the first cut is the deepest - a question about blades

[John Wagenseil]

I get my blades at artist supply store. Blades manufactured in the US (like Excel) or Japan or Taiwan are generally OK. Blades from the PRC are questionable. I think Xacto realizes this, because they market both Chinese made blades and blades made in the US at a higher price.

No. 11 blades can be resharpened if you have a fine waterstone, or a diamond or ceramic plate or a fine oil stone (Arkansas stone), patience and basic sharpening skills.
A coarse stone can be used to shape a broken blade tip and create a new point, or form a chisel point.

I have a ceramic kitchen knife from Harbor Freight Tool. It is not a particularly good ceramic knife, but, with a drop of dish soap on its side, it can be used to put a final polish on a metal knife blade, and its edges can be used as a hone.
There are a lot of knife sharpening demos on YouTube.
It is probably not worth it to go out and buy a set of good stones so you can resharpen an inexpensive hobby blade, but on the other hand if you already have a set of stones, why not put them to use?
Also take a look at No.2 and No.16 blades as an alternative to the No.11 blade. I have found the No.16 works well, its tip does not break and it is easy to sharpen.

[Dave Pete]

Lots of good videos on YouTube on sharpening blades / woodcarving. Woodcarvers need super sharp blades. There are also some interesting carving knife blades that may or may not work well for paper modeling.

[MichaelS]

Excel and the sharpener shown above is what I use.

[bailey]

I gave up using #11 blades a long time ago; they are too flexible at the tip (for me, anyway). I use #10a now, which are much wider than the #11. In fact they’re probably the same profile as the #11 with the end chamfered off in the first post, or very nearly.
I know nearly everyone uses 11s, but I remember at least one other member saying he used #10a. The ones I use are from Swann Morton, non sterilised scalpel blades. Don’t know if they’re available easily in the US, though. Very sharp, and I never bother to sharpen them, but I only make about a model about every couple of months. Happy New Year!

[John Wagenseil]

Originally Posted by bailey

I gave up using #11 blades a long time ago; .......

Found on YT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIVHJWQAb8w
American viewers may need subtitles

[Sakrison]

It was Techni-Edge blades that people on this forum were recommending a couple of years ago. They are American-made. I just found a pack of 100 on Ebay for $9.99.

[Yale]

Well, PK, the first time I saw the extra tip angle you like was in blades sold under the Revell (Revell-Monogram?) brand name, at a Michael's or Hobby Lobby store. I didn't care for them, as the cutting took place not quite where I expected it to, and I suspected that this design was a cheat to reduce the likelihood of broken tips. Furthermore, this was several years ago, so there's no guarantee that either of these stores sell the item today. Still, a visit to either store's website, or to Revell's, might lead to the blades you want. Best of luck.

[whulsey]

Not sure who made the Revell branded blades, but right now they are in the middle of a reorganization. Hobbico, their parent corporation, went into bankruptcy at the beginning of 2018 and the assets sold. Revell of Germany was bought by a German investment group which then bought Revell-USA assets and closed it down. They are keeping USA tooling that they have access to and considered high market potential. A lot of the older tooling (which includes Revell, Monogram, Aurora and some other items) were sold to Atlantis. The Revell NASCAR tooling was sold to Salvinos JR, a new company in California, specializing in NASCAR. Its been a real mess in the plastic model segment especially for the cars. Kits are starting to trickle out again, but no word on other items in their line.

[Yale]

Aurora, too? Didn't mean to highjack PK's thread, Whulsey, but your information sure brings back names from my plastic youth. And back then, I used US-made #11 X-Acto blades that lasted for weeks.

[whulsey]

The old US #11's were great. Among the modeling stuff I lost a few years ago that I regret the most were 2 unopened 100 packs of #11's from the late 60's.

Lately I've been using the modeling scalpel handle and 11VP blades available from Squadron a lot. They seem to hold their sharpness pretty well. Just thinner then X-Acto type blades so I have to remember not to pry with them and abuse them as much.