Draw Cut Ink Press
  • Home
  • Linocut Journal
    • All Inspirational Artists Lino Cut Projects Linocut Books Linocut Tips Linocut Workshops Tools & Materials
      Linocut-Print-Maker-Scott-Minzy-Cover

      Linocut Artist & Printmaker Scott Minzy interview

      9th October 2020

      Kathleen-Neeley-linocut-artist-interview

      Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints

      16th August 2020

      flexcut-lino-cutting-tools

      Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed

      10th May 2020

      Lucie Spartacus self portrait

      Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!

      2nd May 2020

      Linocut-Print-Maker-Scott-Minzy-Cover

      Linocut Artist & Printmaker Scott Minzy interview

      9th October 2020

      Kathleen-Neeley-linocut-artist-interview

      Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints

      16th August 2020

      Lucie Spartacus self portrait

      Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!

      2nd May 2020

      South American Linocut Artists

      Latin American Linocut Artists

      26th April 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      Woodcut-Vs-Linocut-materials

      Linocut vs Woodcut, Pt 1

      2nd June 2019

      Cyclops Lino cut step-by-step-cover

      Lino Printing Step by step guide 01 – Cyclops!

      26th July 2016

      Linocut Book

      Linocut Boy Book – Linocut for artists and designers, by Nick Morley – Review

      3rd August 2016

      Tabulae-artist- Printmakermaker-interview

      Artist Interview; Tabulae – The 21st Century Renaissance Man

      5th March 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      linocut-slipstone

      What is a Slipstone and why should I use one?

      10th September 2019

      Linocut Colour Workshop

      Resort Studios – Colour Lino Printing Workshop Review

      27th January 2016

      flexcut-lino-cutting-tools

      Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed

      10th May 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      linocut-slipstone

      What is a Slipstone and why should I use one?

      10th September 2019

  • The Manifesto
  • Portfolio
  • Get In Touch
  • Shop
  • Home
  • Linocut Journal
    • All Inspirational Artists Lino Cut Projects Linocut Books Linocut Tips Linocut Workshops Tools & Materials
      Linocut-Print-Maker-Scott-Minzy-Cover

      Linocut Artist & Printmaker Scott Minzy interview

      9th October 2020

      Kathleen-Neeley-linocut-artist-interview

      Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints

      16th August 2020

      flexcut-lino-cutting-tools

      Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed

      10th May 2020

      Lucie Spartacus self portrait

      Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!

      2nd May 2020

      Linocut-Print-Maker-Scott-Minzy-Cover

      Linocut Artist & Printmaker Scott Minzy interview

      9th October 2020

      Kathleen-Neeley-linocut-artist-interview

      Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints

      16th August 2020

      Lucie Spartacus self portrait

      Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!

      2nd May 2020

      South American Linocut Artists

      Latin American Linocut Artists

      26th April 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      Woodcut-Vs-Linocut-materials

      Linocut vs Woodcut, Pt 1

      2nd June 2019

      Cyclops Lino cut step-by-step-cover

      Lino Printing Step by step guide 01 – Cyclops!

      26th July 2016

      Linocut Book

      Linocut Boy Book – Linocut for artists and designers, by Nick Morley – Review

      3rd August 2016

      Tabulae-artist- Printmakermaker-interview

      Artist Interview; Tabulae – The 21st Century Renaissance Man

      5th March 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      linocut-slipstone

      What is a Slipstone and why should I use one?

      10th September 2019

      Linocut Colour Workshop

      Resort Studios – Colour Lino Printing Workshop Review

      27th January 2016

      flexcut-lino-cutting-tools

      Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed

      10th May 2020

      Printing Perfect Linocuts

      The best lino printing method to get great results

      1st March 2020

      designing-black-and-white-linocuts

      Designing black and white linocuts

      1st February 2020

      linocut-slipstone

      What is a Slipstone and why should I use one?

      10th September 2019

  • The Manifesto
  • Portfolio
  • Get In Touch
  • Shop
0

Draw Cut Ink Press

For The Love of Linocut & Relief Printmaking

Linocut JournalTools & Materials

Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed

written by Draw Cut Ink Press 10th May 2020
flexcut-lino-cutting-tools

In this post I’ll be reviewing the Flexcut Lino cutting tools available in their Mini and Micro Palm sets.

I’m a big fan of equipping yourself with the right tools for the job, and frankly there’s nothing worse when you’re linocutting your next masterpiece than a crappy blunt tool. There are a lot of starter kits sold with criminally bad carving tools (see below) that must be responsible for putting a lot of people off. However, thanks to manufacturers like Flexcut and Pfeil, you linocut artists out there have salvation!

The tool in this image is exactly the type to avoid at all costs in my humble opinion.

I’ve seen a lot of linocut printmakers using Flexcut lino cutting tools on channels like instagram, and for a long time I’ve been curious about how they might perform, so here’s my unbiased view. I purchased two sets both containing four tools. They were the mini and micro flexcut sets.

Flexcut Micro Palm Set

Flexcut-lino-cutting-tools-micro-palm-set
The Flexcut Micro Palm set

The micro set was the one I was most excited about as I like to use a lot of fine detail in my linocut prints. The set includes the following lino cutting tools;

  1. 1mm U – named the FR800
  2. 1.5mm U – named the FR801
  3. 2.5 mm U – named the FR802
  4. 1mm V – named the FR803

There is some other information but god only know what it means so i’m not going to bore you with that.

Flexcut-Micro-Palm-Set-with-examples-of-their-cuts-into-lino
Flexcut Micro Palm Set with examples of their cuts into lino

These are a really nice set of tools, and I particularly like the 1.5mm U shaped carving tool. The 1mm V is good for very fine details, but I found it slipped a bit when I first started using it so be careful if you use one yourself (you don’t want to cut your finger!). Like all things new, you just need a bit of practice and I found myself quickly adapting and enjoying these tools. The 1mm is very fine, and you will find it useful for small areas of extremely fine detail. The 1mm U shaped tool was also pretty useful for creating a really nice dappled effect – which I used for a bit of chain-mail on my knights.

Close up of my Jousting Knights linocut I designed to test the Flexcut tools – check out the nice dappled effect from the 1mm U shaped tool on the arms and legs of the knight.

Flexcut Mini Palm Set

Flexcut Mini Palm Set in the box

The Flexcut lino cutting tools mini set is (not that surprisingly) made up of tools just a little bit bigger than those in the micro palm set. I actually thought I was going to find myself using these less than the micro set, but the reverse is true as it happens, and if you are not sure which set to buy I’d recommend this one. The tools are all great and the variety provides you a lot of mark making possibilities.

So what’s in the box then? I hear you ask. This also has three U shaped and one V shaped tool. This time the sizes are;

  1. 3mm Flat U shape – FR600
  2. 3mm U shape – FR601
  3. 2mm U shape – FR602
  4. 3mm V shape – FR603

Now, I’m going to start with the 3mm V…. because IT IS BRILLIANT. I just really really like it. You can cut a clean edge around your design with it really accurately, or create some beautiful traditional looking linocut marks with it in a variety of widths/depths. It’s like the workhorse of all the tools from Flexcut I tried and it was the absolute winner. If you can’t afford a whole set – buy this one.

My follow up fave was the 3mm U shape (FR601) which was great for clearing away larger areas of lino from the design but also has great mark making abilities. I’d still give an honourable mention to the 2mm U shaped tool and the flatter 3mm U shaped one. But… I would say that when using the flatter 3mm U shaped tool, because the profile is so shallow the whole cutting edge will go under and tear the lino above it, so you need to be careful when using this tool by making sure that that cutting edge doesn’t completely disappear. Again, this is something that’s easy to adjust to, and I’d recommend getting an old bit of lino off-cut and trying your tools on that first so you don’t muck up the next Mona Lisa when you’re carving away.

My favourite! the 3mm V Shaped Flexcut Tool from the Mini set.

The Verdict on Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools

These are great tools that i would happily recommend to anybody thinking of investing in a nice set of decent linocut tools, or for people like me who may have a good set of tools from other suppliers like Pfeil but just want to expand their collection and try something new.

They are well made, go through lino like butter and are comfortable to use.

I personally found that they were great at creating marks that look like a very traditional woodcut or linocut mark. I’ve previously got lost (quite happily) in the level of extremely fine details I can achieve with a Pfeil, but these are somewhat different, not better and not worse, just different and definitely worth a try.

To find where the nearest supplier is for you check out the Flexcut website!

flexcut Lino cutting tools with my linocut design
Here’s my finished linocut after testing all the Flexcut tools from the mini and micro palm sets.

Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed was last modified: May 11th, 2020 by Draw Cut Ink Press
flexcutlinocut tools
0 comment
9
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Draw Cut Ink Press

previous post
Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!
next post
Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints

You may also like

designing-black-and-white-linocuts

Designing black and white linocuts

1st February 2020
Sharpening lino cutting tools with a strop 01

Sharpening lino cutting tools – Part 01 Using a Strop

3rd September 2016
Sharpening lino cutting tools using a whetstone

Sharpening lino cutting tools – Part 02 Using a Whetstone

11th September 2016
Pfeil Lino cutting tools

Pfeil Lino Cutting Tools – A guide

22nd February 2016
Transfer a sketch to lino - cover image

Transfer a sketch to lino

16th April 2016
Cleaning a linocut after printing

Cleaning a linocut after printing

26th March 2016
linocut-slipstone

What is a Slipstone and why should I use one?

10th September 2019
Cyclops Lino cut step-by-step-cover

Lino Printing Step by step guide 01 – Cyclops!

26th July 2016
Linocut Colour Workshop

Resort Studios – Colour Lino Printing Workshop Review

27th January 2016

Linocutting Exercises for Beginners

17th May 2016

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

4 × 4 =

Newsletter

Recent Posts

  • Linocut Artist & Printmaker Scott Minzy interview
  • Artist Interview with Kathleen Neeley (aka @kathleep) & Her Other Worldly Linocut Prints
  • Flexcut Lino Cutting Tools Reviewed
  • Lucie Spartacus talks art history, linocut printmaking & strong women!
  • Latin American Linocut Artists

Categories

  • Inspirational Artists
  • Lino Cut Projects
  • Linocut Books
  • Linocut Journal
  • Linocut Tips
  • Linocut Workshops
  • Tools & Materials
  • Uncategorised

Archives

  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • March 2018
  • May 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015

Basket

  • Twitter
  • Google +
  • Instagram
Footer Logo

@2016 - Draw Cut Ink Press. All Right Reserved.


Back To Top