This week on the channel +20K views this week

TAOW gives its utility knife a more secure grip

The October redesign tests aluminium, brass and composites with a separate blade clamp and a custom machining fixture.

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TAOW Story of November 9, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Machining a Better Utility Knife Handle

Things we can learn from the video

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0:00The previous skeleton-style handles suffer from flex and an insecure blade clamp.
0:56A separate clamp and double-sided machining fixture are designed in CAD to improve rigidity and finish.
2:07The aluminium fixture plate is machined, with custom clamping blocks added to secure the handle blanks.
4:06An aluminium prototype is machined and assembled before the project moves to brass.
8:31Phenolic introduces flex and abrasive-dust concerns; orange-and-black G10 provides another material to test.

The old handle had a problem more serious than an awkward grip: during heavy use, its blade could come out. TAOW's answer in "Machining a Better Utility Knife Handle" is a separate clamping component, designed to make the assembly more rigid and hold the blade securely.

There were no new uploads this week, but that October workshop project remains the channel's busiest video. The work starts in CAD, then moves to making the double-sided fixture that holds the blanks during machining. It is a useful reminder that making the tool sometimes means first making the tooling.

Aluminium gets the first prototype, followed by brass. "Brass is such an amazing material," TAOW says while inspecting the result. The composite experiments bring different trade-offs: the phenolic version raises concerns about flex and abrasive dust, before an orange-and-black G10 handle gets its turn. By assembly, TAOW reports that the revised clamp holds the blade much more securely.

The catalogue brought in roughly 20,000 views over the week, with subscribers unchanged. Daily viewing is running at less than half its usual pace. Among nearby workshop channels, myfordboy had a similar weekly audience, while Keith Rucker had a substantially busier week.

TAOW's shorter "Pushing the Makera Z1 to 1.5mm DOC" also remains active. Its subject is the aluminium fixture behind the knife project: an unglamorous-looking plate that makes the more recognisable finished object possible.

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