Lino Carving Tools Options
Suggested Carving Tools
If you have small wood carving chisels already, they may work. Bring them to class and we can see. If you buy a block print set, it will probably have the Speedball Lino Cutter included. If you buy your items separately, you can get the Speedball cutter and/or different ones. Lino cutters range in price from the basic Speedball set to professional tools. In between are some mid-priced options.
Speedball Lino Cutter
The Speedball Lino Cutter is the set of tools most people start out with, and it is also used in many art schools. It can be purchased stand alone, or it is included in the Block Printing sets that Speedball puts out. It is inexpensive but will work, especially with soft “lino” like Speedy Carve. The drawback to this tool is that it is not as sharp as the more expensive tools listed below, so a little more difficult to carve when using the traditional lino, which is harder. In addition, to change tools, you must replace the tip. This tool is available at stores such as Michaels and Hobby Lobby, both as a stand alone tool and as part of their beginning block printing set. However, those stores tend to carry only one or two of them in the store, so they may or may not be available. If you buy in one of these stores, be sure to bring a coupon. They always have coupons available online. You can also get the Speedball tool online. It’s a good idea to use a Sharpie to mark you name on your Speedball cutter.
Mikisyo Power Grip
These are reasonably priced good quality brand that you can get online. They are roughly $10 per tool. You can buy a 7-piece set for about $36, but only about three or four of the set (the u or v shaped ones) will be useful for cutting lino. They have a 5-piece wood carving set as well, but it does not have many good small U and V gouges, so do not consider that. The two best Power Grip tools I like are these:
Mikisyo Power Grip Round 1.5 MM
This is one of my most useful tools to make thin lines and dots. This one is not included in any set. It has a small round tip.
Mikisyo Power Grip Round Chisel 3 MM
This is one of my most useful tools for making medium lines. Useful for outlining and beginning to carve away background. (This one does come in the 7-piece set).
Power Grip also has a V-cut tool 1.5 mm and a V-cut 3 mm. These are sharp, but bigger than the small micro 1mm Flexcut V tool or the Speedball kit V tool, and thus harder to control.
Flexcut Micro Set
Flexcut makes a high quality Micro Chisel Set that is perfect for lino carving. It comes with four tools, all of which are useful. You can purchase it online from woodworking sites as well as from Amazon (third party sellers). It includes: a 1mm V tool and three U tools, 1mm, 1.5mm and 2.5 mm. The set is about $60, but it is less than buying the four tools separately. This set gives you great choices for designing and outlining and making texture. The only thing it lacks is a large tool for clearing large areas of background.
Flexcut 1mm V tool
If you do not want to buy the whole set, you can get the tools in it individually. The small 1 mm V-cut tool is about $25. This tool is probably the most useful in the micro set as it is a sharp high quality V tool that allows you to make small lines.
Pfeil Carving Tools
Most advanced lino artists use Pfeil tools. These are quality Swiss made tools. You can buy them online at woodworking shops but they are pricey. Pfeil can also be purchased on Amazon, but Amazon will link to Jackson Art Supplies in the UK. You can buy directly from Jackson Art Supplies as they have a US website and I think it costs less. Either way, you will have to wait for shipping from Europe. I have not tried these tools yet.
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I recommend joining some social media about block printing.