Hutsuls Wood Carving Tools Set - Easy to Use 12 pcs Mini Wood Chisel Beginner Wood Carving Kit for Adults & Kids Carving Kit Gift

I am testing this set to possibly replace another replicable set for linocut printmaking class that I am teaching. I did order additional sets. this was the best of the inexpensive sets that I tried. Most would not hold an edge and some wouldn't even take an edge (a real safety issue). Remember that even for beginners it is important that the tool be as sharp as possible so they don't slip and cut you. If you use the tool with non dominant acting as a guide for the dominant hand all fingers will be behind the cutting edge so if it does slip there won't be any loss of blood.They come in a plastic case that is decent but the shape of the handle requires that they be aligned exactly to fit in the case. Not a huge deal but it can be a little frustrating when you are in a hurry to clean up. The handles are rounded on two sides and flat on the other two sides. The rounded side needs to be up to fit all of them in. I find the handles a little long for using them in the Japanese wood cut style. The handles are wood so they could be cut down but I have not done that because of the number of people that will be using them.A nice feature is that the skew knife or hongito comes in three configurations. A large and small right handed knife and a large left handed blade. this makes a difference in mokuhanga block making.They are kind of sharp out of the box. They are coated in lacquer so that needs to be cleaned off. They benefit greatly from a quick sharpening and stropping. I use inexpensive diamond cards up to 2500 (I plan to go to 16000 to see what happens) and then strop them. The Flexcut strop block seems to work well with these. I have also make homemade strop blocks and used Brasso for the cutting agent and it works well. The steel seems to be ok. Only one of mine has been exposed to water at this point but it showed no sign of rust. A drop of olive oil or 3 in 1 will prevent the rust. Or you can use T-9 but that is expensive overkill. The sizes are good for basic work but you may want to supplement with one or two smaller V and U tools for fine work and for really fine lines a very small hangito would be a nice start to upgrading. Keep in mind that these are definitely a beginner set and will not compare to Flexcut or some of the high end tools. They are adequate to learn with if they are kept sharp.Would I buy them again? Very likely I will be ordering 12 sets in the near future because they are good enough for beginners to learn the basics of linocut and woodcut. If you are an experienced woodworker and want super sharp tools that hold an edge for a long time you may want to consider another tool but these are a good value for the money and will do the job for beginners.Note that there are no instructions with these tools. There are lots of places on line to get the basics of sharpening and tool care. But a basic review is:if it needs to be sharpened put a drop or two of water on a 1000 grit diamond card (400 if the blade is nicked)Place the bevel of the blade on the card and make sure it is flatDraw the blade toward you 5 or 6 times and check sharpness (does it stick on your thumb nail)Once it is sharp on this stone move to the nest finer stone and repeatOnce you have sharpened it on the diamond move to the stropPlace a drop of Brasso on the strop and place the bevel on the strop and draw it toward you. do this about half a dozen times. Check sharpness.Put a drop of oil on the blade to protect it.

Great replacement for my old Lino cutting set. Some much easier on my hands too. Sharpness is good. I appreciate the variety of blades

They would be just fine for bass wood or any conifer, but a few minutes with one tool on some African padauk and another tool on some cherry and the edges were so dented and curled they would be better saws than carving tools. They didn't chip, which let me know they were not over hardened, but that they were not hardened and tempered at all. This is a HUGE miss by this company. As my picture shows, the blades are black, well, this isn't how they came. Read below to see how I tempered and hardened them and made them better than they should be for $15.Luckily, the blades can simply be pulled out of the handles with a little effort and a pair of pliers. So, I removed all of the blades, got a metal can and filled it up with motor oil. Then proceeded to heat the blades by holding the tang in a pair of pliers and applying direct flame with a map gas torch, to a bright orange glow on the edges and quench them in the motor oil 1 at a time until I couldn't handle them. I then sharpened the blades with a 1k grit stone, then heated them to 350° (you can do this in the oven) and then immediately plopped them back into the motor oil for the final hardening. Last but not least. I ran the edge on a leather strop to a mirror finish and now they are shave sharp and rock hard around 62 HRC. Now they cut much better and retain a cutting edge much, much longer.

Good price and quality, ty

I bought these for my old man in December. He just opened them. When he opened them, he found a nice handwritten letter thanking us for our purchase. It was so nice we had to write a nice review. The tool was great he loved them and the price was fair. The best thing was the letter. You don't get handwritten letters.

Exactly as portrayed. Fairly nice set of carving tools. Great assortment for uses.

I have bought several tools from Hutsuls and never had an issue until I received this knife set. I gave it three stars because these knives needed work out of the box in order to be useful. They weren't sharp at all. Some of the blade edges were chipped, and all the edges were dull. No worries for me, however. After a little time on the whetstones and strops, These blades were razor sharp and held their edges well. I bought this set to use when carving eyes in basswood and walnut. Once they were sharpened, I had no problem recommending them to anyone. Don't expect to receive them ready to use out of the box. Also, and this is a personal preference of mine, I wish the manufacturers would lay off the spray lacquer finish. I understand the purpose, but I would just as soon as I receive the tools without that because it creates a cheap, sticky feel to the tool. So, enough complaining. As always, Hutsuls is a standup company, and I am sure if I brought this to their attention, they would have gone out of their way to make it right. I chose to keep this set because Hutsuls is a small business, and shipping back and forth costs real dollars. Instead, if you order this set, be ready to sharpen the blades. You'll be happy that you did.

Great product for the price.