Introduction: Make a Paper Knife From an Old Brochure or Card Paper

This is my first instructable. I am rushing to meet the deadline which is a few hours away so I ask for your understanding for any sloppiness on my part.

Objective : Well the goal of this instructable is to show how a paper knife can be made from any junk direct mail or company brochure that is printed on thick card paper.

Benefits: We can easily make disposable paper knives that are of practical use in the office, and safe to leave with kids without worrying about accidental injury or damage to people, objects and glossy surfaces. It is also an environment friendly way to dispose of the tons of direct mail and other junk mail. One brochure can yield many knives that can be used by your entire team. Save money on stationery bills !

What You Need : A Brochure, greeting card, or paper folder, made of thick paper (say 100 GSM thickness and above. You can only cut paper that is of lesser thickness than the knife and a 100 GSM card paper should give you a knife that will open most envelopes or cut paper for craft work.)

I used an A3 sized folder with pockets for inserts, the kind that is distributed at a conference, as shown in the pictures

Tools of the Trade : You will need

  1. A pencil to draw the outline of a knife on the brochure paper.
  2. If, like me, you are not good at sketching, you will need a knife such as a kitchen knife or a cake knife to model the design.
  3. A pair of scissors or a paper cutter.

Step 1: Draw the Outline of the Knife on the Brochure Paper

As you can see in the picture, I inserted a cake knife in the sleeve of the folder upto the handle. This gave me a thicker handle.
Then I roughly traced the knife on the paper with pencil.

Step 2: Cut Along the Outline

Since the cake knife on which I modeled this outline, had a serrated edge, the knife outline is jagged. However, while cutting through it I smoothed it over to provide a clean sharp edge to my paper knife.
I cut through the folder pocket at random, to provide a thick handle for my knife. Here is what the final product looks like :

Step 3: Give Yourself the Cutting Edge

Et voila ! You have a knife that works fine to cut paper envelopes and stationery.
A better craftsman than I, would have given a more decent shape to the end product but the knife works fine.

TIP : You could even seal the folded handle of the knife with glue to create a pocket where one could keep rubber bands or paper clips etc. For paucity of time, I could not show that. Once again my apologies for the sloppiness in craftsmanship but I hope you find the instructable useful. Cheers !