Does anyone use ceramic blades? I was reading an ad with the claim “lasts 10x longer than steel blades” and (I’m not sure this is relevant to plastic/resin modelling) are “non-sparking & non-conductive”. I ask because I go through metal blades at a high rate, typically because the point on (I think it’s Xcto # 5) blades snaps off after 15 minutes or so of continuous use, long before the edge has dulled. (Yeah I know don’t press so hard) - I’m curious if ceramic points & edges cut as well without snapping and/or dulling?

The ad also offers three rotary (steel) blades, “standard, skip (perforation), and wavy”. Does anyone use “standard” rotary, and in what way might they give a superior cut to an ordinary blade?

The same ad even offers a swivel-head (steel) blade – presumably like the gun that shoots round corners, it cuts like that (?)

Where I work, a lot of ppl use ceramic bladed box knives instead of the old metal blades. For some reason they are less likely to slice human skin.

If they get dropped, they're ruined.

Gaz

I would reconsider what I use the knives/blades for.

Not for cutting parts off sprues -> side cutters

Not for scraping seams or removing flash -> needle files, "sand"-paper or the reverse edge of the blade which has a 90-degree angle

Removing unwanted surface details -> miniature chisels, riffler files or "sand"-paper glued to chisel pointed ends of sprues or wooden sticks

Larger cutting or material removals -> fret-saw or other types of saws, drills, routers, cutters. Basically anything other than a knife blade

Cutting narrow strips of styrene or paper -> knife blade with LIGHT pressure since I have found that I get cleaner and better cuts that way.

Slicing off details that are needed somewhere else like rivets and bolt heads -> knife blade but this rarely works so I usually end up making new details ...

This change in working methods has reduced the frequency of cut fingers et.c.

/ Robin

..because you spend more time looking for these other tools than you do removing anything Robin.

Ceramic scalpel blades are the same as ceramic kitchen knives - for cutting soft material like flesh, fruit, etc. They are not designed to cut hard objects or anything requiring a little more pressure. The edge is more brittle and likely to chip on styrene.

ceramic is brittle so I would expect more breakage/ chipping. It might stay sharp longer, however.

Backstabber ...

I stopped using XActo blades long ago due to their poor quality.
Dan

[quote
This change in working methods has reduced the frequency of cut fingers et.c.

/ Robin[/quote]

Sadly this is not true for me. I just have to look at anything sharp and I've got a new cut. With ceramic I might nick a thumb and sever my leg mid thigh at the same time.

OK thanks for the cutting remarks guys, no takers about the rotary blade but I suspect it’s probably in the same craft-work category.