SuperKnife and pricing.....

U

UnknownVT

Joined
Feb 15, 2003
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Someone gave some really great advice in suggesting a SuperKnife for cutting newsprint.... this is just a repeat in a new thread

The SuperKnife - with its reversible and disposable blades - one can almost always guarantee a sharp blade. Cutting paper, cardboard and other common material will dull a sharp blade quickly - rather than sharpening it while working it's probably much better, quicker and more convenient to reverse the blade, or replace it on the spot.



The SuperKnife is such a great design - accepting any standard box-cutter blades easily available from any hardware store - so one can always have spare replacement blades on hand.

In fact I can't think why everyone doesn't have one of these (I didn't, and I immediately ordered 2 :D :o )-

Pricing - surprisingly AG Russell have these at an incredibly LOW price compared to anything I could find using froogle.com - and has blue and red anodized aluminum handles as well as the standard black....

AG Russell's page on the SuperKnife (@ $9.95!)

There is also a mini-SuperKnife which is real cute looking - BUT only accepts special small blades - but AG sells these for only $6.95....

AG Russell's overview page on the SuperKnife

--
Vincent

http://UnknownVT2006.cjb.net/
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Wow the price has really come down. My first superknife cost $24. I bought one at a gun show a couple of months ago for $13. I agree they are great to have. I carry one daily. BTW I prefer the superknife blades as they are thicker. I hone them :D I have ordered stuff from this site www.superknife.com. They seem pretty good.
 
I have a superknife AND a husky box cutter. I think the husky one is better: lockback style instead of liner lock, beefy blade holder, thicker body. The only drawback for me is screwless blade replacement but what the heck.
 
The superknife is a pretty good tool. I don't carry mine as an EDC but it does rarely get some time. I'm not sure why the price dropped so rapidly. Maybe to deal with all of the copies around.
Matt
 
The other older models of the SuperKnife have gone down in price because there is a new model:

SK2 - Roundel

The SK2 is the next generation of the SuperKnife. With a blade holder that incorporates the new, patented, blade changing that requires NO TOOL.

A quick twist of the roundel and the blade can be removed and replaced in a matter of seconds.

The handle is slightly longer - about 4 inches, for larger hands. The SK2 features a lanyard hole at the bottom of the handle and has a brand new clip style, designed to keep your SK2 SuperKnife deeper in your pocket, or lower on your belt.

Accepts all Original Blades, Hook Blades and the new Scraper Blades.

$25.00

Here's a pic:

http://www.superknife.com/
 
The Husky version is much better. No tools needed to change the blade, just a careful flick of the thumb. Also, are you going to trust a linerlock on a $10 knife? Not me. I'll go with the lockback thank you very much.

I use a Husky with Stanley brand blades. Seems to work the best for me.

I don't EDC it but I use it at home all the time. I have another one I keep in my toolbox.
 
Somone post a link to the Husky one please.

I know meyerco has a design out aswell.

I think i have a clone version of a lockback.
 
DeadManWalking said:
Looks very very similar. Quite possibly a rebadged Husky or is a Husky rebadged from the Sheffield... arrrrrgh...
Here's the Husky version. Notice the price tag.
http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDU...ID=ccehadcllgfjeedcgelceffdfgidgnl.0&MID=9876
As far as I'm concerned it's the best one of its kind.
Click to expand...

HomeDepot.com does something that doesn't seem to link to the item - at least it doesn't for me -
it appears as though linking to the item's Printable Page works.

165257_3.jpg


Model 211113C

Use the model # in the search box in the top righthand corner on the HomeDepot.com home page.


It was mentioned earlier:
DeadManWalking said:
The Husky version is much better. Also, are you going to trust a linerlock on a $10 knife? Not me. I'll go with the lockback thank you very much.
Click to expand...

May I ask what is the issue with linerlocks vs. lockbacks?

The linerlock and more to the point the SuperKnife have both been around long enough that any major safety issues should/would have been talked about?

In use the locks (either one) would seem to be to have to do relatively "light" duty - since a utility blade probably would snap/break before any lock failure?

The issue I could see is that some linerlocks sometimes may not stay closed as securely as a lockback.

I'd be grateful if you could please point out the problems?

Thanks.

--
Vincent

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Gladly.

Most of it is probably my own paranoia but here's my reasoning:

In the knife world, there is a large camp of people who just don't like linerlocks. All locks can fail and a cheaply made lock fails more easily. Being a linerlock it can fail even more easily. A cheap liner lock is the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

Simply put a cheap liner lock is not something I am excited about. I do have one of the original Superknives with a liner lock and I see a lot of play in it.

I'm not exactly excited for a cheap lockback either but the fact remains it takes a lot less effort to make an effective rocker bar lockback than it does to make an effective liner lock.

For the record I own linerlocks and don't rule them out simply because they are liner locks. It just all depends. The liner lock on a Buck 880 is assuredly safe. The liner lock on a Spyderco Military is fine too. Most custom liner locks are also assuredly reliable. There are even some cheaper knives like some Cold Steel offerings that have reliable liner locks that I trust. These are people who know how to make a quality liner lock. But a liner lock on a $10 utility knife when a lockback version exists? No thank you.

That is my personal preference born of my own paranoia and experience I suppose but I think a lot of people would echo my sentiments in this instance.

Then again I count on my utility knife to do some pretty ugly things so maybe if my expectations of what to use the knife for were lower the linerlock would be adequate.
 
My 2 SuperKnives finally arrived from AG Russell -

Overall I'm pretty pleased with them... especially for the price I paid - $9.95 each plus $5.95 shipping.
SuperK3.jpg


The liner-lock is pretty good - the lock up is fine:
SuperKBlueLck2.jpg


The entire liner is engaged with a bit to spare - albeit only toward the beginning of the equivalent of the "blade tang".

There is variation between the two I got - the blue one has a bit of "up-down" play in-line with the blade - it's not enough to bother me. I wriggled the blade and tried to make the liner-lock fail, and did a spine-whack test - but it doesn't fail.

The red one has quite definite "click" for its ball-bearing dedent. The blue one start with hardly any feel - and can be shaken open - but by tightening the pivot bolt with the provided tool - the ball-bearing still can't be felt on closing but definitely can be felt on opening. The blue one now cannot be shaken open easily - requiring a substantial snap for the blade to open - about the same as the red one. The blue one is perhaps just on the side of being a little stiff - but I prefer this trade-off against being able to shake it open too easily.

If I were more fussy I might return the blue one - but as of now, adjusted, it seems OK to me for the usage I would put it through. The red is/was definitely better in this aspect.

Like any liner-lock with a large easy to access cutout there is obviously the possibility of danger of accidental disengagement of the lock. While photographing the knife I touched and moved the lock on more than one occassion - obviously without any detrimental effect as I was only picking it up and moving it around. But I will have to always be conscious of this aspect.

The knife is a bit more hefty - thicker than I expected - seems pretty heavy duty - which appears confidence inspiring -
SuperKthick3.jpg


There are no spare blades (which would have been nice, and not very costly to include) and requiring a tool to change the blades albeit an ordinary allen hex key can still be a pain if I did a lot of blade changing. There is a spare allen screw for holding the blade - I can see that item being easily lost in a field change.

So the tool-less change version (SK2) or those Husky, Craftsman lockback knives may well be superior in this aspect.


Overall I am pleased -
yes, I wish the blue one was as good as the red one -
but hey, such slight variation for a $10 knife seems just about acceptable to me........

--
Vincent

http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
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Now that I've had more time with the two samples - I have found distinct material differences between the two.

It seems (from feedback) the Red one may be the older version -
see these two (for direct) comparison photos:
SupKRedLck.jpg
SupKRedThick.jpg


Note the liner-lock is different - on the blue the liner is a full piece on one side of the scale - whereas the red has a liner that's more embedded in the handles so it does not show on the photo of the back/spine.

As far as action is concerned I have already noted the difference. The Red is mechanically a lot better than the Blue - overall the red's feel is more solid and positive.

As already described the Red had a very positive ball-bearing dedent - definite click close. So the Red is held closed by both friction as well as the ball-bearing dedent.

In fact I would go as far as to say that the Red rivals some of my better liner-locks. Whereas the Blue does NOT.

In fact I have found a problem with the Blue and had to return it:
SupKLckFault2.jpg

It does not do it all the time - but very occassionally it will not lock-up.

Because I have figured out why it was doing this (very occassionally) so I can make it repeat - but in real-life it is less likely to occur.

I don't think this is a common or inherent fault -
I've put it down to simple sample variation.

--
Vincent

http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
 
Sears have the Craftsman version (of the Husky) Folding lock-back Utility Knife on sale for $6.99 (until July/21)
00994848000-dlv.jpg


I phoned ahead to check stock at my local Sears (Atlanta, GA) - they had 4 - in red, blue and black....
and it is on sale for $6.99

The red was similar to the pale almost tending to pink red anodization of my "good" SuperKnife - the checkering makes it looks a bit darker. The anodized black was sort of translucent with a shade of blue-green when the light is held right.

Compared to the red SuperKnife -
CraftsMSupK.jpg


Craftsman is a tool-less blade change - quite a clever method -
CraftsMBldChg.jpg


BUT the problem with this is the blade can be jiggled in the holder - since there has to be some tolerance for fitting - the movement is mostly up-down in line with the blade, but there is some side-to-side - I think the blade supplied is thinner than the one on the SuperKnife (which may be "contractor" grade) so the Craftsman might (I'm not sure) be able to take the thicker blades, in which case this may minimize any blade movement in the holder - but this is just my guess - if the thicker blades will fit at all.

The Superknife blade holder is solid with absolutely no play what-so-ever.

Closed - the knives are about the same length -
CraftsMSupKCls2.jpg

BUT - the Craftsman's blade protudes a lot more than the SuperKnife, making the Craftsman much wider closed.

Although the knives are comparable in thickness -
with the Superknife seeming a bit thicker -
CraftsMSupKBck2.jpg


A complaint I have heard about the Craftsman (and Husky) is the thumb-stud -
it protrudes quite a bit beyond the scales - so the likelihood of it catching on something is quite high - not only that the tab for the blade change release also sticks out. If one tries to open the knife two-handed - (especially since one-handed opening may well be difficult for some see below) - one may well accidentally pull against the blade release tab - which opens the blade holder.....

The Craftsman feels quite bit heavier - due to its substantial - oversized backspring -
I don't think this is over-engineering - it's just to accomodate the thick blade holder.

As a consequence of this - the thumb-stud needs quite a hefty push to open the Craftsman one-handed.
It is NOT easy on my sample - this is not only due to the hefty backspring - but also a fairly sharp corner/transition from the rounded tang - in fact there appears to actually be a lip/discontinuity that makes overcoming the initial force difficult.
CraftsMSupLcks.jpg


Look carefully at the tang end of the Craftsman one can see this "lip" - why is it there? Because it really makes opening the knife quite difficult.

Overall I much prefer the SuperKnife - at least this one (red) sample - its action and lock have a lot better feel than the Craftsman. Even though the SuperKnife requires a tool (simple hex key) to change blades this is a much more preferable trade-off for the solid no play blade-holder, in comparison to the the looser blade in the Craftsman.

--
Vincent

http://UnknownVincent.cjb.net/
http://UnknownVT.cjb.net/
 
If it helps, the Husky version that I have has essentially the same "tool-less" blade change as the Craftsman.

It also came with some no-name blades which I don't use. I use Stanley brand which are seemingly thicker than the generic brand blades. They fill the holder perfectly. There is a tiny amount of play but to my eyes and hands it's the same amount of play in the original Superknife.

YMMV.
 
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