My brand new utility knife snapped mid-cut on a 14 foot sheet yesterday

I was running a long cut on a ceiling board in a basement reno over in Clifton and snap, the blade housing just cracked right in half. It was a brand new Stanley I picked up on Monday, so I was pretty ticked off. Had to switch to my backup which was dull as heck and just fought me for the rest of the afternoon. I figure it was a bad batch of plastic or something, never had a knife just break like that before. Anyone else have a newer Stanley knife fall apart on them? Might need to switch to a metal handle one.

2 comments

2 Comments

perez.barbara1mo agoMost Upvoted

You know what, I had a similar thing happen with a different brand a few years back, trust me it's not just Stanley. I was out in Oakley cutting through some stubborn old linoleum in a flipped house and the handle on my old Craftsman just split down the middle. Like, I felt the snap go through my whole hand. It was one of those bright red ones too, not the cheap clear plastic. Turns out they just don't make the plastic handles like they used to, I guess, all that injection molding stuff gets brittle in the cold. I switched to one of those all-metal retractable ones and it's been a tank, no handle issues at all, just keep a spare blade in the handle.

fox.jesse1mo ago

Wait, are you telling me there's a two for one special on busted handles now? First Stanley, now Craftsman, pretty soon I'm gonna have to start a collection of broken tools just to prove I actually use them for work. But you're spot on about that brittle plastic though, I've got an old utility knife from my dad that's been through hell and back and the handle's still solid, meanwhile the new ones I bought last year already look like they're about to quit. Makes you wonder if they're secretly making them weaker on purpose so you gotta buy another one every season... My buddy swears by those all-metal ones too, says he could probably use his as a hammer in a pinch and it'd still be fine. Guess that's the way to go if you don't want your hand feeling like you just shook hands with a bear trap.