xacto replacement for graphic designers

C

clockworkfish

Joined
Dec 1, 2010
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hey so ive been curious about trying this out, making a blade (fixed or folding doesn't matter) for some friends that are in graphic design, a blade that would be able to replace their xacto knives. do you think this is possible/practical? a box of 100 costs about 40$ and you could easily run through about a half a box a day depending on what you are doing. i find this to rack up to be a rather large amount of money and steel to just be tossed so making something that could last an equal amount of time and would be able to be resharpened seems like a really good idea even if the total cost of the blade is in the triple digits.

i belive that xactos are made with something like 14cr28 which has a fine grain structure but does not hold it for long. would something like cpm-10v be able to get that fine of an edge? and would it hold it for long enough? would d2(assuming proper heat treat was done, id probably ship them to paul bos)

In summary is it possible to make a knife with xacto sharpness, precision cutting, and a fine tip last for a long long long time between sharpening?
 
Well here is a knife I made a year ago or so for marking wood, it sounds like it would work your purposes. It is 1080 steel and holds an edge pretty darn well. If ultimate edge is your goal, stay away from steels containing large carbides like Vanadium.

Here is the knife I made. Its sharp enough to whittle hair right off a stone, no stropping.

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-Xander
 
Those blades are disposable because there is no practical reason or method to keep them sharp. Just like a ball point pen, when it is used up, you replace it. No knife you make will hold an edge any longer, and it is really the very fine tip used most, thus making your $100-$200 knife just as useless after a short while. The problem is the thing that makes them work for the task is the enemy of edge retention - super thin blades + super shallow edge angle + super fine point + high pressure cutting. The steel is probably as hard and good as practical.

This is one of those places when asking yourself, " Why hasn't anyone considered making a better blade." is self answered by, "Because if there was one, it would already be in use."
 
How about looking at if a different way?

Make a handle that takes the disposable blades, but is arty, fits their hand, has a nice shape, use some pretty wood, or a natural gnarled driftwood shape that fits the task....

- that kind of thing.
 
I feel a little weird admitting this, but I still use regular X-acto and Stanley utility knife blades quite a bit for leather work. Sometimes cheap and disposable is exactly what you need. The Count's idea about custom handles that accept such blades is smart, though.
 
I've thought about this too as I've wanted to make something for my brother who is a toy designer. I came to the conclusion that it's not worth it because I don't want to spend the time to make a blade that has a high likelihood of snapping. There are situations where an xacto knife or cheap box cutter is the best tool.

Fast14riot's tool looks great for what it's designed to be but if you're doing detailed work it's still not thin enough.

I use xacto blades a lot for cutting sandpaper and tape in my shop. Being the cheap person I am, I extend the life of my xacto blades by simply sharpening them on a ceramic stone. They're easy to sharpen and it only takes a couple of seconds.
 
fumbler said:
Being the cheap person I am, I extend the life of my xacto blades by simply sharpening them on a ceramic stone. They're easy to sharpen and it only takes a couple of seconds.
Click to expand...

That's not "cheap", it's frugal and smart ;)
 
Many stencil and matt cutters used to keep a Black Arkansas stone by the cutting bench and strop the blade every few cuts.

If you get an x-acto handle that has a separate handle and clamp, like the #5 or #6, you could easily replace the upper part with a nice burl wood handle. Even the plain #1 units could be cut off and a tang and shoulder ground or turned down, a nice wood block fitted, then the whole thing ergonomically shaped.
I bet a good pen turner could reverse-engineer a designer series #1 handle for the ultimate high end multi-burl piece.


Ohhh, I got it - Metal Mokume handles like used for pen turning.

More ideas here:
http://www.xacto.com/products/cutting-solutions/knives.aspx
 
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