My daughter who is a beginner and I use this Flexcut. She has normal sized hands and I have oversized mittens and the Flexcut fits our hands equally well despite the size difference. My daughter cuts ink stamps on linoleum and rubber blocks. I carve denser woods like oak, walnut and cherry. The steel should be fairly good as the tool stays sharp for a long time between dressings for fine detail work. I have found that regular brushing is enough to keep this V-Cut razor sharp. I will buy more of these Flexcut notches.