Olfa
Established 1956Founded by Yoshio Okada in 1956, Olfa Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of utility knives, especially known for inventing the snap-off blade. The company name derives from a contraction of the Japanese words for ‘break’ and ‘blade’.
Working at a printers, Yoshio Okada had to cut paper with razor blades, but the edges wore out quickly. Inspired by a chocolate bar with breakable sections, Okada invented a blade with scored lines which can be snapped to reveal a new sharp section. Olfa’s most iconic knife is the L1.
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