What steel are utility blades made from?

[Comeuppance]

They are made from the cheapest steel they can buy. I have resharpened and reused utility knife blades and Exacto blades all my life. I keep a small diamond hone in my tool box that brings them back very quickly. I always figured people who threw them away were either lazy or just had no idea how to sharpen a blade.

Or they saw the word “disposable”, noticed they come in packs of 50+, and value their time.

 

[Bob6794]

Personally I went a little higher end and bought the "premium" utility blades and sharpened them. Turns out you can make box cutters too sharp for some tasks and making it sharp enough with a pull through sharpener was preferable.

 

[Mecha]

Anyone think X-acto blades made in super steel would sell? I'd buy some for my epic old-school X-acto set:

 

[Planterz]

Started the same day you joined here. Kind of cool actually.

Is that what it shows you as my join date? For me it shows March 26. Even that's not really correct, as I had joined at the very beginning of March or perhaps even end of February, but there was a server crash and about a month's worth of stuff, including new registers, were lost, and I had to reregister. So about a month's worth of my newbiest posts and questions are gone (although there's probably still plenty to find if you look).

 

[colin.p]

I have absolutely nothing to contribute but I just had to post in such an historic thread.

 

[Neko2]

I know that Tajima blades are SK-5.
There's a German brand that lists their steel as well if I can find them.

 

[David Mary]

I bet they are usually made out of something different now than when the thread was started.

You'll probably manufacturers on both sides of that fence.

I always figured people who threw them away were either lazy or just had no idea how to sharpen a blade.

Back when I first tried to sharpen them I didn't really know how to sharpen.

Or they saw the word “disposable”, noticed they come in packs of 50+, and value their time.

That's where I ended up, except that now that you mention it, I have several diamond hones and a pile of disposable blades that I dulled long ago. Almost like I was saving up for when I would be more knowledgeable at sharpening... I don't use them that often though. I bought a few packages of 50 when they were on sale back in 2013 or 2014 and I did not even go through them all yet. I might have used 20% of them. I tend to prefer using folder or small fixed blade for most utility tasks anyway. All my knives are users (or occasional users).

When I put grip tape on a folder's pocket clip, you can bet it gets cut with one of my utility blades though. Usually a dull one.

 

[slyraven]

Epic first post

 

[John Citizen]

I was told that they were made of a plain carbon steel - 1075 or 1084, something like that. Thats my only knowledge on the subject. Jason.

Don't toss those old x-acto blades! They can be resharpened pretty easily (steel is fairly soft), and while they won't be quite as razor sharp without some effort, they will be sharp enough for most utility chores.

I think it's some plain carbon steel, something along the lines of 1050, 1060, 1075...

Carbon steel (as the ones I have rust after a time), most likely heat treated to higher than typical cutlery hardness levels. I did try to resharpen some before, and the process proved more cumbersome than sharpening a knife blade in, say, 1095.

So it's an old thread. I think it's an interesting discussion that doesn't need a duplicate thread.

If my x-actos are made of Carbon steel, does that mean I can start a fire with them if I have flint? That would be the best excuse for carrying x-actos around. What if somebody attempted to cut flint with an x-acto one day, and well, it just started a fire?



P.S. Who's still here in the twenties?

 

[Korean Hog]

Necro thread....why not??
For grins, I clicked on page 6000 and something and noticed we've been asking the same questions about different knives for over 20 years.
1980-2000 seemed to be the time where companies were still coming out with "oh my gosh that's never been done before" and the last 20 years
have been improvements and refinements on those things. Sebenzas, for expample, aren't radically different these days, but definite improvements have been made.
Seems like marketable success is more about satisfying the spice of variety than it is major improvements and revolutionary advancements.

A lot of the new stuff I see is more for novelty in and of itself rather than any real advancement.
I see lots of improvement in trying to make folders fixed blade strong, but that's never really going to happen.
I see better attempts at making a knife the ultimate self-defense weapon, but that's never really going to happen either.
For self defense, I think your brain, distance, and a cell phone are some of the best things going.

I don't see how the human race could get along without cutting implements, but I often wonder if knives are actually "improved" or if
companies simply need to make new things simply to keep sales up. I appreciate companies like Spyderco and Chris Reeve Knives that make changes
based on practical improvement and timeless, generally agreed upon aesthetics as opposed to "flavor of the month" gimmicks.