Tools of the Trade
Day Five: Victorinox Sharpener
A few years ago, I spent each day in January writing about a different tool I use in my maskmaking. As I am currently redesigning my entire website in the new year, I thought it might be nice to revisit this project. Each day in January 2021, I’ll share a different item that I use in my studio. I hope some of these can help other people who are interested in making wrestling masks.
Yesterday I showed the Olfa Art Knife that I use to cut the material for my mask plates. Today, I thought it would be helpful to share a little trick I learned, and the tool you use to do the trick. It’s important to use sharp blades when you’re cutting your material. Dull blades take more effort to use, and may result in ragged and imprecise cuts, and potentially could end up with you cutting yourself as you try to force the dull blade through the material. I used to go through blades pretty quickly, but then I was watching a leatherworking tutorial video and saw somebody honing their Xacto blades with a Victorinox Pocket Sharpener. When you use a blade to cut material, the sharp edge gets slightly bent to one side or another, and this contributes to a dull blade. Now before each cutting session, I pull the blade of my Olfa through the crisscrossed stones in the tip of this sharpener. A few strokes pulls the edge of the blade back into alignment, and cutting is a lot easier. This tool helps me extend the life of my Olfa blades. Where before I might change the blades once an hour, I can now make a single blade last a week or more!
Bonus Tool of the Trade: when I decide a blade is finally not performing up to par, even with the honing process, I use this Olfa Blade Disposal Can to store the discarded blade. The can is a little smaller than a hockey puck, and has a little door in the side that slides to reveal a slot. You stick your used blades in there, where they’re trapped inside. I also put snap-off blades in there; you can actually use it to snap the blades off by just sliding the tip in there and pulling the knife down (the blade snaps off and falls into the can.) This is much better than my previous method, which was to just lie the discarded blade on the table next to me, where I would inevitably cut myself with it later.