Frank wrote in with a stumper of a question.
Can’t seem to find the fixed blade utility knife razor blade guard (see photos) anywhere.
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Fixed blade utility knives don’t retract, fold up, or slide closed. Their utility knife blades are secured in place, except when you’re swapping a dull blade for a new one.
I have just one of these knives – a Stanley – but it came with a plastic scoring knife blade, and no guard or cap. One of my folding utility knives came with a plastic cap/guard/tip shield, and I believe I’ve seen some others ship with guards as well. Most of the time, plastic guards are used just for packaging purposes, so that you don’t injure yourself when opening up the clamshell packaging to retrieve your new knife.
Fixed blade knives, often come with metal guards that look similar to plastic ones, except you’re not supposed to discard them. Still, accidents and mistakes happen, and these pieces get lost. It’s easy to imagine how a blade cap or guard, which isn’t secured to the knife handle in any way, could disappear without a trace.
After a few minutes of searching online, I was unable to find these pieces available anywhere. The only thing I can think of is that fixed blade utility knife manufacturers might be able to send metal guards out as replacement parts, and hopefully not for a lot of money. (I’ve reached out to Stanley to check on this.)
Have you ever lost a utility knife blade cap? Were you able to find a replacement, and if so, where? What’s a good way not to lose these blade caps, aside from putting them in your pocket?
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walsh
I have never seen the caps. I have seen some pretty cool leather holsters.
John Blair
While not a helpful answer, this would be an excellent time to upgrade to the Milwaukee FastBack or FastBack II flip utility knife. It is the most convenient utility knife I’ve ever used. It would be faster and safer than attaching a blade guard over a fixed blade that may fall off in your tool bag or pocket and stab you when you reach for it.
SteveR
I have an old Stanley fixed-blade knife, but I don’t recall that it had a metal (or plastic) cover as shown. That was news to me; perhaps they quit offering them as they were lost as quickly as the knives were purchased. It may be that many buyers thought they were provided only to protect the blade until the unit was purchased, then looked at as a throw-away. However, I believe mine was sold with the blade retracted, and thus no blade protector. You can, of course, use a screwdriver (or even a thin dime) to release/tighten the screw that holds the blade in place. That’s not as convenient as a sliding blade, but you do what you have to in this situation. Newer utility knives are ergonomic, with rubber coatings to enhance grip and controll, as well as the retractable blade feature. Perhaps it’s time to change over to a more recent model.
John Sullivan
I’ve always used a cork (from a wine bottle) and never had a problem replacing that; not that they’re lost from the utility knife so often that I need to replace them frequently. The only risk comes when making the first plunge of the blade into the cork– a careless slip would mean a nasty gash.
Chad
Get some sugru !!
http://sugru.com/
i dont know if you would just mold it around the blade and it would stay or mold the sugru up and over the handle and make some kind of clip !!
you could get creative and with different colors of it you could make one with red or yellow to make it stand out if it was in a bag or on the work bench.
being that radio shacks are closing down you could possibly pick some up there real cheep ( seen some at my local ratshak for about 5 bucks ) kicked my self for not snagging it cuz its gone now!!
another alternative is get a can of plasti-dip and try that ( might have to put some release type agent on the blade and handle ( make a few of them for when they get lost )
one other thought is once in a while i find a cheap folding razer knife that has a plastic blade cover — might look for one of those tool depots that has them in a large bin for a few bucks — keep the folder and use the blade cover on your non folder/ fixed unit
good luck if you find some let us know where you get them
Chad
Nathan
sorry but other than making your own. why continue to use a fixed blade device? is there an advantage? spend the 5-8 dollars on a decent retractable and call it a day.
I hate to be so negative – I too like to use what I have for as long as I have. but sometimes you have to cut your loses. it would seem you’ll have spent 5-8 dollars of your time or more trying to fix a problem that a newer knife would fix.
mikedt
I like a fixed blade sometimes because if you’re doing heavy cutting you don’t have to worry about the blade pulling lose or mucking up the retracting mechanism. I use this one http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-10-399-Swivel-Lock-Fixed-Utility/dp/B000BQSSRK/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1424311416&sr=8-20&keywords=stanley+utility+knife because the handle opens up so quickly and lets me stash the blade inside. Otherwise it has all the advantages of a fixed blade.
robert wdowiak
properly designed fixed blade knives secure the blade against play, pulling loose, etc. Some retractables are quite good at this, two I own: Stanley fat max extreme 10-815, Stanley 10-122 (made in England). They have lock down wheels 1 3/8 inch wide. The Stanley 10-799 and Stanley 10-8I6 I own are fixed blades with lock down wheels. The best solution I think are belt holders. Mine are made of plastic and a Bucket Boss one made of ballistic nylon with a plastic liner.
Colin
Try the plastic spines that come with clear report covers – you can easily cut them to size. I use them on a couple of my handsaws, and they work great.
John Blair
Hey, that qualifies as on topic and reasonable. My vote for best / safest suggestion.
rshadd
Hi Rich,
Unfortunately, the guards for the fixed blade knives have been discontinued and are no longer available.
In case this email does not fully answer your question, or you would like to contact us for any reason, simply reply to this email.
Thank you,
Lori
Stanley Tools Customer Care
Visit us online at http://www.stanleytools.com
BikerDad
I don’t use fixed blade utility knives. They are banned from my shop, toolbox, and rig. Not worth the hassle of an exposed blade when so many other better solutions that protect against that blade are available. That said, I think the Sugru, cork, and report spines are all decent solutions.
Preston Tyson
It’s not hassle at all…if you have one of these guards. I have one that I’ve had for over 15 years. And everyone is assuming that’s your only line of defense against getting sliced when the opposite is true. You can still put the knife in a sheath,case,holder,etc…When I’m skinning the sheathing from 750mcm Cu,a sturdy,fixed blade is the only knife I can trust.
mikedt
How about a binder clip? They come in all kinds of sizes. You’re not going to be able to slip it into your pocket but it would protect the blade in other cases.
John E
You’re more likely to cut yourself putting the blade cover on, IMO.
I would get a new knife. There’s a good reason they put seat belts
in cars.
Bruce
Build a leather sheath or drink some wine for the cork. Both options work. OR keep your pocket knife sharp so that silly utility blade is a waste of time.
Phil
The one remaining fixed blade utility knife I have is sitting in a toolbox drawer with the blade removed. The retracting and folding ones are all I use now.
I use slide-on folder tabs to keep utility razor blades in safe keeping. These are angled plastic clips where you slide a descriptive label in the upper part and clip the whole mess to the top or edge of a folder leaf. I also use slit rubber vacuum hose.
Cris
Way back when I was first coming up as a carpenter, we used those knifes; mainly because thats all that there was and we loved them. As i recall those covers would last maybe until the second of if you were lucky the third blade change and like magic they were gone never to be seen again. Our work around was the spring clip/binder clips, and if you bent them just right you could use one to line the pocket of your nail pouch so you didn’t slice up yourself.
As time progressed [read after several trips to get stitches] and the retractables were more readily available we all switched and honestly I can’t say as i miss the fixed blades; yes there are some times when it might be an asset but for the most part the risk Vs the reward just isn’t there for me. Whatever time savings there might be using a non retracting fixed blade is clearly lost with a trip to the local emergency dept.
Personally I’m not a fan of the folding knifes either; the ones I’ve used feel cheap and that my hand will slip or it will break. So yes I’m biased and partial to the retractables. Not all are made the same, not all feel comfortable. try them out in your local store and don’t be bashful about changing out the blades before you think you need a new one – the worst thing regardless of whatever type of knife you are using is a dull blade.
Be safe and have fun
jesse
Use a holster of some kind.
richard
I’ve never seen the metal covers before all my fixed stanley knives have a full plastic sheath or rattle around a toolbox without a cover getting blunt and rusty
Pete
As many have said before. Buy a new knife that retracts or folds. I love my milwaukee fastback.
I still have a fixed blade but it only sits in the tool chest drawer.
alan
My go to are my Fastbacks but FIXED blades do have it’s place.
I have 2 old Stanleys I use when I’m doing rough cutting as the fixed blade is more ridgid and has less slop
Rick
I have a 6″ drywall saw that I made a sheath for out of a vacuum cleaner flat angled nozzle. It’s fastened into one of my belt bags. I want to try this for my Stanley 199 fixed blade too but no hurries since I have several nice enough retractibles laying around.
Joe
I go the cheap route and just use a piece of cardboard box paper shaped to the tip and just use electrical tape or with good old duct tape so the paper holds it’s shape (not recommended if you want to put tool in pocket lol). I actually do this to my chisels, file set, and other sharp tools that I put in my tool box that I don’t want their edge to get dull.
Examples:
http://i.imgur.com/UMjWf7m.jpg
Don’t want my file to get dull nor my inspection mirror to break/scratch moving inside the tool box 🙂
Barry
Joe, Great idea. Especially for the inspection mirror. btw- an inspec mirror is priceless when looking for a steam leak around a radiator or the supply shut-off valve, etc. Sometimes you can’t see the leak but the mirror will fog up when your next to it.
Sean
That is a great idea. I was storing some hand tools the other day and had a drywall saw and a linoleum knife that I didn’t really want to throw in with the other tools, but I did….after I taped up the edges with blue painter’s tape. Using some cardboard would have been a much better idea.
Ideally, I would store all these tools in something large enough where no tool was touching another tool, but I don’t have a large chest or anything. I’ve noticed that even the higher quality (higher priced?) hand tools get nicked up pretty quickly when thrown in a box with other hand tools.
John
Hello Frank, I have the cap you are referring to… In fact the pic you posted is of the one I own! The blade guard is marked “Stanley Made in USA No. 1993
If you are interested I can send pics…
I am going to try to make a copy.. =]
.
Barry
fixed blade utility knives – accidents waiting to happen. Good useuse them for part of a metal sculpture.
Larry Zeleznik
I have had the same problem. I just tear off a piece of masking tape and wrap it around the blade.
paul
Only place I have seen one is on a Stanley 199 utility knife I found in a resale shop. It has a Stanley 1993 the other side of the guard.
andy
go for a folding knife instead. Irwin 10507695 is the one you want.
it locks into place and hold a button down to pull the blade out, another to close it (cant be used one handed as well with practise)
Ikay
I have an ancient Stanley Knife No. 199 which was equipped with the exact metal blade protector in your photo.
I lost the blasted thing after abt. 20 years and now it pricks my hand whenever I rummage in my toolbox.
I have not found any place that sells a replacement cap. Don’t think they’re available.
I now have the knife in a pouch similar to the Leatherman pouches.
That knife will outlive me, with or without blade cap. It lasts FOREVER !
Just noticed that since Stanley joined up with Black & Decker, thet the No.199 Knife has become considerably lighter, meaning the cast half-shells have become thinner = weaker.
diydad
I have looked for a solution to this and decided to keep the whole (stanley 199) knife in an old spectacle case and it works a treat, cost nothing with some recycling karma to boot!
Geoff Bennett
It’s easy to make an acceptable substitute from a piece cut from a steel hairspray can.
Make a cardboard template first