How to Safely and Effectively Use a Utility Knife

A utility knife is needed by everyone. They are essential due to their adaptability. Opening cardboard boxes and cutting them into small pieces for recycling can be done with a utility knife. You can cut plastic strapping, drywall, carpet, shingles, packing tape, and carpet. When you want to cut through a layer of paint or light rust, these tools can sharpen a carpenter's pencil or scribe a cut line on wood or even metal.

As a result, everyone needs to understand how to use one safely. The disposable blade on these knives is short and has two ends. You can quickly resume cutting by removing the dull end of the blade and flipping it over so that the sharp end is exposed. Change the blade out for a new one when both ends are dull.

The majority of these knives have blades that slide out (retract). However, a small number of knives have fixed blades, which are primarily utilized by specific trades, such as carpet installers, where the sliding mechanism could be damaged during the work. Others, on the other hand, use blades that pivot open (think of a folding knife).

We outline some basic uses and offer some safety advice below. But first, some of the utility knives and blades that we like best.

The Best Blades and Utility Knives

GROZ HEAVY DUTY RETRACTABLE UTILITY KNIFE | BLADE STORAGE – HOLDS UP TO 6 EXTRA BLADES | QUICK RELEASE BUTTON TO DISPOSE OF BLADE | LIGHTWEIGHT ALUMINUM BODY

How to Use the Various Systems That Change Blades

Over the past two decades, utility knives have been the subject of extensive engineering, particularly with regard to how their blades are changed. Today, defining features include tool-free blade swapping and tool-free access to the spare blade magazine. Although these are useful features, dirt, drywall dust, carpet fibers, and shingle particles can clog the latches that enable them. However, opening a utility knife body with a screwdriver can appear clumsy. On a chilly winter day, changing blades without a tool or with a screwdriver can be challenging.

Safe Use of a Utility Knife

The majority of the time, you hold the object being cut while cutting with the utility knife in the other hand. This means that you could get a nasty, even fatal cut if you don't pay attention to where the holding hand, wrist, and forearm are. That was done by a professional carpenter I know, and the result is an impressive scar on the inside of his forearm. Additionally, there are numerous additional horrific tales. A carpenter who needed to be airlifted to the emergency room due to such a cut was the latest story I heard about.

To avoid telling one of these stories, you should:

1. Try not to use too much force. The majority of materials can be cut with minimal pressure using utility knives, which are razor-sharp.
2. Keep your holding hand away from the blade of the knife.
3. Swing the blade away from the cut. A machete is not a utility knife. After making contact with the material, apply gentle, even pressure as you pull the knife through the cut.
4. When the blade becomes dull, change it.
5. Lastly, the knife should never be pulled directly at you. The knife ought to be by your side when you are done cutting. You won't cut into your thigh, arm, knee, or the hand holding the work this way.

A utility knife is excellent at slicing, scoring, and making thin carving cuts. Thin cutting is the focus here. Keep in mind that the blade of a utility knife is not particularly long and thin. It won't do as well if you bury it in a thick or hard cut. Roofing, carpet, and synthetic sheeting are just a few examples of thick and tough materials for which manufacturers create specialized hook-shaped blades. Naturally, the instrument is necessary for sharpening a carpenter pencil.

Installing drywall is one of the most common uses for a utility knife. As long as you maintain a reasonably sharp blade and keep the knife clean to prevent gypsum dust from clinging to the blade and preventing the magazine door from unlatching, any utility knife works well for this.

Even though you don't need the knife to snap a sheet of drywall, you do need it to cut the paper backing of the drywall.

Using a utility knife and a tape measure, professional carpenters and drywall installers frequently cut a sheet or create strips of drywall.

Additionally, the point of the utility knife can scribe a very precise cut line in both metal and wood.

Additionally, a utility knife can cut a metal line. For this purpose, the tool works best on aluminum, but it can also be used on steel.

How to Get Rid of Blades from Utility Knives

Several contractor bags of debris have had the blade of a utility knife poke right through the side, as I have seen. Additionally, the protruding blade has caught on walls, poked people in the leg, or even caused the bag to tear open, spilling trash all over the floor, all of which I have witnessed. That issue can be resolved in just two steps.