16/Feb/2011 Kennedy craft knife

So much work to do...


Really tired and the worst thing is I am a bit stuck on the new project.

Anyway, I can’t help if I don’t have any idea in my mind. Maybe a bit of blogging will help.


Today’s topic is about a craft knife. I bought this medium duty knife in the Bonington shop for £3.50, not that expensive. It’s made by Kennedy Tools, which is a tool maker and industrial distribution group based in Leicester since the 70’s.

To design a knife must be a big challenge, one wrong decision could lead to potential danger to the users. This knife makes me feel solid and safe when I hold it in my hand, thanks to its big and heavy metal body (I think it’s a shame that I can only say metal but don’t have the ability to recognise what specific type of metal it is). Those curves and soft edges provide good level of comfort for the hand. The bit that slides the blade out- I don’t know how to call it, I shall call it a slider- is also made from metal, press it with thumb, it unlocks, then push or pull it to control the length of the blade. There are four positions the blade can be locked on and even at its longest position, the blade only comes out for about 2.7 cm, reduces the risk of bending the blade. One problem about the outside is that the two ends are pretty much identical so I often hold it with the wrong end up. If I still manage to slide the blade out when I hold it the wrong way up, the blade will cut my finger.

When I hold the knife in my hand and shake it, I can feel there is a piece of metal inside the knife and always wondered what it could be. I disassembled it by removing that big screw on the body, then I knew it was separate blades. Even though it says there are spare blades provided, there is no explanation or instruction about how you find them and replace them. A bad mark for that. However the change of blades is very easy and straight forward. I can also see how the slider works when it’s disassembled. Now people might think it’s not a good idea to put the spear blades inside the knife and ever time they are needed you have to unscrew it and take all components apart, but I think the designer did this for a reason. First of all, a missing blade is not only a matter of having to spend extra money on buying a new one, but it could be dangerous. The best way to prevent a missing blade, is to put the spare blades inside the knife itself. Secondly, you don’t really need to change the blade that often unless you really use it a lot or cut something hard. Last but not the least, the screw can be easily removed by using a thin coin. So I think the designer has thought very carefully on providing better convenience or safety, and obviously the latter is more important.

I will call it a day now, because I am so tired but still really need to do work for my project. I really can talk a lot more about this knife design, well maybe in the future I will write this topic again to find out if I am improved or not.

Tomorrow’s topic: the Arco Lamp