OLFA
Japanese utility knife company
OLFA Corporation (オルファ株式会社, Orufa Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese manufacturer of utility knives, founded in 1956 in Osaka, Japan. The name is derived from the Japanese words oru (折る, bend and break) and ha (刃, blade). The company is known for inventing the snap-off blade and the rotary cutter.
01Snap-off blade
Founder Yoshio Okada and his younger brother Saburo worked for printing companies where they cut paper with razor blades, but the blades quickly became unusable as their edges wore out. The brothers invented blades with scored lines which could be snapped to reveal sharp unused sections of blade. This idea came to them when they recalled how a chocolate bar given to them by an American soldier in childhood had also broken off in sections.
These snap-off blades and their associated handles are now made by many manufacturers in three standard sizes (9, 18, and 25mm).
02Other products
Their products include heavy-duty and specialty cutting tools for the building industry, safety tools for industrial applications, rotary cutters, self-healing or cutting mats, art knives and rulers for the crafting industry.
The company's products are frequently recommended for use in crafts such as book repair, calligraphy, quilt making, modelling, sewing, picture framing and appliqué.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “OLFA”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Narzędzia OLFA.jpg by OLfanPL, CC BY-SA 3.0
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