How to Use an Xacto Knife

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Drew Finn here for Expert Village. We are going to talk about standard hand tools and how to use them. We are going to talk about retractable razor blades now. The blades that go up, you have a razor, you can retract them for safety. When you are using these things, always retract them. When you are done cutting especially if you are putting it in your pocket, you want to make sure it is retracted. It is a really good habit to have. Now most blades that most people use are just straight blades, razor sharp and you can change them when they get dull. A very handy blade if you do any kind of cutting of roof shingles or any other material that has a surface on it that is difficult like if it has a stone in it, is a roof shingle cutter and that has a hook on it. How it works you go into the shingle and it actually cuts the back side of it. The front where the stone is, is going to dull the blade almost instantly. So with the hook on it, the hook on the back side is sharpened too. As you cut the shingle, you cut through the backside of it and it is almost as though you had the shingle upside down that you cut the back of it and broke it. That is the most common blades that go in these. "