IRWIN 2089100 Folding Utility Knife - Heavy Duty Retractable Blade, Ergonomic Grip for DIY, Crafting, and Construction - Perfect for Cutting Boxes, Carpentry, and Home Improvement Projects

Having read the previous very negative review, I almost elected not to order this cutter. My job requires daily and frequent use of a box cutter to first open and later cut apart cardboard cases containing wine and spirits bottles. I like the knives with self-retracting blades for safety. Many of the self-retracting blade box cutters available use proprietary blades which must be purchased from the cutter's manufacturer (note high cost per blade). I have researched, purchased at my own expense, and tested on the job over a dozen such designs. Every single one of these uses poor quality metal in their blades such that they dull very quickly and will not "take" a fresh sharp edge (I use a small diamond coated steel rod sharpener that fits nicely in my tool pouch alongside of the cutter; several nice diamond sharpeners available on Amazon). These cutters are engineered specifically to make it IMpossible to use any other replacement blade except the poor quality one offered by the cutter's maker. For several years, I have used a Stanley box cutter with self-retracting blade. It is a fairly simple design, all metal construction with nice heft, uses ANY standard utility knife blade, and has been a true work horse for me. The only thing I have wanted to see improved about the Stanley is the process of changing the blade after several quick resharpenings. That process requires use of a phillips screw driver and you run the risk each time of dropping and losing the special size and shape screw. Always on the lookout for a better box cutter, I did a search on Google and found the Tajima VR-103 Self-Retracting One Piece Utility Knife sold by Amazon. I was surprised by the greater than $20 price each, but it looked so good that I ordered two of them on SEPT 25th. To date, OCT 24th they have still not shipped and I am an Amazon Prime member. More recently, I came across this Irwin box cutter. I order one late evening on OCT 20th and it arrived today, OCT 24th. This cutter is quite similar to my old faithful Stanley. The Irwin is all metal with similar heft. It is true that there is no blade in the internal slide carriage when you receive the Irwin knife, but one must open the knife to remove the retail display card, and this should lead to the discovery to two blades that are stored inside the knife in a very well engineered space near the rear of the handle. These spare blades are held in place by an easily controlled spring lever not visible from the outside of the knife. The spring lever holds them quite firmly so they do not move about during use of the cutter. The two blades included have blunted points which I suppose is in keeping with the increased safety nature of the cutter's design. I do not care for the blunted point blades, so I immediately replaced them with standard point utility blades. No problem, the sliding carriage and the internal storage area both accept the standard point standard size utility knife blades. The retracting spring on the Irwin blade carriage is very slightly less vigorous than the corresponding spring on my Stanley, but otherwise just fine. As for changing the blade, the no lose screw works well. You back it out far enough to Separate the two halves of the knife handle, but the screw remains affixed to one of the halves. I should note that this screw on the Irwin cutter I received does not match the photo on Amazon. The photo shows what appears to be a metal bail handle on the screw head. It appears that this bail may be rotated to one side to reduce the profile of the head of the screw. The unit I received has a different design to the screw head. No moving part (bail). Instead, the screw has a single flat wing crossing the full diameter of the screw head. That makes it about 1/2" long. It is at least one eighth inch thick, and about 3/16" to 1/4" high. It is a fixed shape. It does offer a good gripping feature to control and rotate the screw without any need for tools. I thought it might get in the way of gripping the knife during use, but I tested it in all three grips I use the most and, if anything, it actually makes it easier to gain a well controlled grip on the knife. At less than one third the cost of the Tajima VR-103, this Irwin does everything I wanted. I guess I'll leave the order for the two Tajima units active; delivery of those is now projected for Monday, OCT 29. I'll try to leave feedback about the Tajima design, if I have time, but difficult to imagine them being three times better than this excellent Irwin utility knife.