Flexcut carving tools

[A.Merrill]

    Has anybody used these? How are they for carving in maple and walnut?     AL

[rick landes]

I have only used some of their curved scraper sets and they seemed very good. Wood handles were well finished, smooth. Steel parts were well polished and sturdy. Does Wood craft have any reviews to check out of real users?

[Dave Dolliver]

I have found them good for light carving, inletting and shaping.   They will tolerate very light mallet work but are basically hand push tools.  Hold an edge well.  Big advantage for me is they are made from thin metal and I like that shape better.

Dave Dolliver

[Dennis Glazener]

I own several different brands of carving tools. I love most all of them but the ones I seem to use the most are the Flexcut. I like their size, they hold a edge pretty well and are not hard to sharpen. I use a small maple mallet with mine and have not had a problem in a couple of years use.
Dennis

[Jim Kibler]

At a recent carving class I helped teach, I tried the Flexcut tools that a student brought.  I think I tried a flat and skew chisel for background removal.  Didn't like how they flexed.  I much prefer a more rigid design.  Perhaps the gouges would be better.

[Randall Steffy]

I use the Flexcut tools for fine carving and love them. I also have Pfeil and find both brands have their place, but if I had a limited budget I would get the Flexcut set and their honing kit. I specifically recommend them for the relief carving, not general hogging, heavy inletting etc. Your mileage may vary.

[billd]

I'm the student Jim is talking about.  I have quite a selection of flexcut tools and am happy with them.  For a hobby builder, $12.95 per tool is much more affordable for me than $33.00.   Would I like to have the set Jim has?, h*ll yes. Can I afford them, no.  I would guess you could build two guns for what his selection of tools costs.  If I was building full time I would probably feel different. 

I have the interchangeable blade type, both palm and straight handles.  I have a few I reshaped myself that I use mostly for inletting.  In my way of thinking, taking a $13. chisel to the belt sander is much less painful than a $34. chisel.

Flexcut are made right here in PA, Erie I think.  You can order direct and have them in two days.

Bill

[A.Merrill]

    Thanks for the reply everybody.
       
        All I have used are straight handles. How do you like the palm handles compared to the straight handles when relief carving?    AL

[Acer Saccharum]

I like the palm handles only for light modeling work of raised carving.

Most of what I use are the longer gouges from Pfiel and various antique tools. The longer handle gives better 'steering' control around curves. And the long handle keeps me from bashing my hand with the mallet!

Tom