Why is everyone cutting so much cardboard?

Why do you cut cardboard?

  • It's fun

    Votes: 28 17.6%

  • I enjoy sharpening my knives

    Votes: 4 2.5%

  • To justify buying a super steel

    Votes: 10 6.3%

  • Some box designs are difficult to break down

    Votes: 29 18.2%

  • I rarely cut cardboard

    Votes: 88 55.3%
  • Total voters
    159
jeepseahawk said:
Same as above, cut the tape and fold it to fit in trash can. Once in a while, may need to cut a big box smaller to fit receptacle. If I really need to tackle some cardboard, box cutter is approved tool with multiple replaceable blades. I went to town on my new lawn mower box, enjoyed using my knife.
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This.

I will just cut the tape if I can, but some boxes are just too big to start with to ft in the recycle container, and a little breaking down is needed. For that I usually have an old Stanley 99 on a shelf in the garage by the recycle bin.
 
During the stay at home event, boxes easily doubled, and I had to cut them at the creases into small pieces otherwise they wouldn’t all fit in the bin. But it is also fun... and I’ll say the easiest way to tell the difference between budget steel and super steel is cutting corrugated boxes.
Try breaking down a few boxes with an alphabet steel... then break some down with something like a Spyderco Manix in s110v, or a Benchmade freek in M4.
Night and day difference... and an easy test to show where your money goes on premium steel.
 
Among other things. I install cabinetry that arrives in 48' trucks. By the time I've unpacked a kitchen full of cabinetry I have 2 or 3 pick up truck loads of cardboard to take to recycle.
I CUT CARDBOARD! - No options in the poll for "out of necessity".
 
It was there and I wanted to use a knife. Sort of like the mountain and climbing thing. Much more efficient to cut the tape and collapse them. I will cut them when they have to fit the trash can. Plus I actually cut a small piece to strop the edge of my knife when I get bored. It works a little.
 
I cut the packing tape, then tear and/or fold cardboard. Cut cardboard with a knife very infrequently. Must admit, for some of the folders that I have, and have had, the only cutting the blades did was the air that the blades passed through as they arced from their fully open to closed positions..
 
My opinel stainless and carbon blades cut boxes without problems,even when dull,2,3 swipes on sharpmaker get them to razor sharp again.
 
Typically, I’ll use a box cutter to unbox fixtures/appliances for installation. Sometimes it’s easier to use my knife and not have to walk back to the truck and get the box cutter. I try not to make it a habit. The binders that are put in that grade of cardboard kills a good freshly sharpened blade regardless of the steel.
 
I cut cardboard all the time at work. Usually my Opinel no6 - the thin blade glides through cardboard and the convex grind and ultra-thin edge makes it "sharp" even when it's dull. I should get a new Gerber EAB or something like it though (I can't find the one I have).
 
I prefer to cut the cardboard on parcels rather than the tape which leaves the blade all gooey. Then breaking down the boxes to neatly stack up next to the garbage in the apartment until the next time it's taken out and in any case it needs to fit into the recycle bin at the end of the street which only has a relatively thin slit opening.
 
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I kill a fair amount of cardboard throwing away Amazon boxes, and carry this little Workpro utility knife just for that purpose. Throw in a carbide blade and it lasts a long time. It saves the edge on my other knives.



https://www.amazon.com/WORKPRO-3-piece-Change-Folding-Utility/dp/B01JRNAQ2W/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?crid=2LYN6V5TLDA6K&cv_ct_cx=workpro+utility+knife&dchild=1&keywords=workpro+utility+knife&pd_rd_i=B01JRNAQ2W&pd_rd_r=05198b2a-6b59-43f8-9389-d0697b2abae7&pd_rd_w=DflKi&pd_rd_wg=CYf2V&pf_rd_p=d027eaac-7531-45fe-a61e-20ae30db06de&pf_rd_r=7V2TVVERKN4H7S071151&psc=1&qid=1590153835&sprefix=workpro+utility,aps,156&sr=1-1-70f7c15d-07d8-466a-b325-4be35d7258cc
 
I moved into a new house 2 weeks, and we're still unpacking stuff. Not mention boxes for the new closet doors, tv, light fixtures, etc. Just spent an hour and change filling up my recycling bin. I don't want to take a break to sharpen my knife. So, utility knife it is. When things are back to normal, I'll go back to using whatever is in my pocket for the day.
 
Just because of this thread, I cut up a bunch of cardboard last night with one of my GEC slipjoints while watching Rango.

It was fun and I was reintroduced to how important water is.

But yeah, normally I don’t cut much. Mostly the tape.
 
I've always found it to be a little strange to be terribly concerned about what other people are cutting. Some boxes I cut up to make them fit conveniently in the recycling. Others I simply cut the tape and break down. Depends on how many boxes and how full the recycling is.
 
I’ve asked this exact question many times. Cardboard cutting seems to be the job the current crop of knife cognoscenti want their blades designed to perform, but I don’t know why. As a retired soldier who had all his earthly possessions boxed and unboxed over a dozen times I’ve had to break down thousands of boxes, but I doubt I’ve cut through 20 feet of cardboard in my entire life.

I understand *some* folks do indeed live or work in places where they have to routinely slice up cardboard to fit in a small container, but I think if I was in such a situation I’d probably buy a nice box cutter.

To each his own.
 
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