I just learned that Stanley Black & Decker acquired TechniEdge, a utility knife and blade maker.
I posted about the TechniEdge Revo knife a few years ago, and a reader recently contacted me about it, bringing the brand back to my attention.
Whenever I revisit an older ToolGuyd post, I will usually check purchase and informational links to ensure they’re still valid and accurate. In doing so here, I was surprised to find the above notice on TechniEdge’s website.
Advertisement
TechniEdge says that their parent company, IDL TechniEdge LLC, was acquired by Stanley Black & Decker in March of 2018. Yes, 2018.
You might be surprised that this acquisition took nearly 4 years to come to light, but quiet actions like this seem to be the norm these days. For instance, Stanley Black & Decker acquired Waterloo industries, a tool box brand and manufacturer, back in 2017, and we only learned about it from a corporate earnings report recording 6 months later.
What’s strange is that it looks like the TechniEdge brand has been shut down. On their website, the notice asks customers to “visit one of the brands shown below for all your blade needs,” with graphics and links pointing to Dewalt, Craftsman, Stanley, Irwin, Lenox, and Bostitch brands.
On LinkedIn:
DL Techni Edge has been manufacturing blades and hand tools since 1979 and is proud that our blades are made in the USA. We manufacture all types of hand tool knives and blades including hobby, utility, single edge, flooring, and more. With more than forty years of experience designing and manufacturing custom, specialty, and OEM blades, IDL Techni Edge can meet all your straight edge blade needs. IDL Techni Edge also offers innovative knives and tools, including our award-winning REVO Folding Utility Knife.
I wonder what Stanley Black & Decker sought from the brand – maybe their industrial know-how, facilities, or intellectual property such as patents.
Advertisement
Strangely, the Revo knife is no longer available from TechniEdge, but you can find identical knives under Excel Blades branding on Amazon.
Jim Felt
Off to “C h i n a” with their manufacturing technology? Or given the other US Made blade capacity maybe like you suggested just a broader physical manufacturing capacity under their corporate umbrella?
I sure see a lot of “Made in the USA” on the several brands of 100 blades packs we buy.
Stuart
Stanley Black & Decker already makes blades in the USA, and I have purchased several styles that were made in England.
This company is now a subsidiary, but it’s unclear what they’re contributing.
Rog
One less “competitor” in the marketplace?
OhioHead
^ Bingo one less US based company to manufacture knives and blades for the competition.
Todd landess
They need to get a good knife manufacturer, because all their brands suck at the knives installing blades ,changing them .Milwaukee knives you can change easily .I thought fiskars had a good knife but couldn’t get a blade to lock in when changing ended up destroying the knife trying to get it to lock back in. Idk what’s so hard about making a quality knife that you can change the blade in but a lot of these Stanley black and decker brands are horrible
David Z
Did a little digging… The last CEO was Sean Quinn. He was at Black and Decker a long time ago. Then he went off and founded PowerShot. He runs an investment company specializing in small-mid manufacturing companies.
If I were to guess, IDL Tools -TechniEdge was an investment and he leveraged his connections at SBD to sell it to them. Maybe he did some clean-up beforehand.
Jason McKay
The Kobalt knives have always been sturdy and reliable for me. No issues (other than loosing them…). I’ve tried 4 other brands which all had either blade release or lock-out issues. I Really liked the box-cutter/knife duo that Kobalt had….just can’t find it anymore. It had a quality knife blade!!!
fred
I’m kind of partial to Tajima utility knives and blades – but also like Olfa
MM
I remember having purchased Techni-Edge branded blades years ago. I had high expectations given that they were USA made and premium priced. I found them to be no better than generic brands.
Like Fred, I like Tajima and Olfa and have found them to be consistently above average. I am especially fond of the black Olfa 25mm extra-heavy-duty extra-sharp snap blades. I have purchased those repeatedly for years. I did not buy Techni-Edge a second time.
Michael Martin
Coast Products makes several utility knifes. Never had a issue with changing the blades. Stainless steel bodies on some.
James
Knew this years ago when I went to purchase a knife they made. After purchase they junked the superior products made by TechniEdge. All SBD did was remove the competition.