Recent content by Burgerboy

I got a very early X-Acto #83 set and a #6 knife with a very thick contoured aluminum handle. I've never seen a handle like this before. It also has a wicked looking thick blade marked 33. Interesting, the #1 and #2 knifes are not marked. Seems like X-Acto didn't label the earliest knives. The...

You are welcome, enjoy!

here is the X-Acto dealer's "Lollipop" knife display:

What's interesting is the strong support that X-Acto had for the then-current "Fair Trade Laws." That meant that all the authorized dealers had to sell the exact same product for the same price. X-Acto distributors would not sell to unauthorized resellers. For example, all authorized dealers...

Here is a 1949 Dealer's X-Acto catalog, the earliest one I have. About 12 Mb .pdf file. Happy New Year!

Repost of 1952 X-Acto catalog, about 6Mb .pdf file.

Here's a 1952 X-Acto catalog that you can read under the Christmas tree (just like I used to do with the Sears Dream catalog back in the day.) Enjoy, Happy Holidays!

The #369 vise is extremely rare. I believe they started selling them in the late 1940's. They are in the early 1950's catalog. Some of them are marked No.1. and U.S.A. It seems as the early X-Acto items didn't always have the name embossed on them. I feel Brink and Cotton may have made the...

Vises-over the span of 40 years or so, X-Acto used many different mini ( 1" to 1.75" jaw width) hobby-type bench vises in their larger sets- the 88, 88n, 89, and 99 sets. They were from a variety of manufacturers, mainly in the US, Japan, UK, and later, Taiwan. The earliest vises actually came...

Hi all, I found out some interesting information about the hand "egg-beater" drills that X-Acto includes in their larger tool sets. These drills were made by Henry L. Hanson Co. Inc. of Worcester, MA. The earliest ones had a metal toothed gear, the later ones used plastic for this part, most...

There is a replica of the 1924 Petersen Vise Grip on one of the auction sites. It's sitting at $205 right now.

I was going through my electronics tools and ran across this X-Acto "X-Tra hands." I had forgotten that I had this. It is interesting that the alligator clips are made by Mueller. They are a big supplier of clips to the electrical/electronics industry. One of the photos shows how I use the clips...

It's R2D2's little helping handz!

X-Acto called their version "X-Tra Hands", I've seen them before at the hobby shops. There were several versions, one with 2 hands only, another with only one clips, even another with the magnifier on it. There also was one that looked like a long locking tweezer on the swivel base. Most of the...

I used these alot in electronics and fine precision mechanical silver soldering work. In the industry, we always referred to these as a "third hand." What's nice about them is that the steel claws will help wick away some of the heat, so your part doesn't overheat.