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Old 06-14-2020, 04:40 PM
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Slice Ceramic Knife Blades

Hi all,

I know we have had discussions, either here or on other forums, in the past about ceramic knife blades. And as I recall the collective thought at that time was that the blades were too brittle, too thick, not good for detail work.
As with everything, items get improved, manufacturing and chemistry changes, the product gets better, or easier to use.

For the past couple of weeks, I had been seeing these ads for Slice and their cutting tools on Pinterest, so a little research on their site, Slice Ceramic Safety Knives | Slice, Inc. and on Amazon, for the reviews.
I wanted to try one of their products and its applicability to our chosen hobby.
I wrote the company a small comment on their Contact Us page, asking if there was a way for me to get a single knife from them to test in cutting out paper models. This was on a Sunday evening, late-ish, and I didn't think I would hear anything back until Monday, BOY!, was I surprised to get an email from TJ, the CEO of the company, some 3 hours after I sent my question.
TJ enthusiastically mentioned that they were more than willing to send out a knife, actually multiple knives, and various blades to test in cutting out the models, all he needed was my snail mail, and he would get a box out to me, so I replied with my snail mail, and sure enough, about 4 days later, a box with multiple knives and blades and even a pair of ceramic scissors arrived at my door.(first picture)
With all the knives, 3 different blade types were sent as well(second picture)
A rounded nose blade, a curved edge blade, and a blade that reminds all of us of a good ole' #11 metal blade.
There are 2 other blade types available for the knives, two different chisel style blades, and a double edged blade.
An unintended use of the round nose blade is the ability to use it as a scoring tool, turn the blade over, and run it along a straight edge, and the score is sharp, and no risk of tearing paper, especially when you reach of the end of the cut out part.

Having "unboxed" all of the knives and blades and the scissors(third picture) I have been using a couple of the knives a bit more than others, mainly because they are direct substitutes to my Fiskars' Craft Knife.
I did send the finger precision knife on to Ray(Texman) as he uses the Fiskars' version, and the finger hole on the knife was a little tight for my index finger.

The scalpel and craft knife have handles made of glass fiber reinforced plastic, there is minimal flex, but you really have to press to get the plastic to move.
The scalpel with the replaceable blade is quite comfortable in my hands, a metal scalpel that I have has me regripping it to make it sit comfortable in my hand.
The craft knife, has a long knurled grip which also acts as the collet keeping the blade in the handle.
The craft knife has an anti roll feature, so the handle won't roll much at all.

One of the key advantages of the ceramic blades, you really need to work at it to use one of those bladed to cut yourself, or puncture your finger, and as a Diabetic, I am all too familiar with finger sticks.
The #11 looking blade, does has have a sharp tip, but one would really need to drive the tip into your finger to get any puncture, which with the metal #11 blades we just have to look at it wrong, and it has stuck or cut us.
These blades would make for a great starter knife for young kids who like to craft, or want to join in making paper models with Dad or Granddad.

I have been using the ceramic blades for the big long, or non detailed or curved cuts, similar to a woodworker using a bandsaw to rough trim a piece and then shape and detail it with other tools.

I have had to adjust my cutting style and speed with the ceramic knives, not very much, but just enough that I don't grind the blade into dust in 10 cuts.
I have noticed that when I use any of the ceramic knives, on my heavily cut up self sealing cutting mat, the blade doesn't hang up, either in the paper or the mat, or in the odd case, the metal blade picking up a groove under the part, and cutting into the part or the tab, drifting off the straight edge.

I am convinced that the current state of ceramic blades will help in the paper model hobby, some adjustment needs to be made, but you will figure/feel what works right for you pretty quickly.
Check out Slice's website for more technical descriptions of their blades, and if impressed, place an order.
I can share my impressions of some of the other tools I received if there is any interest.

Rick
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Slice Ceramic Knife Blades-20200604_104902.jpg   Slice Ceramic Knife Blades-20200604_115911.jpg   Slice Ceramic Knife Blades-20200604_124458.jpg  
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Old 06-14-2020, 04:58 PM
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Good info, THK.
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Old 06-14-2020, 05:30 PM
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Rick,
How well do the scissors work, especially the tips? Most of the craft scissors I have gotten have one tip slightly longer and not great for fine cutting. I use a #12 hooked scapel blade in an Xacto handle for fine cutting. It works well and I can see the tip at all times.
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Old 06-14-2020, 05:33 PM
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Miles Linnabery Miles Linnabery is offline
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Dear Rick:
Do the #11 looking blades fit in the Older Xzacto Blade holders?
Thanks
Miles
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Old 06-14-2020, 05:39 PM
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The scissors are great, very smooth.

If I were to compare them to the Fiskars' Microtip ones I have, the Slice one does not have sharp points, so no puncturing of skin or paper.

The finger holes in the Slice scissors accommodate my sausage link sized fingers easily.
The cut is very clean, no grinding of the blades, like you get with other metal scissors, and the resulting cut doesn't give me a paper cut like some metal scissors' cut paper has done.
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Old 06-14-2020, 05:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Miles Linnabery View Post
Dear Rick:
Do the #11 looking blades fit in the Older Xzacto Blade holders?
Thanks
Miles
Miles,

They do not, this was one of the first things I tried, had to see it for myself.

I may have mentioned that the blades are thicker than normal metal #11 blades. and the collet on the regular craft knives are just wide enough to hold the metal #11, now, I was able to insert the ceramic blade into the collet of my Fiskars' knife, but I only got it about a third of the way into it.

If you are considering a ceramic knife, go with the Scalpel or the Craft Knife, relatively cheap acquisition.

Rick
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Old 06-14-2020, 06:58 PM
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As Rick said, he sent me the finger precision knife, and one of each blade. As I build small scale, this would provide another viewpoint.

The handle itself is comfortable. Longer than the Fiskars handle.

The blades do a good job. However, for small scale or intricate cutting, they are
considerably thicker than the metal blades. I found it inadequate for small scale/detail
work. The blade sharpness is not a problem. I managed to knick myself with
quality in the first few tries. Its the fact they are not as flexible nor as thin as
their metal brethren.

If you have large parts, or long cuts, they would work well. Detail and small,
I am going to have to stick with the metal blades.
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Old 06-14-2020, 07:22 PM
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Miles Linnabery Miles Linnabery is offline
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Dear Friends:
Thanks for the info. Might look for the scissors when hobby lobby or the art supply store opens up again. Still resistant to the whole on line ordering thing.
I love the forum for the info, history lessons, Friendship
Miles
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Old 06-14-2020, 07:25 PM
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Miles, you can also order the knives or scissors from Amazon
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http://paperdakar.blogspot.com/
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Old 06-14-2020, 10:03 PM
John Wagenseil John Wagenseil is offline
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Rick
Thanks for this post. The price of a decent looking pair of ceramic scissors or a ceramic cutting blade has dropped a lot since the last time I seriously took a look at them (several years ago) to the point where they are getting affordable.

Now I have to ask myself, is it possible to own too many scissors, or is there room in my tool box for one more, and the same thing goes for the cutting knife. In both cases, I think care will be needed to keep the blades protected rather than tossing them into a drawer, so that they do not get chipped.
I had purchased a ceramic vegetable peeler which was on sale in order to remove the blade and mount it on a straight handle. It does a great job on straight cuts, though does not handle curves because of its geometry, after all it was designed to be a vegetable peeler not a paper cutter.
I have used ceramic knives in the kitchen, and some of that experience might carry over to the paper world.

First, DO NOT DROP them on a hard floor or bang them on a hard object. Unlike a metal knife which will bounce, a ceramic knife will chip or shatter.

They are extremely sharp, sharper than the average off the shelf knife. However, I have found that a high quality high carbon steel knife (Kiwi knives from Thailand are also surprisingly good, inexpensive and made from good steel) can have thinner blades and if you have a set of decent stones and are willing to regularly hone them can be kept much sharper than a ceramic knife.

You can chop with a metal blade, a decent metal blade is not going to shatter if you bash it against something else. I have not seen any ceramic cleavers for sale. A metal blade is a lot more tolerant of lateral force than a ceramic blade, the former will bend a bit, the latter will snap.

If you hit a metal knife edge against a hard surface (glass cutting board or metal pan) a little time with a stone will return the edge to full sharpness. on the other hand if the edge of a ceramic knife is damaged, that is it for the knife, you either toss it or send it to the manufacturer to be sharpened.
Now, after all that, I have to ask myself, do I want the ceramic pointed tip scissors, or a ceramic craft knife for my birthday?
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