Abstract: A portable, hand-held electric knife having dual cutting blades is powered by a DC electric motor which draws its operating current from a remote storage battery. The cutting blades are mechanically coupled to the armature shaft of the DC electric motor by a gear assembly in which a pair of bevel gears are mounted for free rotation on a support shaft and are engaged by a beveled pinion gear attached to the rotor armature. Each blade is movably coupled to a selected bevel gear by a pin. In response to rotation of the drive pinion, the beveled gears are driven in counter-rotating motion. As the driven gears rotate, the blades are extended and retracted in side-by-side relation. A fulcrum shaft is received through aligned slots formed in the blades. Linear reciprocating movement of the blades relative to each other is stabilized and arcuate reciprocating movement of the coupled blades is effected as the blades pivot about the fulcrum shaft.