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What are good tools to carve in corks?

enter image description here
Actually, I'm using a simple kitchen knife but I guess there are better choices.

My goal is to carve some chess pieces.

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  • I'm assuming you mean cork corks, not the new rubber ones?
    – bowlturner
    May 3, 2016 at 12:34
  • Are you looking to do designs similar to the corks shown? Because you could probably use a wood burning tool to achieve that look.
    – user24
    May 3, 2016 at 14:42
  • @bowlturner So I have mainly cork corks. Anyway I noticed that rubber corks are much easier to carve (they are somewhat softer and breaks less easily).
    – Surb
    May 3, 2016 at 16:41
  • @CreationEdge Wood burning sounds interesting but I'm not sure what it is. Could you tell me more about it?
    – Surb
    May 3, 2016 at 16:42
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    You can buy wood burning kits that have a little tool sort of like a soldering iron, except you use it to burn designs into wood. You can get different attachments to make certain designs easier. It generally blackens the burnt part.
    – user24
    May 3, 2016 at 16:50

2 Answers 2

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I would lean toward scalples/X-Acto knives. They a are very sharp, and the blades lend themselves to carving small details well. They are designed for detailed work unlike kitchen knives which are designed to cut things up.

enter image description here

As Camil pointed out in the comments, a heftier blade might be needed to start with the larger roughing cuts so it doesn't snap.

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  • I was thinking about this, but I think this blade is not strong enough; it is meant for paper. I would suggest a blade like here which should not break as easily.
    – Keelan
    May 3, 2016 at 12:26
  • @CamilStaps I think both would be good, the heavier blade to rough out the shape and the lighter blade for detail work.
    – bowlturner
    May 3, 2016 at 12:29
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Depending on the level of detail you are trying to achieve, linoleum cutting tools may work well for you. I would highly suggest practicing on some spare cork first however - I have used these tools for linoleum printing and it takes a while to get the hang of things and avoid cutting yourself.

enter image description here

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  • I remember doing linoleum at school and indeed, it was not so easy. The point is that if it is already not trivial on a flat surface, it might be very hard on a round surface. Anyway, it seems to be a good direction to explore.
    – Surb
    May 4, 2016 at 17:10

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