Non-Wobbly Utility Knife Recommendations

[AlwaysLearning]

It has served me well but the time had come for me to replace my old utility aka Stanley knife.

I've seen retractable ones and fixed ones and and foldable ones and ones with compartments to hold 50 spare blades and ones that stir coffee while staying connected to the wifi, but I just want a knife that stays firm.

I've seen a few reviews on YouTube, some have praised the knife's ability to lock the slide in place to stop it sliding back in under pressure, but not a single one has mentioned clamping the blade to prevent side to side wobble.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Robbo3]

Can't help with what you should get & the sideways play, but my mate is a floor layer/carpet fitter & he won't entertain a retractable blade knife. He considers them to be downright dangerous. He says it takes seconds to load a new blade, seconds to turn it round & seconds to replace it & that's getting through 20 or more blades in a day.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stanley-Tita ... SwirZTtDOG (not necessarily the cheapest)
I've a couple of these and a couple of similar retractable ones - neither wobble.

 

[sunnybob]

If the stanley has served you well, why not just get a new one?

I've tried other type snap off blade thingys, but always come back to the stanley for its solid handle and ease of swapping blades. Thats the newer version where you dont have to unscrew the thing to swap a blade. Just push the yellow button to slide the blades in and out and pull out the bottom yellow tray for a new blade.

https://www.stanleytools.com/en-us/prod ... ife/10-499

 

[jnw010]

Olfa retractable. Can't remember the model number, but it's a yellow one.

This one looks like it. https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VERY-HIGH-QUAL ... Sw65FXt-0S

 

[Lons]

I have loads of knives, all Stanley, fixed, slide you name it but my go to knives are Stanley quickslide which are small solid and flat with a clip for your pocket. I have one of each of the designs in the links and not much between them but I prefer the one with the top slide.

Standard Stanley blades are as rigid as any of the other designs and blade change very quick and easy. BTW some of the cheap blades are thin and flexible which sometimes can be an advantage but for normal use I stay well away from them.

http://www.builderdepot.co.uk/stanley-q ... gI7NvD_BwE

https://www.uktoolcentre.co.uk/products ... gKR6fD_BwE

cheers
Bob

 

[adidat]

this is my daily knife i carry its always been pretty good, squeeze the handle and the blade comes out and locks then press the black button and it spring back in, auto feeds new blades after the knackered one is removed!

adidat

 

[JohnPW]

I've got a Stanley knife with a retractable blade but it also has a knob on the end of the handle that locks the the blade absolutely solid. I can't find a pic of it online so maybe it's not made anymore.

 

[marcros]

I bought a bessey folding one at the Harrogate show a few weeks back. So far, feels nice, works well and no slack in the system. It has blade storage and tool-less blade quick change.

Note, I use it here and there but I am not a daily user.

 

[thetyreman]

https://www.workshopheaven.com/ashley-i ... bevel.html this one by ashley isles is very good, one I got recently, it's also good value considering the quality of steel.

 

[HappyHacker]

I am also a Bessey user but I keep on loosing them while working on site and they are expensive to replace but I keep on buying new ones. I have not tried the clones. I have a whole variety of stanly sliding knives of various vintages as they never seem to get permanently lost and I use them when I can't find the Bessey but I do not like them much.

 

[memzey]

These are the ones I mainly use:

The 199 is solid but does not have slide in/out blades. Not a problem if you manage to retain the blade cover as I have. The other one I use for marking out. Again not a quick change blade but that’s no bother as it is sharpenable. Both are by Stanley.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... I have a whole variety of stanly sliding knives of various vintages as they never seem to get permanently lost ...

Likewise - I bet I have at least fifteen of about nine or ten different patterns that resurface occasionally. :lol:

 

[bugbear]

Stanley #199. Original and best.

BugBear

 

[AlwaysLearning]

Wow! Thanks for the opinions folks.

My 'Stanley knife' is an Irwin but they don't make that model anymore.

Out of interest I took a look at the Stanley site. I counted 26 varieties of the Stanley knife. I guess they do it to put as much confusion in the market as possible. The 199 is still in production though.

 

[Racers]

I have just the knife you need its a Techni Edge 03-731 REVO

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Techn ... 20&bih=926

But you will have problems finding one, a mate got one from Homebase in Derby but they aren't listed on the website.

Lots available on Bay.com but they won't post to the UK.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

I have just the knife you need its a Techni Edge 03-731 REVO

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Techn ... 20&bih=926

Isn't that just a fan collectible from the Rambo series? :shock:

BugBear

 

[Mark A]

Dolphin knives are traditionally used by carpet fitters, though I've read the quality has dropped in recent years.

Apparently Wolff (two f's) make a Dolphin clone which is better than the original, so may be worth checking out.


Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[novocaine]

horses for courses here, a carpet fitter is going to want a different knife to a fibre glasser who in turn wants a different knife to a decorator as to a chippy as to an electrician and on to a warehouse guy.

to a carpet fitter it's all about big handles, solid blades and quick change, they normally have a holster for it so retractable blades are needed.
a glasser wants a hooked blade option and a handle which can be used with 2 hands.
a decorator wants something small that he can chuck in his bib and not cut his hand on when he's routing around for it to trim a bit of paper off
a chippy wants something solid that can take abuse but isn't too heavy or large so he can get it in to the nooks and crannies and clean up a cut or mark out or slice a packet.
a ware house guy wants something in his pocket that can be grabbed, used and put away, isn't large and stays sharp enough to cut banding and the like with for a long time.

hence stanley themselves make a massive array of handles and others have copied, changed or improved on them over the years. I like my foldable ones, I've got a load of them (non of the stanley, the one I always use is a rolson), I wouldn't use them for carpet fitting though, I've got a massive handled one for that (think it's a b&q own one, isn't idle but does the job), it also gets used for glass work, again not perfect for it. back when I worked in a warehouse (big blue box furniture store) we had to have auto retractable non locking knifes, so I've got a shed load of them too. also got a couple of 199's that tend to just languish in the bottom of the old tool box, still in perfect working order, handed down from older relatives. good handle.

for a workshop, get a 199.

 

[Andy K]

For what its worth my recommendation would be Rolson 62845 Folding Lock-Back Utility Knife . They have been my main workshop knife for many years, solid in use, fold safely away when not, blade change takes seconds. The bonus is they are cheap enough to have several around of those senior "Where is my knife moments".



Edit to include link now I have the ability.