Palette Knife Set 5 Piece - Stainless Steel Painting Knives with Wood Handles

Description

This palette knife set contains five painting knives with stainless steel blades and red-brown wooden handles, in overall lengths of 22.3cm, 20.0cm, 18.8cm, 17.5cm and 16cm with blade tips from 9.5cm down to 3.5cm. The set is $18.99 at Lets Party. It suits oil and acrylic painting, impasto work, colour mixing and texture.

Most people who buy their first palette knife buy one, use it for mixing, and never discover what the tool is actually for. A knife is the fastest way to get paint onto a canvas in quantity, and it produces marks a brush physically cannot - hard clean edges, ridges that catch the light, and broad flat planes laid down in a single pass. Having five sizes matters because the size of the knife determines the size of the mark. One knife gives you one gesture repeated; five gives you a range from a broad sky wash down to the thin bright line on the edge of a roof.

Specifications

What's in the Box

Why Choose This Palette Knife Set

• Five sizes, five marks - the 9.5cm tip covers ground fast, the 3.5cm tip places small accents, and the three between fill the gap.
• Cranked shafts - the bend between handle and blade keeps your knuckles off the wet painting, which is the whole reason painting knives are shaped this way rather than straight.
• Stainless steel blades - they flex without taking a set, and they will not rust in a jar of turps and rags the way carbon steel does.
• Wooden handles - warmer and less slippery in a paint-covered hand than moulded plastic, and they balance the blade rather than fighting it.
• Cleans in seconds - a steel blade wipes clean with a rag, which is the single biggest practical advantage a knife has over a brush.

What Is the Difference Between a Palette Knife and a Painting Knife?

The terms get used interchangeably in shops, but they describe two different tools. A true palette knife has a long, straight, flexible blade in line with the handle, and it is designed for mixing colour on a palette and scraping it clean. A painting knife has a shorter, more shaped blade set on a cranked shaft that drops below the line of the handle, and it is designed for applying paint to a surface. This set is painting knives - the cranked shaft and the tapered tips are the giveaway. They will mix colour perfectly well, but what they are built for is putting paint on canvas.

Which Palette Knife Size Should You Reach For?

Match the knife to the size of the mark, not to the size of the painting. The largest, with its 9.5cm tip, is for laying broad flat areas - skies, water, background planes - in a few confident passes. The middle sizes handle most general work: buildings, foliage masses, mixing on the palette. The smallest at 3.5cm is for detail, edges and the thin bright highlights that make an impasto painting read from a distance. A useful habit is to start big and finish small. Working the other way round, starting with a small knife, tends to produce a painting made of hundreds of little marks that never resolves into shapes.

How Do You Clean Palette Knives Properly?

Immediately, and with a rag. That is genuinely most of the answer. Wet paint comes off a steel blade with one wipe; dried acrylic has to be picked off and will pit the surface if you scrape at it with anything hard. For oils, wipe the blade thoroughly then clean the residue with solvent. For acrylics, wipe and then wash in warm soapy water before it sets - acrylic dries fast and a knife left overnight is a job. Dry the blades before storing so the join between blade and shaft does not sit wet. Do not put them in a dishwasher; the heat and detergent will loosen the wooden handles.

Buyers are typically painters moving from brushes into knife work, art students building a first proper kit, teachers stocking a classroom, and experienced painters who have worn out a single knife and want a full range rather than another one of the same.

Our 5 pack of blank stretched canvas is the natural surface for knife work, and our Craft and Sewing range has the rest of the studio supplies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the blades flexible or rigid?
Stainless steel painting knives of this type flex under pressure and spring back, which is what lets you feather paint out to a thin edge. The supplier describes the blades as having good elasticity.

Can I use them with acrylics as well as oils?
Yes. Steel blades work with oil, acrylic and mixed media. Just clean acrylic off before it dries.

Will they rust?
They are stainless steel, so they resist rust far better than carbon steel. Drying them after washing is still worthwhile, particularly around the shaft join.

What are the exact blade shapes?
The supplier gives tip lengths but not individual blade profiles. The set covers a graduated range of sizes rather than one of each named shape.

Are they suitable for cake decorating or clay?
Painters often use them for both, and the shapes suit spreading and smoothing. If you are using them for food, keep a set solely for that purpose and never one that has touched paint.

Is a storage roll included?
No. You get the five knives only.

Are they safe for children?
The supplier states not suitable for children under 3, and use under adult supervision. The tips are not sharpened like a blade but they are thin steel and can still scratch or jab.

Fast Australian Shipping

We ship from within Australia, so orders reach Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin quickly rather than sitting in an overseas queue. Regional and remote addresses go through the standard Australia Post network.

Dimensions and materials are as supplied by the manufacturer; allow 1-3cm variation on stated lengths due to hand measurement. Not suitable for children under 3 years. For use under adult supervision.