How does your knife cut shrink wrap?

I have never noticed a problem cutting the wide visqueen or pallet wrap my knives always slipp right through it .I have to free the windows and doors we install every day.
 
Ankerson said:
That commercial shrink wrap they use on pallets will dull a knife very fast.

I know because I have personally cut it off thousands of pallets over the years.
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Yup. That's why I was asking. Doing 1 pallet is no problem, but when you have to do a few 40' container loads full day in day out it's a different story.
 
I don't know how my knife would cut that.... I usually poke holes with my fingers and rip !! :D:D
 
sherlockbonez said:
How many pallets did you do?
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I only cut a couple feet of multiple layers of the stuff. And it had no problem cutting it. He didn't ask how a blade's sharpness held up when cutting a lot of it, but how well it cut any of it. I was just reporting that mine cut it without problem.
 
Yeah, I don't have to cut a lot of it. Just for wrapping food up around the house.

Blade I tried was my Izula at 40 inclusive. Maybe I'll try my Kulgera, Case Trapper and Needs Work ( all at 30 ) to see how they do.

Also I never realized the stuff they wrapped windows and crates with was the same stuff. I always saw it on TV and thought, "That looks like a big spool of saran wrap," but never knew it actually was.

Like you guys said though, inserting the point in first makes it cut a lot easier. I had been just trying to slice through with the belly on my Izzy, but it would just slide or make the material stretch. A little bit of a stab first and it cut well enough... Though +1 on what sherlockbonez was saying about the choils being annoying.

I bet my Case Trapper will do the best. It has a 750 grit diamond finished edge and the blades are choil-less and very thin.
 
Ankerson said:
That commercial shrink wrap they use on pallets will dull a knife very fast.

I know because I have personally cut it off thousands of pallets over the years.
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Yep, I've cut it off of pallets for 34 years working in a food store. Cardboard and shrink wrap are two items that will test an edge.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
Yep, I've cut it off of pallets for 34 years working in a food store. Cardboard and shrink wrap are two items that will test an edge.
Scott
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Yeah, I know what you mean, it was about 20 years for me, more than long enough. :eek:

Cardboard can tear an edge up pretty fast usually depending on the steel and how thick the cardboard is. Some cardboard is really agressive, more so that others.
 
i always wanted to start a thread on this , thought i was crazy, i guess not. ive had mixed performance cutting shrink wrap that was used holding pallets of boxes together. sometimes it seemed like the shrink wrap grips the metal of the blade,preventing it from being cut smoothly.if the wrap isnt real tight,its harder to cut.ive used kershaw,mcusta,benchmade,customs,& a few other brands,super sharp, all with different results.its a strange & unusual material to cut,unlike almost anything else.maybe also because its not solid,& your cutting a film that is suspended & not consistant as far as a flat piece of cardboard or plastic packing strap that is the same density from start to finish.:confused:
 
I cut it pretty easily. Point high, handle down. This puts tension on the wrap as you pull down. That way I didn't have to use two hands. A thin blade helped if the wrap wasn't tight.
 
Ankerson said:
Yeah, I know what you mean, it was about 20 years for me, more than long enough. :eek:

Cardboard can tear an edge up pretty fast usually depending on the steel and how thick the cardboard is. Some cardboard is really agressive, more so that others.
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Now there is a variable that I never considered. It kind of puts a new spin on cardboard cutting tests. Unless one tests with the same box, avoiding the extra gritty bottom part, you can never really be sure that the next box will contain the same degree of impurities.
 
A.P.F. said:
Now there is a variable that I never considered. It kind of puts a new spin on cardboard cutting tests. Unless one tests with the same box, avoiding the extra gritty bottom part, you can never really be sure that the next box will contain the same degree of impurities.
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A lot of cardboard now has a certain percentage of recycled cardboard in it so there is no telling what kind of dirt and contamination is in it from the used cardboard. Plus even brand new cardboard comes from trees that can have varying amounts of sand and silicates that actually grows into the wood.

It makes 'tests' using cardboard not very useful as lots of contaminants can make a great steel look bad, or few contaminants make a mediocre steel look good. Testing can be quite complicated because of all the different variables so a good test will be quite long and in depth.
 
A.P.F. said:
Now there is a variable that I never considered. It kind of puts a new spin on cardboard cutting tests. Unless one tests with the same box, avoiding the extra gritty bottom part, you can never really be sure that the next box will contain the same degree of impurities.
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A.P.F. there are also different densities of cardboard. Try slicing up a liquid detergent box one time with your knife or a Kelloggs cereal box. Talk about heavy dense cardboard. I've cut up more cardboard in the last 34 years then I care to remember. My main tool has been a Garvey box cutter but I've tested a multitude of knives at work also. Different steel and edge geometries.
Scott
 
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