oven set at 275 degrees for a few minutes. When I do this, the compound melts nicely against the leather and covers it evenly. This is then worked into the leather and repeated one or more times.

I have found that using the strop conditions it. The more you use it, the better it gets. I thought that both the leather and the bar of polishing compound I got were worthless until I used the piece of leather from the first strop attempt to polish the bolt (spun in my drill press) and realized that this worked the compound into the leather. My first amazement at what the strop can to do to an X-acto blade was when I took a blade to this piece of leather.

Knowing roughly what do do, I worked on ways to intentionally condition a few more strops. Some were glued to tempered glass plate, and others were just kept loose. I discovered that when the leather is glued firmly in place, the polishing compound forms a hard, smooth surface. This can do absolute wonders for the edge, but with use the grinding particles must be refreshed. I have found that by placing this back in the toaster oven and then when warm, buffing it with a piece of new, rough leather. This brings fresh grinding material back to the surface. When a bare piece of leather is used, the stretching action while stropping combined with flexing seems to prevent the surface hardening. Curling the leather into a "U" shape and rubbing the surface against itself can be used to refresh the surface of this type of strop.

There is definitely a bit of art to this, and you are going to have to experiment based upon the materials you find to work with. Keep a stack of scrap paper handy and test the edge after different stropping techniques. You will quickly learn what makes your blade sharper and what doesn't. When you can shave hair thin strips from the edge of a sheet of paper you know you have arrived.

I have it to the point where a factory-fresh blade is indeed absolutely horrid. It takes me only slightly longer to recover one of my "beater blades" than it does to properly prepare a factory blade. That now includes polishing the entire blade flat to a mirror finish. (This is a good way to work in your strop, BTW, if you don't have a buffing wheel.)
 
Well, you see, what I have realized, as have others have reported in this thread, is that one x-acto blade can potentially last a lifetime, or at least many years of heavy modeling. I am on a mission, now, to build the one knife that I will be using for the remainder of my life. I have other plans for all those that I make along the way...
 
It would be awesome, in this day of YouTube, if some would make a video summarizing the tools and techniques needed to go from a total newbie not having any leather, to using your freshly minted strop to sharpening your first, and maybe last evuh blade.
 
Strops and stropping compounds can be bought on ebay.
 
It would be awesome, in this day of YouTube, if some would make a video summarizing the tools and techniques needed to go from a total newbie not having any leather, to using your freshly minted strop to sharpening your first, and maybe last evuh blade.

I will be putting together a video tutorial of how I make these knives, which includes how to make the sharpening stones and strops. It will be coming to a You-Tube near you shortly.

This will be the first chapter in my project "Rockets for Kids" which is essentiality a tutorial on how to make rockets from scratch. And when I say scratch, I mean *really* from scratch. First Principles. We go all the way back to one of the most basic tools: The knife. Learn how to make one, use one, and care for one. And most importantly, learn how to do it safely. From these humble beginnings come rockets, our vehicles to journey to the stars!
 
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