Mikisyo Hamono Honpo Power Grip carving knife, Alloy Steel & Iron Blade, 1.5MM Round, Wood Handle

Game changer for stamp carving. I was very close to assuming the hobby wasn't for me and bought this before giving up. I'm finally able to do small details and my stamp carving has significantly improved. The wood handles look nice and are comfortable to hold. The blade came sharp and carved even smoother after sharpening. Will buy more from this brand in the future.

Great knife. I bought myself one and liked it so much I bought more for gifts. I’ve only had it a month or 2 but it’s still super sharp and I use it every day; it is my “go to” knife now.

This is an excellent gouge for the price. It comes sharp and ready to go. I've used for making relief print blocks on apple wood, which is pretty dense, and it cuts smoothly. I strop once or twice per carving session. There are definitely better gouges out there, maybe with harder steel, but nothing comes close to this price. It's a very good deal.

Sharp and precise

I bought this tool to work on what proved to be a very detailed woodblock carving. This was the tool I used most, and it provided the right size cut. Easy to sharpen with one of those strop blocks. The handle is very durable and comfortable. Would recommend. I used this on cherry plywood.

Great for details, good quality

I bought this tool plus another with a different shape from the same company for making detailed linocuts and rubber stamps. I thought Japanese made would mean it's a quality product, and it seems to be well-made except for the varnish they used on the wood handle. It smelled so strongly of toxic chemicals that even touching it briefly transferred the smell to my skin and I had to thoroughly wash my hands to remove the smell. It smells almost like mothballs? I tried setting them outside for a few hours to get fresh air, but that didn't help. The only thing that worked was to put on a mask (I didn't want to breathe in whatever it was) and gloves, take them outside, and sand the varnish completely off. Now the tools smell like normal wood and I wish they had just come this way. They look nice, smell nice, better for the environment, and would save the company money in manufacturing. I couldn't get the smell out of the rubber tops unfortunately so I threw those away... It's a great price for a quality micro carving tool, but be ready to put in a little work if you're sensitive to smells.

Definitely will be ordering more. I needed a smaller tool for fine lines and this one is great and really sharp. Easy to do circles with too!