tools founded osaka 1956 ; 60 years ago 1956 founder yoshio okada headquarters higashi nakamoto higashinari ku osaka 537 0021 japan area served worldwide products cutters knives blades cutting accessories website official website footnotes references 1 2 olfa corporation orufa kabushiki gaisha is a japanese manufacturer of utility knives founded in 1956 in osaka japan . the name is derived from the japanese words oru bend and break and ha blade . the company is known for inventing the snap off blade and the rotary cutter . olfa tools and cutting mat contents 1 snap off blade 2 other products 3 see also 4 references 5 external links snap off blade edit founder yoshio okada and his younger brother saburo worked for printing companies where they cut paper with razor blades but the blades quickly became unusable as their edges wore out . the brothers invented blades with scored lines which could be snapped to reveal sharp unused sections of blade . this idea came to them when they recalled how a chocolate bar given to them by an american soldier in childhood had also broken off in sections . 3 these snap off blades and their associated handles are now made by many manufacturers in two standard sizes 9 and 18mm . olfa cutter other products edit their products include heavy duty and specialty cutting tools for the building industry safety tools for industrial applications rotary cutters self healing mats art knives and rulers for the crafting industry . the company s products are frequently recommended for use in crafts such as book repair 4 calligraphy 5 quilt making 6 modelling 7 sewing 8 picture framing 9 and appliqu . 10 see also edit x acto references edit about olfa . olfa corporation . retrieved february 17 2016 . company profile . bloomberg businessweek . bloomberg l.p. retrieved february 17 2016 . birth of olfa cutter schechter abraham a. 1999 . basic book repair methods . libraries unlimited . p. 36 . isbn 1 56308 700 6 . wong frederick 1999 . the complete calligrapher . dover publications . p. 149 . isbn 0 486 40711 x. shedletsky andrea l. 1986 . making a traditional applique sampler quilt . dover publications . p. 3 . isbn 0 486 24999 9 . schmidt norman 2005 . great paper fighter planes . sterling publishing . p. 5 . isbn 1 895569 77 x. coffin david page 1998 . shirtmaking developing skills for fine sewing . taunton press . p. 15 . isbn 1 56158 264 6 . welden dan ; muir pauline 2001 . printmaking in the sun . watson guptill . p. 20 . isbn 0 8230 4292 8 . delaney kathy 2003 . a heartland album more techniques in hand appliqu . kansas city star books . p. 35 . isbn 0 9722739 7 2 . external links edit japan portal companies portal official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title olfa & oldid 744580786 categories companies of japantool manufacturing companies of japanknivescompanies based in osaka prefecturecompanies established in 19561956 establishments in japan20th century introductionsart materials brandsjapanese brandshidden categories use mdy dates from february 2016official website different in wikidata and wikipediaarticles containing japanese language text navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages catal espa ol polski edit links this page was last modified on 16 october 2016 at 04 52 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view