Letter opener

[KCW]

Ok, so I made a letter opener for a customer, and they loved the work, but want a letter opener with a sharper blade. Does anyone know of a kit that has a "sharp" blade? I'm not talking razor sharp, but he is saying that the opener has a tendency to tear chunks out of the envelope, rather than slice through it. Let me know what you think.

 

[magpens]

Most letter openers are dull and tend to tear rather than slice.

It helps to crease the envelope edge with your thumb nail before using the letter opener

 

[KCW]

Thanks Mal, I personally would not want a sharp letter opener, but my customer would like something a bit sharper. I used the deluxe chrome kit from PSI.

 

[Dan Masshardt]

He wants this then. But it's not a turning project.

http://m.woodcraft.com/product/157858/sarge-letter-opener-knife-kit.aspx

 

[hilltopper46]

Made with the right wood, the opener in the link below is sharper than any of the metal kit openers. I made one from Sycamore, and it has held up over the years.

http://woodturninglearn.net/articles/LetterOpener.pdf

Edited to add...

The one I made was more like this other link (below) - I used an off-center turning technique to make it.

http://thiswoodwork.com/off-centre-woodturning-letter-opener/

 

[leehljp]

A very hard wood with sharpened edges would do well. Personally, I have taken a couple of letter openers and sharpened the edges for the reason stated. I remember old letter openers from the '50s and '60s that did not tear the envelope. They were thinner and had a sharpened edge, not as much as a razor edge knife, but they didn't tear the envelope.

I use a HF type of 30 inch belt sander like this:
1 in. x 30 in. Belt Sander

In the past two years, I have sharpened the edges of two (in our office) without making them "razor" sharp and they work well for their intended use.

 

[KCW]

Thank you guys, I may have to try the wooden blade. I will have to see if he is up for it. What type of finish did you use on that Tony?

 

[hilltopper46]

It just lays around here on the desk - I never really did finish it.

If I were to finish it I would use wipe-on-poly on something like sycamore. On harder woods like Osage orange or cocobolo (as an example) I would just sand it to 600 grit and then buff it out.