I'm a beginner block printmaker. I began using the speedball set where you have to change out the blades. That worked fine for the rubber stamps I began with but once I moved onto linocut they were horrible. So I invested in these babies. They are great. They slice through linoleum like butter. So far I haven't had to sharpen, but it comes with a little stone for sharpening which I did not expect and was an added bonus. Most importantly, you Can't beat the price!

Fantastic set of cutting tools for the price. I use these for Lino /block printing- these come sharp and have a very decent steel.
No, these aren't super high-end, but definitely "user" quality that take a beating.

These tools are great for cutting linoleum. The handles are comfortable and I can use the tools at many angles to get a great cut.

I am astonished when I read these negative reviews of this carving set. "Not for Hardwood" says one guy. Yea, that's what is says in the advertising. I thought if the item is exactly what the advertising says it is, that iss a GOOD thing... People break them, then give the set one star. Indeed, I found two reviews under two different signatures a year apart that were letter by letter identical; four sentences worth... hardly a co-incidence, I think. What the heck??

But seriously, these little gems cost twelve dollars. There are TWELVE carving tools. That's a buck a tool. And you expected custom Gerber blades in the knives?

These are carbon steel, excellent sharp little blades. Look at them, they are quite thin and very hard; they'll break! No surprises there.
I'm doing some modifications to a walnut wood stock, the wood is pretty hard, but I use these cheapy knives because with a little care they'll pull a nice long curl out of the wood. Lot's of nice long, thin curls will get you where you want to go, just be easy on the tools and on your hands. Overall a good little delicate carving set. For the money? Stellar.

Well, I was looking for some linoleum/wood carving tools and I didn't want to have to spend the usual high prices. I found these and they had some pretty good ratings, so I bought them. When they arrived, they looked cheap. Honestly, they were packaged like they belonged in a dollar store. The handles and construction look cheap too. I wasn't impressed. However...

I've never cut linoleum before, and started off using another, larger set of carving tools. And they worked fine. Or so I thought, not having done this before. That set was a little too big to carve the smaller, more detailed parts. In comes this set to the rescue! Even though it looks kinda cheap, the blades were much sharper and the cuts, very clean. It was like having Exacto sharpened carving tools. They performed very well and I couldn't be happier with them. They even came with a small sharpening stone, which I haven't needed to use yet. I'm very pleased with these tools! And yes, I paid full price!