Favorite cardboard knife & questions

I have a box cutter...
I hate it, it's dull, and it's been in my toolbox for the last 13 years, completely unused.
This thread has reminded me that I hate it, so I'm going to throw it out today. :thumbup:
(box cutters...pah!)

I just use whatever knife is closest to me at the time; anything else is just playing. ;)
 
I sheepfooted up an Opinel #7 for a box knife. The flat ground blade slices through cardboard with ease and takes a second and a half to hone the edge back when it starts to drag. Plus I don't have to walk around with a box cutter sticking out of my pocket.

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My Spyderco Sage was always the best cutter for me when I was breaking down cardboard. I would typically use a simple box cutter, but if I was using a pocket knife, this one was always the best. Nice full flat grind with a fairly thin blade.
 
I have a Benchmade with M2 steel that has been my go-to box knife for the past decade, or so. It's a black Teflon coated blade, so that helps reduce the friction. The M2 holds an edge longer than any other knife I have, so it's been my favorite utility knife for a long time. I've even used it to cut fiber-glass insulation, and trim rough cuts on 2x4s. Not much it won't do. Plus, I've convexed the edge, and reduced the over-all edge profile to much thinner, so it's a laser. BM 730CFHS. The one knife I would cry over, if I lost it.
 
I have an abused Mora that I used to learn sharpening on. I will use it, then sharpen it back when it gets dull. No biggie. It always needs resharpening only after I'm done going through quite a few huge boxes of thick cardboard. I am not obsessed to keep a knife shaving-sharp (it starts that way), when a working toothy edge does all the nasty things I need to, when it comes to dirt-contaminated cardboard.

It is a cheap but decent tool that I can also use as a benchmark. When my edge stays sharp as long as the factory one, it is a sign that I am doing a decent job.

Box cutters are no fun and, really, for a sharpening noob, having that smug face *while taking out the bag containing the freshly-slain pile of cardboard with the knife that you put a 600-grit edge on* is very satisfying.

The day I'll become less enthusiastic about touching-up simple carbon steel, I'll switch to a modern onel. As it stands, for now, sharpening a Mora after reprofiling a Tramontina with a jig seems like a walk in the park.

My wife was laughing, as reading the OP's post out loud she felt I was describing myself.
 
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I don't cut boxes all day, if I did, it would definitely be a box cutter. Right now, when I have to, probably S90V Hoback A10, or my Mac Wasil K390 knife. Both have really nice thin grinds, especially my K390, love that thing!
 
Hands down my Stanley 10-499 all the way 👍( when I'm not anticipating cutting a bunch of boxes, or don't have many to cut I just use what's on me )
 
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I just threw my X-ACTO brand box cutter in the garbage, and already life is better. :)
The birds are singing, the sun is shining...and that hideous piece of crap no longer takes up space in my toolbox. :thumbup:

(Man I hate box cutters...)
 
Yeah boxcutters are no fun. And if I cut boxes all day I'd look for another job.
 
Sosa said:
Yeah boxcutters are no fun. And if I cut boxes all day I'd look for another job.
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I used that horrible thing when I worked stock at a clothing store...and I did find a different job. :D
I also switched to using a regular knife while working there, because I hated that damned thing so much.
 
Good. I only cut carboard when I want. Here's what I've been carrying at work for awhile
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Full Flat - you are a strange man. That said, I also answered yes... :D
These are my two box cutters. I do like "fixed" blades better for cutting cardboard - especially consider I bought a rather expensive dedicated cardboard cutter. The Darrin Sanders is a joy to cut with, in 10v.

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full flat grind said:
Who loves cutting cardboard? I do! :D

With that in mind, how would you answer the following questions?

1) What is your favorite knife for breaking down boxes? Right now mine is a toss-up between the Spyderco Domino for light boxes and Cold Steel American Lawman in CTS-XHP for heavy-duty ones. I find it a fun and useful edge-testing method. Did I mention it was fun?

2) Do you secretly look forward to shopping at Costco so you can cut their take-home boxes into little pieces for the recycling bin? I do! Since they only give you one, though, I usually get another one to help carry all that consumer goodness and of course murder it once I get it home.

3) If you answered "yes" to 2) above, have you confessed your box-carving pleasure to your wife / significant other? I have! She doesn't mind, really. Must be the right one, eh?

4) And finally, on recycling day, do you smugly look at your neighbors' overflowing bins of poorly-crushed boxes (so sloppy!) while wheeling out yours which is of course only partially full of neatly-sliced pieces of material? I do! Heh heh. Poor bastards. If they only knew there was a better way ... :D

Thanks for participating and please share any relevant thoughts you might have.

Peace.
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A funny post by a self-professed cardboard-cutting-o-holic:D

Im pretty sure, that there is a support group for that:)

I dont especially seek out cardboard to bring home and slice, but when I get a package, it gets the treatment.

I cut down one of my Opinel #12s with a Dremel.

Its a slicing machine!!

The thin carbon blade gets scary sharp on my Fällkniven stone with only minimal work and keeps the edge for a good long while.

As others have mentioned, for cardboard cutting/slicing, thin is where its at.

I heartedly recommend getting a cheapo Opi and going to town.

It doeosnt have to be expensive to the fun!





 
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Ankerson said:
Well for a production blade the Spyderco K2 is at the top of the list as a cardboard knife. :thumbup:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1222344-Spyderco-FArid-K2-Full-Review-and-testing
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Wow! Anyone who hasn't read Ankerson's review on the Spyderco K2 owes it to themselves to check it out.

Here's an excerpt (emphasis mine): "I sliced 5,500 ft of cardboard, that's 1833 Yards or slightly over a mile of cardboard, there was zero edge damage after the cardboard and the knife would still slice Phone book paper after this stage."

Holy crap! I think it's safe to say that K2 met cardboard, and K2 won. :D

I just might have to get me one of those. Thanks for the tip!
 
foofie said:
Full Flat - you are a strange man.
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I'll take that as a compliment ;)

foofie said:
That said, I also answered yes... :D
These are my two box cutters. I do like "fixed" blades better for cutting cardboard - especially consider I bought a rather expensive dedicated cardboard cutter. The Darrin Sanders is a joy to cut with, in 10v.
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Man, that Darrin Sanders looks cool. Did you purchase it through the forum?

Based on Ankerson's tests of 10v, I'm thinking I'd like to get a dedicated cardboard-cutting knife in that steel. I mean, over a mile of cardboard? Wow.
 
full flat grind said:
I'll take that as a compliment ;)



Man, that Darrin Sanders looks cool. Did you purchase it through the forum?

Based on Ankerson's tests of 10v, I'm thinking I'd like to get a dedicated cardboard-cutting knife in that steel. I mean, over a mile of cardboard? Wow.
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I actually made that one for myself but decided to post it to see of it would sell and as you can see, it did. I made it with opening cardboard boxes in mind. I'm right handed so I did a left hand chisel grind so that the flat would be on the bottom and the bevel would be facing upward when opening a box right handed. This grind helps keep the blade level when following the edge of a box. A lefty would need the bevel on the other side. I also put that little upward angle on the edge so that the blade would slice into the cardboard at a steeper angle without having to intentionally angle by hand. I hope all that makes sense. I open a lot of boxes so I put a bit of thought into it. The Sheepfoot tip with a straight edge should also handle other cutting tasks as well. Again, the angle will allow for plenty of knuckle clearance when cutting onto or into a flat surface.
I have a few of these blades already heat treated and ready to finish. Some are slightly different. If you're interested let me know and I'll email you a pic of the blades and you can pick out the one you like best. You can also specify handle material, sheath, etc.. Feel free to email or call using the contact info in my sigline below.
 
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