irishrose

When I started quilting again, I bought a new Olfa cutter from WalMart. It didn't seem overly sharp and dulled quickly. Yesterday I bought a new blade at my lqs. The old blade has a round hole for the nut to go through. The new has a shaped hole. The new one is very sharp.

Is Walmart selling a knockoff blade? Do you remember the last time you changed a blade what the hole looked like? Does Olfa make two different types? My old cutters that are misplaced are Fiskars, so I'm not familar with Olfa. Just curious.

sueisallaboutquilts

I remember a post once where people said they bought blades that had been used and put back in the package (unbeknown to the store)
Could that be what happened?? People are quite sneaky :(
I don't think WM or any other store sells knock-offs unless they are packaged as such.

featherweight

The one with the round hole probably goes in a Fiskars or Omni cutter. The notched one is for the Olfa cutters. They can be interchanged.

irishrose

It was a factory sealed package. An Olfa cutter with a blade in it. When I put the new blade in yesterday, the new seemed a little lighter in addition to having a different hole. Strange!!!

IrishNY

We discussed that WM forces supplier to reduce prices and they have to cut their costs to do so (and sometimes quality). I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the quality of blades or cutters sold by WM have diminished over time. But I have no personal knowledge that it has happened.

Airwick156

Buy your blades from Harbor Freight. They are $1.99 for a package of 2 blades and are called Carpet Cutter Replacement Blades. :) That way if you get one that isnt sharp, you won't be wasting so much money. :)

Shelbie

I have never seen a genuine Olfa blade with a round hole although there are many of the no name brands especially those made for cutting paper for scrap booking that do. A new Olfa blade should have the slightly cut out edges on the hole and last much longer than that. You'd almost think that it had been switched somehow.