Favorite #11-style blade

[Don Sikora II]

Not to copy the other blade thread, but it's a good question that got me thinking. What's your favorite #11-style blade? I'd say the original X-Acto #11 is easily my favorite, but I don't mind using the Testors Model Master blade either. I've had some off-brand stinkers though. Anyone else make a great blade?

Edited February 1, 2015 by Don Sikora II

[southpier]

i think blades are like changing the oil & filter in your car: the brand is not so important as the frequency.

i use excel blades x the hundred pack, but don't think they're any better or worse than the rest. i'll change the sharpest cutter every couple of days. don't really want to sharpen them although some do. and the number two/ second sharpness knife never really made it into my sequence of operations. i just have 2 knives with sharp blades.

[Greg Myers]

You get what you pay for.

[wayne swayze]

I use Xacto #11 blades mostly, but have also #11 surgical blades for trimming BMF. Always try to keep new blades on hand, but often use older blades for jobs that require less precision, like removing parts from sprue. And I always wear safety glasses when using ANY blade!

[StevenGuthmiller]

I change blades so often that I really don't care what brand they are. Usually Excel or X-acto are what I come home with. I use a brand new blade every time I start foiling a build. That one will usually hold up for any hacking that I need to do up until the next foil job. I never sharpen blades, they're one of the few things left in this hobby that are still pretty inexpensive. Steve

[chunkypeanutbutter]

The X-Acto Z series blades.

[Casey]

The X-Acto Z series blades.

Tried those, and noticed no significant difference from the standard blades. I always buy the 100 pack for around $14.00 shipped on eBay, so as Joe mentioned, changing them when they start to dull or the tip breaks off is the key. They're so cheap there's no excuse to use a dull blade.

[Petetrucker07]

I tried the z series with not a big change. I just by standard blades in big quantity as well. I ha onto a couple of dull b lades for scribing a scrapping putty in tight places I didn't mean to get it in to.

[Tom Geiger]

I also use the exacto brand in the 100 pack. I change the blade often, and still can't remember the last time I had to buy a pack. My favorite handle is the exacto brand with the cushioned grip.

[Guest]

I use Excel. I like them better than xacto for some reason.

[ChrisBcritter]

I've noticed the tips on the Excel blades don't break off as easily as the X-acto ones do, but YMMV.

What I'd really like to see is a knife sharpener that would work for hobby blades - I know, I know, so I'm cheap. There's still a lot of metal left on a blade when it's dull...

[Art Anderson]

I've noticed the tips on the Excel blades don't break off as easily as the X-acto ones do, but YMMV.

What I'd really like to see is a knife sharpener that would work for hobby blades - I know, I know, so I'm cheap. There's still a lot of metal left on a blade when it's dull...

You can "hone" a slightly dulled #11 blade against a piece of glass--old time modelers did that years ago.

Art

[Roadrunner]

For me, the default blade is X-Acto. I don't think I've ever used any other brand.

[Joe Handley]

Just bought a new knife and a pack of blades the other day, bought Excell after seeing they were cheaper and American made.

[Mike_G]

Our LHS used to sell #11 blades made by American Safety Razor that were really sharp and lasted a long time, but apparently they can't get them anymore

[Harry P.]

Excel blades in the 100 blade box.

[tabsscale1]

I use excel blades all the time usually buy a pack of 5 about every 5th trip to Hobby Lobby. Always have about 30 or more on hand at all times. I don't change them very often and here lately I have sharpened them on a wet stone. have had my wet stone since I was in the Boy Scout over 40 years ago. I also use the Excel handle for a pin vise for my drill bits.

Edited February 2, 2015 by tabsscale1

[Jim N]

I like the number 2. It has a bit more heft.

[Art Anderson]

Xacto stainless steel #11's, by the box/100 for most all work. For really delicate cutting, I prefer Bard-Parker #11 stainless steel surgical scalpel blades--INFINITELY sharper blades, and they fit right into any #1 size knife handle.

Art

[dartman]

I use excel blades now.My wife works at a injection molding plant and I have her buy a 100 box now and then from the company

store.The last time we paid 10.00 a box.

[Tom Geiger]

Back when I ran a drafting room, we used exacto number 11 blades a lot. The stationary catalog only listed the 10 packs, so I asked the secretary to order ten of those to keep us for a while. What showed up was ten 100 packs! More blades than we'd ever need in our careers. I'm still working off the pack I have from then.

[Mark]

The last place I worked incorporated several businesses, including a vinyl sign shop. The sign shop was the only successful part of the whole thing; several other enterprises including an electrical contractor shut down leaving it as the last thing going. I didn't know too much about how the sign shop worked, I wasn't asked to help with it, I only did the books. Towards the end, the owner asked me not to look for another job right away. He knew there wasn't much for me to do, but the shop wasn't in the greatest neighborhood and he didn't want to leave the two girls (later only one) there alone during the day. He himself didn't want to be there because he had a few creditors after him (once, he unknowingly left five minutes before someone showed up to reposess his truck!). So I'm there with not much to do. I got a lot of reading done, couldn't do much online because the computers didn't work too well (no virus protection, and everyone before me wasn't too careful about how they were used) and I needed mine to do the payroll.

The sign shop did a lot of those extended vans for inner-city churches. The design would be created using graphics software, then large sheets of vinyl would be fed into a laser cutter. The cutter didn't cut the letters and designs out completely; it would leave the corners uncut. The whole sheet would be applied to the van, then the uncut corners were finished up with a #11 blade X-Acto knife and the carrier sheet peeled off leaving only the desired lettering and graphics on the van, exactly where it needed to be. They'd replace the blade every few cuts, because they did the trimming with a light touch so as not to cut into the van's paint. The used blades got tossed into a coffee can. I spent a few days going through that can, picking out the blades that didn't have the tip broken off (which was most of them), then cleaning some of them them up on a sharpening stone. I don't think I'll need to buy another #11 blade, ever.

[Mike Chernecki]

I recently bought a 100 pack of XActo blades off eBay. Thought I would save some money and have a few blades to last. What I received was a box of 100 blade blanks, no edge on them. To make things worse I also bought a set of X-Acto drill bits in the oval holder, like the blades all the bits had no cutting edge ground into them. I bought these a few months before I opened them, so too late to get a refund. Perhaps someone is selling counterfeit XActo products on eBay.

[Tom Geiger]

Does Michaels or Hobby Lobby sell the 100 pack? 40% coupon ya know...

[Mark]

I haven't seen the 100 pack at either store, at least in the section with model kits. They might have knives and blades stocked in another section of the store though. I never bothered to check, seeing as how I'm set for the forseeable future...