Help me find a new utility knife

[Sideways]

My google fu isn't up to this so I need help please.

I need to replace a snap off blade utility knife with another having a very specific feature.

The original is Chinese made and was bought in Asia. The brand Ningbo Assist isn't available in the UK as far as I can see so I can't just buy another.

The must-have feature is a screw locking clamp that works on the very front of the blade to resist it being pushed back, pulled out or wobbling.
This improves the use of this type of knife enormously and is far better than just a screw locking knob at the back.

The thread will probably be more interesting to all if people want to recomend their favorites, but nothing without a front blade clamp is going to fly for me personally.

Hoping someone can help me find a good candidate. Cheers

 

[Phill05]

I always use a Olfa L-2 lock follows on with the blade does not stop at the back.

 

[MintSauce]

Closest I can find with a lock near the front of the handle:

https://heinnie.com/maratac-craft-knife-slide-lock/
Not a utility knife like your’s from Asia and with a specific replaceable blade.

 

[clogs]

I'm sure I've got a Stanley with a locking screw knob......

 

[Sideways]

The Maratac is very similar to the Olfa L Type 34.

I have one of those

 

[Sideways]

I'm sure I've got a Stanley with a locking screw knob......

There you go.
That helped me find one. Fatmax Pro 25. It has the screw knob where I want it. I'll check it out.

https://www.stanleytools.co.uk/prod...ax-pro-25-mm-slide-lock-snap-knife?tid=569061
And once you find one, that unlocks the others. There are a couple more in the Stanley range and a Wolfcraft Pro version

 

[Cozzer]

My weapon of choice is the Olfa L5-AL X design, which can use their "special" black blades.
I thought my old Stanley knife blades were sharp until I tried these....

However, for marquetry I still use my old brass handle Swann-Morton, with 10A blades. You can still find 'em on eBay now and then....

 

[bushwhaker]

Once again for Olfa. Can't go wrong with them.

 

[Sideways]

My weapon of choice is the Olfa L5-AL X design, which can use their "special" black blades.
I thought my old Stanley knife blades were sharp until I tried these ....

Do you know what makes these black blades especially sharp ? Are these they thinner than normal, shallower grind, harder steel ?

 

[ajs]

Personally I love these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IW59A
They do clamp firmly at the very front of the handle - the knob at the rear slides the two halves against each other until they are wedged firmly against the blade in a vice-like grip.

 

[Jacob]

Traditionally people used to sharpen "utility"knives. These ready sharpened snap-off blades were designed for schools and other institutions with unskilled beginners.

 

[Cozzer]

Do you know what makes these black blades especially sharp ? Are these they thinner than normal, shallower grind, harder steel ?

Described as "ultra sharp"....and yes, they are!
In truth I'd probably use the Olfa for marquetry, but I'm too used to the old-fashioned, less bulky S-M handle. It's a toss-up which is sharper, a pukka scalpel blade or the black Olfa.
All I remember is that the black jobs taper from about half-a-mill at their widest/thickest point...my model uses the 18mm blades, by the way...I think there's also a 9mm version?

 

[Vulcan]

I’m after one of these. Not easy to get in the UK at a good price though.

https://www.fiskars.com/en-gb/build...blades/carbonmax-snap-off-knife-18-mm-1027227

 

[Sideways]

Personally I love these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001IW59A
They do clamp firmly at the very front of the handle - the knob at the rear slides the two halves against each other until they are wedged firmly against the blade in a vice-like grip.

I've owned this in the 9mm size.
A good design with one flaw when I owned it. The screw thread on the yellow knob at the back is quite coarse and as a result it quickly became loose whenever the knife was in use. This was annoying and it ultimately went in the bin.
I haven't tried it in the 18mm size or recently to see if they changed the screw thread to fix the problem.

 

[Sideways]

These ready sharpened snap-off blades were designed for schools and other institutions with unskilled beginners.

The snap off blade has two useful features compared to an ordinary stanley knife blade, one is multiple points, the other is the length when a new blade is extended further than intended. This second "misuse" is handy for deep straight cuts thick foam - shadowfoam or occasional celotex.

Disposable blade knives are not just about unskilled users. They save time that would wasted on sharpening, they "allow" a blade to be used to destruction in a way that you would never do with a fixed blade, and their thin steel and sharp edge do give a slicing performance that would take a lot more time and effort to achieve in a fixed blade.

 

[Sideways]

It's a toss-up which is sharper, a pukka scalpel blade or the black Olfa.

Have you noticed that scalpel blades feel hair splittingly sharp for about the first 6-10 feet of cutting and then become merely "very sharp" and still better than a new ordinary replaceable blade.
A lesson learned cutting shadowfoam for toolboxes is that after cutting in 3 or at most 4 tools, you fit a new scalpel blade. The old ones are still at 90% so save them for other jobs.

 

[pgrbff]

Closest I can find with a lock near the front of the handle:

https://heinnie.com/maratac-craft-knife-slide-lock/
Not a utility knife like your’s from Asia and with a specific replaceable blade.

Available from amazon and olfa direct too

 

[Scruples]

Any product that gets the sharp end to the work is what its all about.

 

[stuart little]

My google fu isn't up to this so I need help please.

I need to replace a snap off blade utility knife with another having a very specific feature.

The original is Chinese made and was bought in Asia. The brand Ningbo Assist isn't available in the UK as far as I can see so I can't just buy another.

The must-have feature is a screw locking clamp that works on the very front of the blade to resist it being pushed back, pulled out or wobbling.
This improves the use of this type of knife enormously and is far better than just a screw locking knob at the back.

The thread will probably be more interesting to all if people want to recomend their favorites, but nothing without a front blade clamp is going to fly for me personally.

Hoping someone can help me find a good candidate. Cheers


View attachment 171435
View attachment 171434

Irwin makes almost identical ones - I have one. They;re metal rather than plastic too.

 

[flying haggis]

Screwfix do this erbauer with a front locking wheel
https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-retractable-18mm-snap-off-blade-knife/769xh