Cualork 10PCS Palette Knife, Stainless Steel Painting Knife Set, Flexible Spatula Pallet Knife, Metal Artist Knives, Oil Painting Accessories Color Mixing Scraper for Oil, Canvas, Acrylic Painting By CUALORK

Why this 10-piece palette knife set earned a spot on my cart

I reach for palette knives as often as I do brushes, and I’m picky about how they feel and behave. After several sessions with the Cualork palette knife set, I came away impressed by the value and the practical choices in the design. It’s a straightforward, no-fuss bundle that does a lot right for oil and acrylic work, especially if you like firmer blades or you’re building out a studio kit on a budget.

Build and design

Each knife uses a stainless steel blade paired with a lightweight plastic handle and a bent shank that lifts your fingers away from the surface. The stainless steel here is finished well—edges are smooth, there were no burrs on my set, and the polish sheds paint readily. The handles are simple, ergonomic ovals with a shallow swell in the middle, which makes them surprisingly comfortable during long sessions. They’re not fancy, but they don’t bite into the hand or spin under pressure.

The bent neck does exactly what it should: keeps knuckles off wet paint and gives you a cleaner approach angle. The connection between blade and handle is firm with no wobble. I didn’t notice any looseness or rattling, even when scraping hard against gessoed panels.

Blade feel: firmer than average

Blade temperament is where this set has a personality. These knives are on the stiffer side compared with springier, thinner-steel models. I can put weight into a smear or a scrape without the blade fluttering, which is great for:

• Spreading heavy-body acrylics and oil paint evenly
• Pulling clean ridges and knife-edge lines
• Scraping back to underlayers or gesso
• Laying down impasto with confident planes

The trade-off is responsiveness for subtle blending. If you’re used to very flexible knives that snap back with a spring, these will feel more deliberate and controlled rather than whippy. There is some give—enough to feather edges—but the overall character is rigid. For mixing on a glass palette, the stiffness is actually an advantage; you can fold color quickly without the blade chattering.

Shapes and coverage

The assortment is practical. You get duplicates across the five core profiles, essentially two of each type, which I appreciated more than I expected. It meant I could dedicate one knife to warm colors and its twin to cools, or keep a clean version of my most-used shape nearby.

In the box:

• Long spreaders: great for butter-smooth planes, broad mixing, and glazing mediums
• Rounded spreaders: helpful for softer marks and curved pulls
• Angled spades: my go-to for cutting crisp edges, loading small color notes, and detail scraping
• Angled trowels: small, precise blades for corners, windows, and palette tidying

Between these, I had what I needed for scumbling, texturing, blocking in, and finishing cuts. If you’re deep into knife painting, you might still want a super-flexy “no. 1” style blade for delicate gradients, but the variety here covers 90% of general knife tasks.

Ergonomics and control

The handles are lightweight and balanced enough that the blade—not the handle—communicates what’s happening on the surface. I could modulate pressure easily with a pinch grip near the neck or a looser, brush-like hold on the butt. The minimal handle ridges won’t necessarily anchor a sweaty grip, but in regular use I had no slipping. I particularly liked the way the angled spade shapes sit in the hand for side-pulls; the bend and handle shape make those strokes feel natural.

Cleaning and durability

Stainless steel is the right call here. If I wiped the blades while wet, everything came off with a paper towel. Dried acrylic popped off with a thumbnail or a gentle flex. Oil residuals lifted with a dab of mineral spirits. After several sessions and a couple of purposeful “I forgot to clean that last night” tests, there was no pitting, rust, or edge damage. As with any plastic-handled knife, I avoid soaking them and I dry them promptly; that habit will keep the joints tight for the long haul.

The plastic handles also have a practical upside: they keep the set light, which matters when you’re swapping tools constantly. If you prefer the feel or look of wood, that’s not what this is—but in function, the plastic doesn’t get in the way.

In use: oils and acrylics

• Oils: The firmness helps carve planes into alla prima passages. Pulling a bead of paint along an edge is reliable; the knife doesn’t buckle and dump paint where it shouldn’t. Scraping back to repaint a section is easy and controlled.
• Acrylics: With heavy-body paints, these knives spread gel mediums smoothly and push paste textures without chatter. The long blade profiles level self-leveling gels nicely.
• Canvas, panel, and paper: The bent shank keeps hands off the work regardless of surface. On canvas, the stiffness encourages more “on top” painting rather than sinking into the weave; on panels, you can really polish a stroke if you want.

Where it shines

• Consistent, firm blades that favor clean edges, even spreads, and confident texture building
• Useful shape variety with smart duplication—it’s nice to have a clean twin ready
• Comfortable, lightweight handles that don’t fatigue the hand
• Easy cleanup and stainless blades that shrug off dried paint
• Strong value for building a complete knife toolkit quickly

Where it falls short

• If you love ultra-flexible, springy palette knives for feather-light blending, these won’t scratch that itch
• The handles, while comfortable, are plastic; if you expect heirloom wood and brass hardware, look elsewhere
• The blades aren’t labeled by size/shape, so cataloging favorites takes a minute

None of these are deal-breakers for me, but the blade stiffness is a defining characteristic you should want rather than tolerate.

Who they’re for

• Beginners and students who need a full set without overthinking choices
• Painters who mix on glass and work with heavy-body paints or thick mediums
• Knife painters who value crisp edges and durable blades for scraping and texturing
• Instructors or shared studios where having duplicates helps manage color contamination

Who might pass: artists who rely on very flexible knives for subtle gradations and buttery lift-offs. You can blend with these, but it takes a lighter touch and won’t feel as elastic as thinner steel.

Tips to get the most out of the set

• Dedicate a duplicate to warms and another to cools to avoid muddy mixes
• For razor-straight edges, load paint at the last 3–5 mm of the blade and pull with steady wrist pressure
• When scraping, use the mid-blade rather than the tip; the stiffness gives you a cleaner, controllable plane
• Wipe after each pass when working with acrylics; you’ll spend less time cleaning later

The bottom line

The Cualork set is a workhorse bundle that favors control and durability over showiness. The stainless blades are finished cleanly, the handles stay comfortable, and the assortment covers a wide range of techniques without gaps. The firmer blade feel defines the experience—in a good way for spreading, scraping, and building texture, but less ideal if you want that ultra-springy flex for delicate blending.

Recommendation: I recommend this set for most oil and acrylic painters, especially beginners, students, and anyone who prefers or can benefit from a stiffer blade. The combination of useful shapes, solid build quality, easy maintenance, and strong value makes it an easy choice as a first set or a dependable studio backup. If your work depends on highly flexible, spring-steel knives, supplement this with one or two premium flex blades; otherwise, this set will handle the bulk of your knife work confidently.