# Make a Better Hobby Knife



## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

I hate XActo knives. The blades are brittle and don't hold their edges long and the handles are universally uncomfortable and don't positively lock the blades, so they're always wobbly or falling out. Years ago I switched over to Swann Morton scalpels. The number 4 handle fits blades that are particularly useful for modelling. The regular handle fits regular blades and is much more comfortable, tho. But because of the better blades, I continue to use the #4 handle almost exclusively, despite it being less than friendly in the hand.

Then a couple weeks ago I accidentally discovered a series of YouTube videos by Paul Budzik, once upon a time the best of the best modellers featured in Fine Scale Modeler. Including this one on hobby knives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ZzU7udLZo

Knife envy. But there was just no way I was going to shell out $30 - $60 for a Bard-Parker handle. Took me a couple days before I realized that a hobby knife is still a tool and that people make tool handles all the time. 

Off to the wood store and got a small piece of hardwood, in this case something they called lacewood. Took a #4 handle and did this to it:

http://s1004.photobucket.com/user/jkirkphotos/library/Make A Hobby Knife?sort=2&page=1

And below is what I've ended up with. Took about two hours not counting overnight in a clamp and not counting the SW #4 cost about $1. It is sooooooo comfortable. Total tools involved: a hacksaw, file or bench sander or grinder, a dremel-type tool, clamps or a vice, and sandpaper. 

Cannot recommend something like this highly enough. Where has it been all my life?


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I hate the x-Acto handles, but I've never felt safe with the Swann-Morton blades. This video finally showed me the safe way to change them. Thanks, muchly. I will now be tracking down a source to SM blades and handles!


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Ever try Excel blades? They're Double Honed Carbon Steel; a process that allows the blades to have a sharper and longer lasting blade. 

http://shop.excelblades.com/


Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I buy the X Acto stainless blades and resharpen them. Excel is good too.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

There are Xacto type handles out there in hobbyland that are larger diameter than the Xacto ones. I have one, that has no name on it, that's yellow with a rubber grip where your fingers go. This makes the handle even 'fatter' at the critical point. The blades have NEVER slipped once that I recall. It also has a tab on the opposite end of the blade that prevents it rolling.

It also has a good heff (weight) to it and feels good in the hand.

Really wish I new the brand, I would love to have a couple more.

_*I like the scalpel and the handle you made!*_ I almost bought a scalpel and blades a the last show I attended.

Carl-


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Never had much of a problem with X Acto blades/handles- been using them for over fifty years and it is all I pretty much know.
I did discover that the small soldering iron Radio Shack sold fits the X Acto blade holder threads so they become a great hot knife too.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Richard Baker said:


> Never had much of a problem with X Acto blades/handles- been using them for over fifty years and it is all I pretty much know.
> I did discover that the small soldering iron Radio Shack sold fits the X Acto blade holder threads so they become a great hot knife too.


Didn't know that. *Great* tip Richard! I've got that iron too. I really need to remember this. Going to attach a note to my iron when I finish typing this. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Carl-


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I have no trouble with X Acto type handles. I've had hundreds of different ones. But I guess after over 40 years of using one, I got used to them. I still like the #11 blades too. I never could get the hang of scalpel blades. They always seemed awkward to me. Someone gave me some handles and a carton (thousands of blades) and I think I threw them all out after three or four tries.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

djnick66 said:


> .....I think I threw them all out after three or four tries.


*What? Threw them out?*

Has no one ever told you something like that goes against the molders code? Never throw out what you can pass on.

I'm almost afraid to reply to this post in fear the Modeling Gods may get angry at me too....

Carl-


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I guess he felt he'd sacrificed enough blood to the Modelling Gods... Personally, I felt the few times I tried them that the harder, sharper surgical steel is more brittle and breaks with the slightest torque.


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## starseeker (Feb 1, 2006)

Thought I'd finally post a photo of the finished handle. Handles, now, as I've made a second one since I like using the first so much. Playing with shapes a little. 

I had one of those fat softer Xacto-type handles, too, and for years it was my favorite handle, till the metal threaded insert finally broke. I prefer the Xacto blades over the Excel. The Excel never seem to keep their edge as long. For scalpel blades, can't speak to any other brands as all I've ever used are the Swann. Xacto blades are definitely more brittle and break more easily than the Swann. 

I should point out that I cut A Lot of plastic with my blades. Hardly at all with kit parts but in the last couple decades I've begun to scratch-build a lot and probably go through one 4' x 8' sheet of .040 a year. And since most of the pieces I end up cutting from them are no bigger than an inch or three per side, that's a whole lot of slicing and dicing. I read on UK modelling sites about guys who keep a leather strop close at hand, use it practically every time they make a cut, and claim they use the same blade for years. There's no way I could manage that. After a couple of months, there would be no steel left to hone. 

With the second (and in-progress 3d) handle, I didn't grind the Swann #4 at all. I used a motor tool to carve a handle shaped hollow into the inside of each handle half and simply sandwiched the entire handle between the pieces. About the same amount of work (which wasn't much, really) but I didn't need to use a grinder. The epoxy filled in the ridges of the Swann handle and I think you'd need a bulldozer to pull the thing apart. 

A very fun project and using them, you don't even know you're holding a knife. Just feels like an extension of your hand.


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## Frank2056 (Mar 23, 2007)

Thanks for this thread. I was going to make a handle like this, but my Mom owned a dental lab and I kept many of her tools. Going through the old box of dental tools, I found a B&P #6 handle. 

Paul Budzik has a link on his page to several blade suppliers and in no time, I had a couple of boxes (many years worth) of blades.

The #6 handle really provides a much better grip than an Xacto handle and the rounded body isn't as uncomfortable as an Olfa knife when having to apply pressure. If you don't want to make a handle like Starseeker, buy one!

It's also gratifying to use one of the tools my Mom used in her lab.


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I found a hobby knife at Walmart made by Friskars that is very comfortable. It's the same one shown here although the Walmart one has a purple handle:

http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/friskars-softgrip-craft-knife-fi67007097

The grip itself is soft and triangular in cross section so less fatiguing to grip and easier to control.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

How is the Friskars handle at actually holding the blades? The biggest problem with xActo knives is that the collets are always coming loose (except when the collet itself galls together, then you can't change blades). Unfortunately, aluminum is not well suited to this form of collet.


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