Side by Side Comparison of: IceBear vs Flexcut vs Speedball vs Strathmore

These are great quality tools and do a fine job for whittling.

These tools have been fantastic so far. I have carved out 8 woodblocks for relief printing so far and they don't even seem to have dulled yet. I would highly recommend these for anyone staying or any intermediate printmaker as a great, affordable tool.

Best set of carving tools that I have used....using for lino block cutting and printing, works better than any thing that I have tried.....lets me get into tight places with out leaving uneven edges....

These are really great for wood block and pretty much all cut like butter. My only qualms with it are with the V gouge not being the most affective at rendering small lines. Rather than actual carving it seems to merely dent or crease the wood. Other than that these are great and quite frankly I've always been partial to the U shaped gouges anyway. 7/10

I use these tools several times a week and like them a lot! They are comfortable, slim, and just the right length. They came very sharp, and hold a pretty good edge.I rarely use the v gouge, and when I have it was just okay. Not having used other v gouges (other than a few I made for carving pumpkins), I have nothing to compare to, so perhaps they are all just kinda hard to use.The only complaint I really have is that the rounded gouges chip very easily (see image), even in soft wood like basswood. This may be more my fault than the tool since I may not know the correct way to use them, but I don't think that is the problem. However, I can sharpen the gouge back up in a hurry, and they still gouge wood. Still happy to have the rounded gouges.Even though this was a gift to me, they are overall quite nice for the price.Also, this comes in a nice hard case that hold them really well and keeps them safe from harm, and from harming you.**If you found this review helpful, please mark it as helpful by clicking "Yes" below.**

I am a printmaker and was advised to buy this set by a professor of mine. I have been using them for over a year and haven't had any problems with them. Also they hold an edge pretty well.

Works great, except for the fact the polishing compound arrived melted to the SlipStrop leaving it a very weird shape. It seems to do a fine job on my wood and linoleum cutters.

Product was exactly as advertised. Price was reasonable. Order process was simple. Shipping was so fast. A refreshing, stress-free experience. I would recommend Amazon to anyone as reliable and trustworthy, to buy from. Also, I really am impressed with the Flexcut knives, gauges and sharpening tools.

Flexcut SLIPSTROPThis product does what it's designed for, the compound they put with it works great.Easy to use light stokes work best. Produces that wicked sharp edge we need for wood working.Sincerely,Joseph

I totally didn't understand this thing, but my son's a woodcarver and he knew what he wanted. So we got it for him as a gift - he only uses Flexcut. Years later and he's STILL using this. Works great according to him. I'm just glad he's happy.

My husband bought this to sharpen his Carvin Jack pocket tool and he thinks it is the best. It puts a razor sharp edge on the edges so he is very pleased.

Although they must make quite a tidy profit on this, it is worth it in the end. Great design. It is essentially nothing but a small piece of wood (cut to match standard woodcarving tool surfaces) and two little pieces of leather packaged with a small amount of solid rubbing compound. It serves the purpose it needs to serve as well as anything could and for its simple design, I give it five stars.

Very fast shipping and delivery !! the tools were in great condition, although some chipped after first day of use. This product is also great for making tiny details and doing big projects.

good

These came very sharp, but the blades do chip rather easily. I've had to sharpen and reprofile several due to chips. Otherwise they worked great.

Excellent beginners set. I will be buying an expensive kit now. Keep in mind you get what you pay for. Beginner not professional.

nice grip, wish it comes with more sizes

Nice set, not much variety but it works well, came sharp and is easy enough to keep sharp. Before this all i had was a flexcut knife so this has helped me expand my carving quite a bit. Good for beginner like me or i'm sure would be good for more experienced too.

Fairly decent, but I am not having much success in mastering the unusual material. It seems rather odd.

I had a issue with mine where the red paint on the wood part rubbed off on my compound instead of the compound rubbing on the wood but once all paint was gone it wooked

Recently purchased a set of flexcut knives and gouges, and the only thing I had to sharpen them was a diamond stone. Which, is fine for my fishing knives and kitchen knives, but not for these knives and gouges.Well, I have an old 1/2in chisel I ground into a round gouge YEARS ago (12+), and decided to put it through the SlipStrop. I re-ground the grove and the outside portion, then took it to the diamond stone to get a sharp edge. After 3-5 minutes, the very rough diamond stone grinding became a highly polished finish.Ive only given a 4 star because the polish broke very easily without a lot of pressure.

For putting a very very fine, keen edge on your carving tools this is a very good set. I like that there are various shapes of strops to fit the most common shapes of hand wood carving tools. This will not take the place of sharpening stones. This is for that last little bit of sharpness that your blades can get. As wood workers know, a sharp blade is easier to control, requires less effort, and reduces or eliminates tear out.

It will not get out any burs in the metal, but it will hone the edge. The various shapes fit the palm tools and the flat works great for the knives. Very easy to use and maintain the knives.

This slip strop doesn't fit any tool exactly, but works for everything. I can't imagine how many curves and fees it would need to fit all the different tools available. So, if you polish one side of the v-tools at a time and gently move the gouge leading edge from side to side while pulling it the length of the curve that fits best, your tools will become sharper from the polishing. This is basically a block of wood. If you have a tool with special polishing needs, you can make a custom honing block out of scrap wood from around the shop. This one does well for what I need so far.

Handle dislodged on one of the tools very early on.

These were great at first, they came very sharp, but dulled very easily.

They are okay for getting into carving, the small gouge will get dull pretty fast if you use it on any sort of hardwood. But for the price, they do a great job for getting a kid into wood carving.

I was really looking forward to receiving these tools as an addition to my wood carving tool set. I was very disappointed with the quality and they did not appear to be made well enough to hold up to heavy use. I returned them .

I bought this set to do a time based wood project. Shipping came one day early which was a plus. However, the third time I used the product the smallest chisel broke in half. When I asked the seller to send me a replacement for the faulty product I was told it was not common for these tools to easily break and I could only be refunded if I returned the entire tool set. Since I needed these tools for a project this was not going to be feasible.I was extremely upset until the seller called me the next morning to let me know he had spoke wit the people who make the tools and that I would be receiving a new set the next day. I am very pleased with the amount of time he personally took to make this situation right for me. I would recommend this to a friend.

works as stated

Kind of cheap feeling and looking.

Not what I expected, but seems to be helpful once you learn how to use it.

Not sure yet, whether it was worth buying it...only covered with leather on one part of surface.

works ok leather pad has some ridges making it not as smooth as it should be

It's not all leather. The dark portion is stained wood that is cut in shapes (angle, V, rounded, etc). The leather part appears kinda cheezy so I'm concerned that I will wreck it. I haven't. I would like to watch someone use it who knows what they are doing. I own Flexcut carving hand tools and they are the best so I bought this for the tools. I'm so-so on it.

Showed up in a plastic wrapper written in Chinese. Poor quality. The pictures look like they would be good and sturdy but they didn't last very long. Spend the money on some better quality.

Looks and feels like cheap Chinese junk ,,,,,cuz it is. I feel ripped off. Deceived by the Japanese writing and the flimsy cellophane packaging.

Tips are not secured into the wooden handle very well and even a softer hand carving wood will begin to chip the blades. They are quite small so sharpening more than 3/4 times is not easily accomplished.

Fair, the block needs to be larger

Do not waste the money.. find something better..

has very limited and small curved surfaces on which to hone curved gouges. overpriced and really rather useless.

I read other customer's reviews and thought this would be a great choice to keep my tools sharp, but upon receiving it I found that the Flexcut Gold compound would not adhere to the strop. The compound was hard, so I scraped some of it off and made a fine powder as recommended, It still would not stick to the strop. It worked well with this method on the leather, but not on the other surfaces. I've never seen a polishing compound this hard. I don't know if the compound was old and hard or if this is the way it was made. Other users seem to have a good experience with it, but mine is unworkable. If anyone has any suggestions that I haven't tried, let me know.

The stropping compound was so hard it was unusable. It's been over a week since I requested a refund but I haven't heard anything from the supplier. I'm reluctant to ask for a replacement; expecting it to be the same unusable product.

The slipstrop, itself, looks pretty useful.The compound does not stick to the solid shape.It does remove the coating on the slipstrop and cover the compound stick itself.Who knows how long the kit has been waiting for me to buy it and the stick has turned to stone.Flexcut comes highly recommended but this particular item is highly disappointing.

Tools are great but I didn't receive them in two days like promised with prime. So instead of receiving them where I was staying, I now have to make a whole separate trip just to get them.

First one I used broke off at the handle.

Terrible. Tried to hand chisel with the gouges and the blades broke on the first use.

This product didn't meet my expectations. It doesn't even work for all the Flexcut tools! For example, Flexcut has 45, 60, and 90 degree V tools. However, the slip-strop only has ridges for the 45 and 60 degree. I made a better one in an hour using a piece of soft wood and some better polishing compound. The Gold compound that came with it is very hard, making it difficult to apply to the strop. I found better polishing compounds that come in brick form at ACE hardware. Also, the leather that is on this slip-strop is terrible. It's thin, smooth, and brittle.

Junk wood

The Akua inks were spilled out of containers. Messy.

Does not sharpen or even smooth my carving tools. I should have returned it. I would recommend it to no one.

I expected sculptured, layered leather. This is just stained wood roughly shaped. Don't waist your money. The rubbing compound does not even take on the surface.

Too small, cheap, badly made of soft wood, useless piece of kit, save your money and use leather covered wooden dowels 1/2 round coated with polishing compound. Might just work with small carving knives but no use whatsoever for carving chisels. Don't know why this has had any positive reviews as it is plainly a cheaply produced bit of tat (English translation; Cheap badly produced rubbish goods). Obviously there is a gap in the market for someone to come up with something, anything else would be better! If this "tool" is intended only for Flexcut tools it should be mentioned in the description. It's obviously not fit for use with anything else. Won't be buying any more Flexcut products.