Whats the point of this?

[Paul_B]

I've been shopping online for a new stanley knife when I found this...

Stanley sports utility knife

Now it's a gimmick really but has anyone seen these? Is there ever going to be a need for a Stanley knife/retractable utility knife with a second folding blade in the same package?

Needless to say I got an ordinary Stanley knife for less than a third of the price.

 

[demographic]

I have a Stanley knife* at work for the rough work where I don't mind cutting DPM against a concrete floor where it ruins the edge, or scoring plasterboard but Stanley knives are pretty crap for removing packaging from stuff like kitchen units and toilet cubicles where you want it to cut but with the edge away from the packaged item so it doesn't scratch it.
So I have a decent sharp penknife as well. Works fine for me.
I guess that sort of does it in one package.



*The decent ones that the floorlayers use.

 

[Deleted member 56522]

I've been shopping online for a new stanley knife when I found this...

Stanley sports utility knife

Now it's a gimmick really but has anyone seen these? Is there ever going to be a need for a Stanley knife/retractable utility knife with a second folding blade in the same package?

Needless to say I got an ordinary Stanley knife for less than a third of the price.

It's not a gimmick. But first the page you send us to, doesn't show it properly ... or at least there is a version with one blade being a traditional stanley knife and the other being a "pen knife" type.

I've got about 4 knives in my toolbox. One stanley with the short replaceable blade, but a couple 20mm extendible blades. The idea with the extendible blade is that you keep breaking off the end and getting a new sharper point, but I frequently extend it out all the way. But a problem with the snappable blades when extended is that they do snap.

There seems to be a version that has a plain blade (not serrated) and that could be a really good toolbox tool.

 

[Paul_B]

Yes, the stanley website doesn't show what it is that clearly but I didn't want to show the amazon page that showed it clearly(is it ethical buying from amazon these days? ).

It is a traditional, retractable utility knife like any good stanley knife. However close that side up turn it around and it's a folding knife. You can only open one at a time despite it showing both open together on the amazon page I saw.

Stanley knives come in different styles. My work one is a folding, retractable one. Very nice to use and stores blades in the handle safely. The standard, two ended blades are what people think of with these but aiui there's different blade options. One is a hooked blade shape, another is an extra long blade and a few more too. Then give got different materials like standard, carbide and fatmax blades. That's before you get into specialist knives like those that looks like normal utility knives but with saw or extra long blades or even tape cutters which work with corrugated card.

My work stanley knife has a slot in the body just back from where the blade comes out on the blade edge side. This is used when the blade is recessed as a tape cutter. I've used it to cut fabric but it only works well with a new, very sharp blade.

BTW blades really don't last long for me. I can't use the snap off ones as they just snap in use. The normal and 5x better fatmax or carbide ones simply last a week or two before the tip is completely rounded often on m both ends. Annoyingly the tip is blunt but further back it's still sharp. I just can't use that part. I work where stanley knives and tape measure are the two most used hand tools. Occasionally a cheap machete or cheap kitchen knife too.

 

[Toddy]

Maybe not quite on topic, but I gave up trying to use a 'craft' knife on fabric, leather, carpet, vinyl, cardboard, etc., and bought a cheap rotary cutter instead. It's brilliant, and you can buy a gadget that will sharpen the blades for you again too. It's also very safe since it's a simple push to move the guard over the blade every time you put it down.

I use the Fiskars rotary cutters for cutting quilt fabric, so I was aware of just how good they could be. Bought the cheap stick one in a poundstore somewhere or other, and it's been excellent.

I do have Stanley knives, and different blades for them. They're good, sound and if it's heavy stuff I still haul one out, but for most things, I use the stick rotary cutter.
I don't like the snap offs, they're just unreliable I find, and it's damned annoying having to go look for the unexpectedly pinged off sharp bit when you're busy.

I can't find the one I bought on a search, but it looks very like this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DAFA-45mm-Soft-Rotary-Cutter/dp/B007Y5NTAW/ref=asc_df_B007Y5NTAW/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256187788999&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8836902791113979276&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007336&hvtargid=pla-425586459332&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

 

[Mesquite]

Maybe not quite on topic, but I gave up trying to use a 'craft' knife on fabric, leather, carpet, vinyl, cardboard, etc., and bought a cheap rotary cutter instead. It's brilliant, and you can buy a gadget that will sharpen the blades for you again too. It's also very safe since it's a simple push to move the guard over the blade every time you put it down.

Any links on the sharpening gadget Mary?

 

[Deleted member 56522]

I didn't want to show the **** page

What's the penance?

One is a hooked blade shape, another is an extra long blade and a few more too. Then give got different materials like standard, carbide and fatmax blades. That's before you get into specialist knives like those that looks like normal utility knives but with saw or extra long blades or even tape cutters which work with corrugated card.

I only bought a stanley type to use a hooked blade - probably for lino - I do have other blades but I hate the stanley type as a tool. Instead I use the 20mm snap off ones, which retract back into the body and which gives a variable length blade, and they're economical as you keep snapping the end to get a new sharp bit.

I had a really good one for years, but then couldn't find a good replacement. Bizarrely the only ones that work best are the cheapest cheap throw away ones ... so I just keep replacing the blades

BTW blades really don't last long for me. I can't use the snap off ones as they just snap in use.

I find they can snap in use, but you cannot use a short stanley if you're cutting 50mm insulation board.

The normal and 5x better fatmax or carbide ones simply last a week or two before the tip is completely rounded often on m both ends. Annoyingly the tip is blunt but further back it's still sharp. I just can't use that part. I work where stanley knives and tape measure are the two most used hand tools. Occasionally a cheap machete or cheap kitchen knife too.

i worked in a textile factory where everyone had one ... and they needed them.

 

[Stew]

Yes, the stanley website doesn't show what it is that clearly but I didn't want to show the amazon page that showed it clearly(is it ethical buying from amazon these days? ).

It is a traditional, retractable utility knife like any good stanley knife. However close that side up turn it around and it's a folding knife. You can only open one at a time despite it showing both open together on the amazon page I saw.

Stanley knives come in different styles. My work one is a folding, retractable one. Very nice to use and stores blades in the handle safely. The standard, two ended blades are what people think of with these but aiui there's different blade options. One is a hooked blade shape, another is an extra long blade and a few more too. Then give got different materials like standard, carbide and fatmax blades. That's before you get into specialist knives like those that looks like normal utility knives but with saw or extra long blades or even tape cutters which work with corrugated card.

My work stanley knife has a slot in the body just back from where the blade comes out on the blade edge side. This is used when the blade is recessed as a tape cutter. I've used it to cut fabric but it only works well with a new, very sharp blade.

BTW blades really don't last long for me. I can't use the snap off ones as they just snap in use. The normal and 5x better fatmax or carbide ones simply last a week or two before the tip is completely rounded often on m both ends. Annoyingly the tip is blunt but further back it's still sharp. I just can't use that part. I work where stanley knives and tape measure are the two most used hand tools. Occasionally a cheap machete or cheap kitchen knife too.

Don’t you just resharpen your Stanley blades?

 

[Deleted member 56522]

Don’t you just resharpen your Stanley blades?

They never get blunt, because I don't use them! They are more likely to go rusty than get blunt. It doesn't help that I bought the cheapest tool, when I needed the hook end, it then got coated in bitumen, and so I hardly ever both to spend the time unscrewing the body to set it up for use.

The thing with a 20mm blade is that you can extend it. That means when using a 25mm? wide long level as an edge, I can extend it to 30mm and it sites right next to the level giving me a square edge. If I use a stanley type, I have to cut at an angle. I also love being able to throw the blade away and start with a pristine sharp edge for a new job.

I think basically, I've grown used to having a long blade, and the short stanley type just doesn't cut it.

Which is why this combination tool is so interesting for me.

 

[Toddy]

Any links on the sharpening gadget Mary?

I can't find mine online anymore, it came from a quilting shop. It was under ten pounds but the only ones I can find now are at nearly fifteen.....cheaper buying a pack of twenty new blades from China for £8.
Amazon have something similar

 

[Paul_B]

We have two fabric saws at work. Great kit, sharp and cuts through a lot of layers of glass fibre fabric. Even got a sharpening tool built in, it goes down and up the blade to resharpen. Although we're more likely to be doing limited runs so more likely to use fabric shears.

We find that up to 12 or 15 mm a stanley knife with good blades is enough. Thicker than that we use still something else. We have a frame with two close square section bars. A cheap but sharp machete run between the bars cuts pretty well. Falling that band saw or a cutting board with standard or longer cutting blades through stamp press or roller press. There's always alternatives to the basic stanley n knife.