Customer Reviews

Skil 2352-01 3.6-Volt Lithium-Ion Multi-Cutter

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The product does a great job cutting many things, but can easily choke on two layers of cardboard if it's tilted sideways by a bit. When it doesn't cut, often the blade is a fraction of an inch away from what needs cutting, and it's a feed problem. Keeping it straight helps a lot on thick things, and sometimes, angling the front downwards slightly can get it to bite and go smoothly.

If you are not feeding it something at maximum thickness, and are keeping it straight, it does a fine job.

As for the safety switch, the tool is designed so that if you grab it with one hand, chances are the switch will be a bit forward of where your thumb is likely to end up. You will be a lot less likely to turn it on by mistake while grabbing it, but the trade off is that the button feels a bit forward of where you might expect it. But it's hardly a chore and stretching your thumb forward a fraction of an inch is all it takes.

The safety switch can be pressed from either side, so you can use it with your left or right hand. But if you use your left hand, you can't see the blade area and are more likely to have problems keeping the tool at the correct angle. If you are left handed, it won't be the ideal tool.

Seems overpriced for what it is. Its main design fault is the slow speed of the cutting blade. I bought it for cutting fabric for garment making. Professional versions of similar cutters used in the fashion industry are more powerful and very high speed, allowing cutting around quite sharp curves without nasty jagged edges. So I was disappointed and would not recommend it for any precision work, only as a rough cutter. I would almost go as far as to call it junk at the price of $52. Maybe for $20 it would be OK.

So far this has been a great product that I think anyone who regularly shops here needs to consider. If you use it for nothing else then to cut up the cardboard boxes that your Amazon orders arrive in it will earn it's place amongst your other tools.

Like some here my family does a fair amount of shopping here and the cardboard boxes can pile up. We try to reuse them for other things, but sometimes they just get out of control and pile up. The Multi-cutter has helped handle this most recent episode, making the dispatching of several dozen boxes in various sizes and states of use and abuse a task that took only a few hours of steady work instead of several hours of frustratingly boring work.

In the, roughly, three hours of steady work the battery held out with no cutting problems until near the very end. I do have to say that running it that constantly is probably not recommended as the unit did start to get a little warm there at the end.

As to the auto-sharpener feature this works very well. While cutting through a box from a vacuum cleaner I hit one of those heavy duty industrial staples and nicked the blade in a couple of spots. Thirty minutes worth of work later and the nicks were all but gone. By the end of my work you couldn't see where I had nicked the cutter at all.

The Multi-cutter has a few nice safety features as well. Beyond the sturdy safety guard around the blade there is also a safety button, set up for right and left handed use, that must be pressed before the trigger will engage. The first time or two you use the tool this is going to feel a little awkward, but you'll get used to it. Remember, once the trigger is depressed you do not have to hold down the safety button any more, though you will have to press it again if you let go of the trigger. The last safety feature is that the Multi-cutter will not work while the unit is charging. This makes it just a little bit safer if you have younger children (or not very bright friends and/or family) who like to play with your tools

For the record, besides cardboard, I have also used the tool to cut fabric (including denim), stacks of construction paper, card stock, and standard paper, as well as various densities of foam.

I had been looking for a tool that would cut carpet and padding without damaging my hands. The Skil Multi-cutter totally fits the bill. It cut through my old carpet like butter, allowing me to remove the pad and carpet in a 14x10 room in small managable load in less than 2 hours.

It holds a charge for more than 2 weeks when not in use and had plenty of power to go after the initial 2 hour use. It requires no maintenance and is solidly built to last.

This product easily deservers 5 stars.

I purchased the Skil Multi-Cutter to help breakdown cardboard boxes for recycling. I had been using a box cutter but always risked cutting too deep into my carpet or slipping and cutting my leg. With the Skil, the risk is gone. It cuts quickly, maintains its charge for a long time, is safe and fun to use. Just hang it on a hook at a convenient location - you'll use it frequently. I don't rave about tools, but this was a great purchase!

It cuts stuff alright, but it is difficult to get it to glide through material. The angle at which you hold the instrument must be just right or it binds. Initially bought it for box cutting, but reverted back to the blade. This thing was too slow and difficult on boxes. I also thought I got it for a great Amazon "today's special" price, but a similar price is available at other outlets. It is overpriced at sale price of $50. I'd give it a $25 value. Perhaps if I get to use it on other materials that are difficult to cut with my existing tools, I'll rate it higher.

I held off buying one for months because of the high price for perceived limited usefulness.
I finally bought this for one reason: cutting open those #@!%#@ impenetrable plastic packages. Looks like those packages will not go away any time soon. Just got tired of a self sacrifice when trying to break into a new gadget, as well as avoiding causing damage to the product inside [done that too.]. For that task it is wonderful. Zips through the sealed edge with no blood letting. It also cuts through those heavy cardboard boxes with ease to easily fit in the trash bin.
A fine detail cutter it is not, and I am skeptical of any kind of precision cutting of lots of other things claimed or implied, but better than any other solution I have seen for those disgusting plastic packages that are almost everywhere these days.
It is so good at that single task, I bought one for each of my children - specifically for the job of safer package opening. The price is bit stiff but looks like it will be coming down a bit. Is it really a luxury to stop hurting yourself on demon packages? No single tool does everything anyway, so go with the strength if you need it.
Not a substitute for tin snips, hack saw, cloth shears, editor's scissors, paper cutter, carpet cutter, table saw, torch or explosives.

This product is finally shipping from Skil (early August, 2008) after a long anticipated introduction period. It is a good product that performs as well as described in its early advertising. The only criticism I have is that the safety switch is difficult to press if you have anything but a giant's hand. (My hands are quite gigantic, and I have trouble engaging the switch to turn the cutter on with just one hand.) However, with a little practice, you should be able to learn to overlook this one shortcoming.

It does a great job cutting many different materials up to 1/4" thick, including floor tiles and vinyl siding. One of its best features is its lithium-ion battery's long, dependable charge life. I find that this tool is very handy to have around my work shop.

This item is OK, but it only cuts in a straight line, you cannot deviate into even a slight curve cut or a profile cut without it just jamming. It balks at 1/4" double ply cardboard and that's about its limit. It does a nice job though on thin wrapping paper (again, straight cuts only).
When cutting along a "fence" or guide-strip (for precision cuts,) at the very end it wanders and veers off-course...very frustrating!
The 'safety" button slash "dead man's" switch is a bit of a bore to use and it is cumbersome, but, maybe it was designed that way for safety.
I can't find any source in the supplied documentation to obtain a replacement blade, so I guess this is a "throwaway" tool.
Don't throw away your Olfa break-off knife and cutting mat, this tool has its place but is no substitute.

I was expecting the ergonomics of this to be similar to the ergonomics of the Skil cordless screw driver, which is a pleasure to handle - this is not.
This was tiring just to experiment with. It is very unbalanced from left to right, you have to hold it "up" horizontally. It is not well balanced from front to back either, so you are working to keep it just so. I had a hard time controlling it to keep on a straight run. If you have small hands, you need 2 hands to get it out of safety mode as your thumb will not reach the safety latch and the go trigger at the same time - perfect if you are worried about kids getting to it. This is a man's rough cutter for straight runs, perhaps. For the average woman to use for fabric, wrapping paper, drawer lining - not at all. Sending it back.