ESSDEE 3.2/L3 Lino Printing Block 200x150x3.2mm Pk2, Linoleum, Grey, 203 x 152

I have purchased Essdee battleship great artists linoleum many times. It’s always arrived in great condition, soft and not crumbly at all. It’s easy to carve (with sharp tools), the lines you get are sharp, it’s great for small details and prints really well. I often buy this size and cut it up as it’s cheaper than buying the smaller blocks.

I was pleased with this pack. I needed some standard, battle-ship grey, hessian backed lino for linocut printing. ( It is harder to carve than the pink or beige softcut stuff but I feel it takes fine detail better.) I was a bit worried that it might be old stock - old lino is a nightmare to carve being very hard and prone to crumble and snap - but this was fresh being nicely flexible and smelling strongly of linseed oil. (Its made from cork, linseed oil and jute so is natural and plastic free.)I find the dimensions of this rather strange, 305mm x 203mm is 8mm longer than A4 but 7mm narrower and is very slightly longer and wider than 8" x 12". But as I intend to use up my stash of 11"x14" Strathmore 300 Printmaking paper this is an acceptable size for me. Printmaking is a marvellous project to explore for lockdown for everybody I think.This is the same stuff that Essdee supplies in their excellent lino cutting and printing kit so if you are needing to replenish that with bigger pieces this is a good pack to get.

Good size - good value. Cuts easily and keeps clean edges when printed. Arrived quickly and was well packaged

Great quality. This is always my chosen lino, and arrived in good condition.

The soft surface makes this lino perfect for those new to lino-cutting, although it is perhaps not ideal for very fine lines. The larger sheets are good value as they can be divided easily into different sizes. I would recommend this product.

Good value pack of two Lino blocks. The battleship grey Lino is still the best for detailed linocuts allowing crisp cutting with good control. Beginners might find Essedee soft cut slightly easier to cut when starting out, hence slightly lower rating for this factor.

This cuts like butter so, as will any craft like this, the key is in making sure your tools are sharp enough - this is why it's not really for beginners, solo - I wouldn't do lino cutting with anyone under, say, 12.

This is quite tough Lino and should only be used with really good quality cutting tools as cheaper ones struggle to make a good smooth cut.