The original knife was invented in the 1930s by Sundel Doniger, a Jewish Polish immigrant to the United States.

A knurled collar loosens and tightens an aluminum collet with one slot, which holds a replaceable blade.

Before the availability of desktop publishing tools, preparing copy for use in printing (literal cut and paste or paste up) depended heavily on the use of knives like the X-Acto for trimming and manipulating slips of paper.

In addition to knives, blades, and tools, X-Acto produces office supplies including pencil sharpeners, paper trimmers, staplers, and hole punchers.

Through 2012, the company sold ceramic and convection space heaters and fans under the Boston brand name.