Black & Decker 4V MAX Scissors, Fabric Craft, Cordless and USB Rechargeable

A compact cutter that earns a spot on the craft table

I’ve tried a handful of powered cutters over the years, and most either felt like novelties or were too specialized to keep close at hand. The Black+Decker 4V scissors hit a nice middle ground for everyday crafting and sewing: small enough to live in a drawer, powerful enough to spare my wrist on long cutting sessions, and straightforward to use.

For clarity, I’m going to call it the Black+Decker 4V scissors throughout.

Design and ergonomics

The tool is essentially a compact electric handle with a small reciprocating cutter head. It weighs about 1.1 pounds and measures roughly 11 inches long, which sounds large on paper but feels balanced in the hand. The non-slip grip has a tacky texture that’s comfortable during extended use, and the extra-long trigger makes it easy to maintain power as you shift grip to navigate long cuts.

There’s a safety lock that prevents accidental starts. I appreciate that for storage and when setting the tool down mid-project. That said, the combination of safety lock and long trigger means hand placement matters. Early on, I occasionally bumped the lock or eased off the trigger just enough to pause the cut. Once I found a consistent grip—thumb riding the side, index finger deep on the trigger—that annoyance mostly went away.

The cutting head accepts two interchangeable blades: an “O” blade for fabrics and paper, and a “D” blade for thicker, tougher materials. Swapping blades is quick and doesn’t require tools. They seat positively with a firm click, and there’s no discernible side play once installed.

Setup and first cuts

Out of the box, mine had enough charge to do some test cuts, but I topped it off via USB before putting it to work. The included cable is handy, and the convenience of USB charging can’t be overstated if you keep your workspace flexible.

I started with the obvious—quilting cotton and cardstock—using the O blade. The tool glides through single and multiple layers of cotton with a clean edge. I noticed far less hand strain than with manual shears, especially when cutting long bias strips. On cardstock and heavy paper, it’s quick and tidy with minimal fuzzing on the edge.

Curve control is better than I expected. You won’t trace tight scrollwork like a craft knife, but for garment curves, appliqué shapes, and gentle arcs on templates, it’s easy to steer. A few tips that helped me:

• Keep the material flat and supported; a cutting mat or smooth tabletop is ideal.
• Feed the work into the blade rather than pushing the tool into the material.
• For tight inside curves, make small relief cuts or approach from multiple angles.

Cutting performance across materials

I rotated through the materials I commonly cut on projects and around the shop:

• Quilting cotton and fleece (O blade): Smooth, consistent cuts with little lint buildup. Fleece can compress; a light guiding hand avoids waviness.
• Denim and canvas (O blade for one layer, D blade for stacks): One layer is effortless. For two layers of heavy denim or canvas, I switched to the D blade and it stayed confident without bogging down.
• Vinyl and thin faux leather (D blade): Clean edges without tearing the face layer. I got best results cutting with the fabric backing down.
• Leather scraps (D blade): Up to medium weight cut fine; very thick veg-tan is a stretch and not what these are intended for.
• Plastic clamshell packaging (D blade): This is where these shine for household tasks—much safer and faster than wrestling with manual scissors.
• Corrugated cardboard (D blade): Single-wall moves along fine once you get started. On large, floppy box panels the head can bind if you try to take too deep a bite. Angling the tool slightly and making a starter notch helps. For double-wall or heavy corrugate, expect to go slower and guide the material carefully.
• Carpet and rug backing (D blade): It cuts, but the head can snag in the weave if you hurry. Short, controlled strokes work best.

Overall cut quality is good, with edges that look as if they came from sharp shears. On fabric, I didn’t experience notable fraying beyond what you’d expect from the fabric itself. On cardboard, the tool leaves a squared edge without compressing the corrugations much.

Control, trigger, and safety

The long trigger makes sense on a tool you reposition a lot; it’s easy to keep the motor going without a death grip. The safety lock is a welcome safeguard, but it does introduce one quirk: if your grip rides forward, you can graze the lock and momentarily stop the cut. Two adjustments helped:

• Choke up slightly so your index finger engages the trigger mid-length, not at the tip.
• Approach thick materials with a shallow “feed” angle so you’re not levering the tool upward as you push.

Noise and vibration are minimal—more of a light hum than a whine—and the head stays comparatively cool in steady use. I didn’t notice any hot spots on the grip after longer sessions.

Battery life and charging

The stated runtime is up to 40 minutes. In mixed cutting—fabric, cardstock, and some cardboard—I got roughly a half hour before feeling the motor slow, with lighter tasks extending that. Heavy cutting in dense materials shortens runtime, as expected. The battery indicator is simple enough: you’ll feel performance taper rather than a hard cutoff, which gives you time to finish a cut before recharging.

USB charging is the right call for a tool like this. I can plug it into a power bank, bench charger, or a laptop port between tasks. My routine became topping it off during layout or ironing, and I never felt bottlenecked by charge time in day-to-day use.

Maintenance and blade care

The blades are the heart of the system and benefit from basic care:

• Wipe adhesive residue (from tape or vinyl) with a bit of isopropyl alcohol.
• Keep lint from fabric and fleece brushed away; a soft toothbrush works.
• Use the O blade for soft goods and paper; reserve the D blade for plastic, leather, cardboard, and carpet to keep the fabric blade sharper longer.

I didn’t need to sharpen anything during testing; if and when a blade dulls, swapping to the other is instantaneous.

Where it excels—and where it doesn’t

Strengths:
- Reduces hand fatigue significantly on long cuts and repetitive tasks.
- Cuts a broad range of common crafting and household materials with the two included blades.
- Good control for gentle curves and pattern work.
- Lightweight, balanced, and genuinely cordless with practical runtime.
- USB charging fits real-world workflows.

Limitations:
- The head can bind in tall or floppy corrugate, especially if you try to take deep cuts in one pass.
- The safety/trigger arrangement can lead to accidental pauses until you dial in your grip.
- Extremely tight curves and tiny inside cuts are still better handled by manual scissors or a craft knife.

Who it’s for

If you sew, quilt, craft, or routinely open packaging and trim materials for DIY, the Black+Decker 4V scissors earn their keep. It’s a great option for anyone with hand or wrist fatigue from manual shears, and it speeds up repetitive cutting without the learning curve of a rotary cutter. It’s less compelling if your primary task is breaking down heavy shipping boxes all day or cutting very thick leather—tasks better suited to a utility knife or a more specialized cutter.

The bottom line

After several weeks of projects—piecing quilting cotton, trimming canvas, shaping vinyl, and handling the endless tide of packaging—the Black+Decker 4V scissors have become a default reach on my bench. They’re not a replacement for every cutting tool, but they significantly reduce fatigue and improve consistency across the materials most crafters and sewists use daily.

Recommendation: I recommend the Black+Decker 4V scissors for fabric crafters, sewists, quilters, and general DIYers who want faster, cleaner cuts with less strain. The interchangeable blades make it versatile, the ergonomics are comfortable once you settle on a grip, and the USB-rechargeable battery fits modern workspaces. If your main use is heavy corrugated boxes or very thick materials, keep a utility knife or manual shears nearby, but for everything else, this compact cutter is a smart addition to the toolkit.