When you start renovations at home, the wallpaper knife or cutter comes in very handy. This tool is typically used to tear sheets off wallpaper, tape, elastic flooring, and even carpet. No need to sharpen it, it has sufficiently sharp segmented blades. However, when one of them wears off, many people make an unintentional mistake that makes it difficult for them. Find out what it’s all about
Wallpaper knife (cutter): beware of this little mistake!
A wallpaper knife – Source: spm
Once the blade dulls, most people tend to break it by pressing the knife against the floor or wall. Sometimes they even use pliers for this. But, they risk damaging another segmented blade, while there is a much faster and more precise way to facilitate this maneuver and not damage the knife.
This is because at the end of each segment of the wallpaper knife there is a tip that you can pull out and use it to break off the dull blade very precisely. Surprisingly, many people, even regular users of these knives, are unaware of this little trick, which makes the job even easier. Everything has been perfectly well thought out by the manufacturers who have voluntarily integrated this point to precisely facilitate the breaking of blunt ends. So you just have to remove only the plastic element which is the end of the knife and place it on the last blunt segment of the blade. From there, you can break it carefully without risking injury or damaging the knife.
What are the particularities of cutters?
Using a wallpaper knife – Source: spm
Wallpaper knives can be equipped with a segmented blade (where the segments break off when dulled), but also with a fixed trapezoidal or hook blade. The first type is probably the most popular with consumers. The standard blades feature a width of 9mm, a thickness of 0.38mm and a cutting length of 80mm with 12 segments. There are also other sizes: 18 mm wide, 0.5 mm thick and 100 mm cutting length with 7 segments. When you buy higher quality models, you usually get a factory fitted knife, made of stainless steel and equipped with about 5 spare blades.
This type of knife is often used to make a precise and clean cut on the excess wallpaper that is already glued to the wall. It is also called a “knife to edge” and it is used everywhere, both on the ceiling, around the frames of a door or a window. For best effect, the wallpaper should never be too wet and should have time to dry sufficiently on the wall. For a clean cut, always use a ruler or cutting blade.
The wallpaper knife is also used to make a cross cut above switches and sockets. You don’t have to tear the wallpaper with your own hands or in any other way: this knife has been specially designed to “rip” this wallpaper cleanly and precisely. If the blade is very sharp and of very good quality, only minimal pressure will be required. Be careful all the same, because too much pressure can damage certain materials such as wood or plastic in the case of windows and doors.
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Via SPM
