Whatever size polymer clay models you build, you’ll need to use knives and cutters at some point. The huge range of knives and cutters available for polymer clay has led this to become one of the biggest guides on our website!
From Xacto knives to homemade cutters, read on to find out how to cut polymer clay with the right tools for your project.
Your Guide To Knives and Blades For Cutting Polymer Clay
A knife or blade is an essential polymer clay tool. You’ll use them to cut clay, draw designs in clay and to remove clay from your work surface. Depending on how into polymer clay modelling you are, you might cope with a kitchen knife or craft knife, or you might want invest in something more specialist.
Below we take a look at the main options.
X-acto Knives And Craft Knifes For Polymer Clay
The terms craft knives and X-Acto knives are used interchangeably, but I’ve listed what I think they are below!
An X-Acto knife is the brand name for craft knives that look like scalpels. They have metal handles and replaceable blades. It’s an American brand so they’re not so easy to come by in the UK, but I did find one on Etsy, there are also many alternative scalpel-type knives available in craft shops such as Hobby Craft.
Craft knives are the plastic covered blades with a button on the side which slides out the blade. The blade is cut into small sections so you can snap the end piece of the blade off when it becomes dull. They’re available everywhere from DIY stores to craft stores to many supermarkets. Craft knives are sometimes called box knives.
X-Acto knives tend to have a sharper and more defined point to the blade and therefore offer more precision than craft knives and more suitable for drawing patters onto clay. X-Acto style knives are more expensive than craft knives but you can still pick one up for £5-£10.
Both types of knives can be used for cutting very exact shapes out of clay.
Kitchen Knives For Cutting Polymer Clay
There’s no reason why you can’t use a kitchen knife for cutting polymer clay, but if you do, keep it as a dedicated clay knife to avoid food contamination.
The blades of sharp kitchen knives (such as paring knives) tend to be wider at the top than the bottom so this can create an uneven edge in what you’re cutting. It may not be an issue when working with miniatures though but it is likely to be more obviously when cutting through larger and thicker pieces of clay.
If you’re attempting to do precision work with a kitchen knife or if you’re cutting something like a cane, make sure you use a knife with a non-serrated edge.
Butter knives are useful for roughly cutting polymer clay, such as when you’re dividing clay into sections. You could also use them to remove polymer clay from work surfaces too as they then to be thin enough to slip under the clay.
Straight And Flexible Blades For Polymer Clay
Straight blades are long, thin cutting blades used for slicing polymer clay and removing clay from work surfaces. They’re particularly useful for slicing polymer clay canes as the blades are thin and straight.
The best bet is to buy a straight blade designed specifically for using with polymer clay. These will usually come with a handle so you can either slice the clay from above by holding a handle on each end of the blade, or by slicing through the clay using a handle at one end of the blade. Blades vary in how stiff they are, but a stiffer blade with be easier to work with.
The flexible blades are so bendable that you can use them to cut curves in your clay. They are primarily used for jewellery making and cut large curved pieces for pendant for example, so they have pretty limited use when making miniatures. It’s always fun to experiment though!
Some clay brands sell sets of blades which give you multiple options including:
- Sculpey Super Slicer with Handles includes four blades – rigid, flexible, wavy and rick-rack (kind of like a zig zag).
- FIMO sell a set of three blades which includes one ridged, one flexible and one serrated.
From the research I’ve done, I couldn’t find any non-branded or non-polymer clay sets of blades that were much cheaper than these sets, so you might as well invest in the ones specifically for working with clay.
The blades in these packs are super sharp so be careful using them and definitely don’t use them with children around.
Sculpey have a video demonstrating their set of blades which is a useful watch if you’re planning on buying this set:
Single edged razor blades are another option for cutting clay on a small scale but they can be dangerous so you’ll need to be very careful using them.
TOP TIP: If you have a tight budget, then you could remove the blade from a craft knife and use that as a straight blade.
Your Guide To Cutters For Polymer Clay
When you’re working with miniature polymer clay models it can be tricky to get the sizes and styles uniform as the models are so small. One way to avoid this when making multiple models is to use miniature cutters.
There are endless possibilities for incorporating cutters into miniature polymer clay modelling, including these ideas below:
- leaves
- flowers
- butterflies
- cookies and biscuits
- bases for flower pots
- cake layers
- crockery
- fruit segments
- lolly pops
- lilly pads
Basically, anytime you need a simple, uniform design, you can try using a cutter. Not all cutters are created equally though!
The main materials to choose from for cutters are:
- metal
- plastic
And both these materials are available in two main styles of cutters:
- shape cutters – these look like cookie cutters
- plunger cutters – these are usually plastic and used in cake making but some metal ones are available and these are called Kemper cutters
But there are a few more options! Leather cutters (these are metal cutters used for stamping holes in leather) and DIY cutters out of everything from candle holders to metal tubing can all be used to make unique cutters for polymer clay miniatures.
Metal Cutters For Polymer Clay
Metal cutters for polymer clay look just the same as mini cookie cutters and the two can be used interchangeably (provided you don’t use the same cutter for both food and polymer clay!) Although nowhere near as common as regular sized cutters, you can find metal cutters for miniature polymer clay projects, both from polymer clay manufacturers and baking accessory manufacturers.
The main advantage of metal cutters is they are sharp – they are essentially a blade twisted into a shape. Their sharpness means metal cutters provide a very clean cut and easily cut through polymer clay, making them quick and easy to use.
There are two downsides to using metal cutters though:
- Most metal cutters have a ‘lip’ where the two ends of the metal meet and overlap. Depending on the type of cutter you use, this could leave a ridge on the edge of your polymer clay. When working with miniatures, this ridge will be tiny and can easily be smoothed out with your finger in most cases.
- The designs available are limited. This is because the cutters are shaped metal and, unlike plastic cutters, they aren’t made with 3D printers or by using moulds so the vast majority of mini metal cutters are geometric shapes.
On the whole though, metal cutters make a cleaner cut on polymer clay, particularly when using intricate designs.
Where To Buy Metal Cutters For Polymer Clay
There are two main options for this – you can either buy cutters specifically made for using with polymer clay or cutters made for using with food. As far as I can see there’s no difference between the two, other than there seems to be a greater number of different designs available for metal food cutters.
Some of the polymer clay brands make miniature metal cutters – I have the Premo Sculpey Basic Shapes Mini Metal Cutters pack. The shapes included are versatile enough to work for lots of different projects – from miniature cakes and biscuits to miniature foliage.
Sculpey also make a couple of other shape selections including Holidays with pumpkin, stocking and tree cutters, amongst other shapes. They also do a Sweet Treats one which features lollies and ice creams which I think is meant more for jewellery making, rather than miniature food as the shapes could be too one dimensional.
FIMO is another polymer clay brand that sells small metal cutters, but at 20mm across, they’re at the larger end of sizes to use for miniatures. The shapes in the basic cutters pack are great for making small biscuits and cookies though.
When it comes to metal cutters made primarily for food, there are defiantly more design options available and many brands sell the cutters in themed packs.
The brand Cake Star has lots of different themed metal cutters including ones related to babies, seasonal events and nature – with flowers, leaves and birds. All the mini metal cutters are around 15-20mm. Again, as the designs are 2D, some of them will be more useful than others. For example the bird cutter in the Nature set will be great for decorating other items (a fairy house maybe?) but will be tricky to make into a 3D model! Cutters for leaves, flowers and basic shapes are much more versatile.
There are some great independent makers on Etsy specialising in polymer clay accessories, including unique mini metal cutters. Etsy polymer clay specialist PolymerClayLatvia creates metal polymer clay cutters perfect for making miniatures, including this set of 6 cutters.
Illana from PolymerClayLativa has created a really useful video explaining how to use these teeny cutters:
TOP TIP: When shopping for metal polymer clay cutters, keep an eye out for cutters which have the over lapping seam positioned in a corner. This will make the imprint of the overlapping metal much less noticeable.
Metal Fondant Cutters For Polymer Clay
Fondant cutter used in cake decorating tend to be small as they’re used to add detail to cakes. However, they’re not necessarily made to any particular scale so it can be tricky choosing the right ones to fit the scale of your project.
Cutters designed for cupcakes tend to be the smallest fondant cutters available so are best for making miniatures.
Most websites which sell sets of cake decorating cutters will list the measurements for the cutters, so just check they’ll fit the scale you’re working too.
It might not be exact, but if they’re using them to create things such as miniature flowers or leaves, it won’t matter too much of they’re a couple of millimetres out of your scale.
Metal Kemper Cutters For Polymer Clay
Kemper cutters are basically metal plunger cutters (see below for more information on plunger cutters!) designed primarily for using with clay, although there’s no reason why you couldn’t use them in cake decorating.
They are usually made of brass and consist of a tube of metal with a sprung metal plunger inside it – they’re used in the exact same way as plastic plunger cutters.
Kemper cutters do tend to be more expensive than regular metal cutters but they do look more stylish and many modellers prefer the look and feel of them to plastic plunger cutters.
If you find regular miniature metal cutters fiddly to use then it’s worth trying Kemper cutters instead, as you may find you have more control over extracting the shape you’re cutting. Another bonus is that unlike miniature metal cutters, miniature Kemper cutters don’t have any seams in them. The set in these images is from arts and craft retails George Weil and are 5mm wide so perfect for miniatures.
The main downside of Kemper cutters is that you might find when you use the plunger to push out the clay from the shape, the plunger leaves a small mark on your cut out.
There’s a handy video below demonstrating how to use Kemper cutters – although note this crafter is using metal clay, rather than polymer clay.
Leather Cutters For Polymer Clay
Leather cutters (also known as leather punch cutters/tools) are designed to cut through leather (with the help of a hammer!) so they are sharp and great for slicing through thick layers of clay.
They often come in large multi-packs with lots of different shapes. As they’re designed for making small holes in leather, such as for patterned belts or keyrings, they are a pretty good size for cutting out miniature shapes too. As they’re used for hammering shapes into leather, they’re very strong.
Huge sets such as this 52 piece set can cost less than £20.
Although the guy in the below video is demonstrating leather punch cutters with leather, it gives you an idea of the size and shapes of the leather cutters often included in multi-packs.
Paper Punches For Polymer Clay Cutting
Paper punches are a crafting staple. They have a metal cutter to cut and push out a shape in paper. Usually these punches are used for paper crafts (including making miniature flowers) but apparently they also work for polymer clay. I say apparently as I tried and the results were not great as you can see!
I used FIMO Soft so maybe it would work better with a different type of clay. I found is very fiddly and also struggled to get the clay residue out of the punch.
I’m not an expert though, but these ladies below are, so if you want to try this for yourself, ignore my efforts and watch the video below!
As well as trying this with raw clay, you could also try it with thin sheets of baked clay, but you’ll need to cut the shapes out when the clay is still warm.
Plastic Cutters For Polymer Clay
Standard plastic cutters tend to be less expensive than metal, and the designs are much more varied. 3D printed plastic cutters come in every design imaginable, but as with metal cutters, the design options are more limited for miniature cutters when compared to regular seized cutters.
The main benefits of plastic polymer clay cutters are that:
- they won’t rust
- they are more flexible than metal
- they don’t have the lip that metal cutters have where the metal overlaps
The main downside of plastic cutters is that they don’t provide as clean a cut as metal cutters as they’re not as sharp and tend to be thicker.
Plastics cutters are made of various types of plastic. Below are three of the most common materials used to make plastic cutters:Polypropylene – this is what the regular, cheap plastic cutters are made from. Nylon – this plastic is used for heavy duty plastic cutters such as the Fat Daddio ranges. The edge you press down on is thicker than the rest of the cutter which makes them less fiddly to use and also helps them retain their shape. Many of the nylon cutters can withstand high temperatures, so you could bake your polymer clay in the cutter without any issues. I’ve not seen any sets of miniature cutters for these but small sizers are usually included in the large multi-packs.
PLA – this is plastic made from renewable sources, most often from corn, tapioca roots or sugar beets. Buying cutters made from PLA is a more environmentally friendly choice. They are also biodegradable.
Where To Buy Plastic Cutters For Polymer Clay
I couldn’t find many super small plastic cutters that would be suitable for miniatures from mainstream retailers. Amazon has a few, such as these Christmas themed ones, but the vast majority were designed for baking with kids so they were too large to be used for miniature modelling.
There are a lot more options on Etsy where you can find miniature cutters designed for polymer clay and fondant work.
These super cute leaf cutters by SweetMiniDollHouse are the perfect size for creating miniature leaves for foliage projects as they’re on a 1:12 scale. They are designed specifically for polymer clay and the best part is, they’re made from environmentally friendly plastic!
The seller has created a huge range of miniature cutters, this Halloween pack includes a miniature pumpkin pie slice, which could easily be adapted to create a miniature slice of any pie!
Plastic Plunger Cutters For Polymer Clay
Plunger cutters are a fondant and cake decorating tool and can be used with polymer clay. They’re usually made from plastic and often come in multipacks of different sizes and shapes.
The plungers are attached to the cutter and are used to push the clay out of the cutter. Some plunger cutters have a raised surface, such as veins on leaves, which will add more detail to the shape.
They are available from cookery and cake shops, craft shops and online retailers such as Amazon. They’re so common that you might even find them in the baking section of supermarkets.
How To Use Plunger Cutters With Polymer Clay
Plunger cutters extract the clay from the work surface into the cutter, unlike traditional cutters which just cut a line around the clay.
Once you’ve cut a shape with a plunger cutter, you’ll need to remove the polymer clay from it by pressing down on the plunger (or the technical term ‘pushy out thing’!). This should remove the polymer clay shape from your cutter and onto your work surface.
If you’re cutting a shape that you want to mould into a 3D model, such as a flower, then instead of plunging the shape out onto a work surface, plunge it out onto a sponge or foam. This will give the flowers a more natural shape and avoids having the extra step of removing the miniature flower from the work surface and then onto the foam.
Alternatively, you could create the curve of the leaves with a ball tool.
The video below is useful for seeing how you can use the foam technique when making miniature flowers with a plunger cutter. She’s using fondant icing rather than polymer clay but the technique is very similar.
Some plunger cutters which would work for making miniatures from polymer clay include:
- Blossoms 4 piece plunger icing cutter set from Cake Star – the smallest flower of the set of four is just 6mm.
- PME small 6mm blossom plunger is 6mm and saves buying a full set if you just want the one size flower.
- PME Round Plunger Cutter is 6mm and a great choice for making miniature cookies.
- Fondant Cutter 13pcs Set – this 13 piece set of geometric designs is ideal if you want to try out a range of plunger cutter sizes and styles.
Household Objects That Can Be Used To Cut Polymer Clay
After doing a little research on this, it seems that if something has a sharp side to it, it can be used as a polymer clay cutter!
This includes the more obvious items such as:
- scissors for cutting through thin clay
- pizza slicers
- cake slicers
- cheese slicers
- veggie peelers
- cheese wire
- dental floss
Whatever you use, make sure you use it safely and if you’ve used it for clay, then don’t use it for food as well.
DIY Mini Polymer Clay Cutters
Making your own cutters is a great way to get the super small shapes needed when making miniature models. It can also be less expensive than buying cutters.
There are plenty of weird and wonder ways to make your own cutters, these are some of the most useful and inventive options I found.
In the video below, the crafter using an IKEA tea light holder to make shaped blades and cutters for polymer clay. Just make sure you’re super careful when you make these as the metal will be sharp!
If you don’t have a tea light holder, you can try turning a drinks can into a miniature polymer clay cutter. This has to be the cheapest way to create your own cutters – all you need is an empty drinks can, some scissors and some tape. But again, watch your fingers, cutting metal cans can be dangerous!
You can even use metal tubing (which you’ll be able to find at your local DIY store) to create mini cutters, as you can see in this guide.
How To Prevent Polymer Clay From Sticking To Cutters
I’ve done a whole post about how to prevent polymer clay from sticking to various tools, including cutters. You can view the post here, but below is a quick overview and some useful tips.
- Use a ceramic tile or a glass chopping board as your work surface, these are non-stick and can help keep polymer clay cool.
- Press down on the cutter evenly and try not to wiggle the cutter (as you would if you were making biscuits).
- If you’re using a round cutter, move the cutter round in a circle after you’ve cut through the clay. This will help smooth off the edges of the circle.
- If your clay gets stuck in a cutter, instead of pressing it out with your finger, use a soft brush to loosen the edges of the clay.
- To prevent your polymer clay from sticking to the cutter, apply a small amount of water to the cutter before using it in the clay.
- Remove the polymer clay from the work surface with a thin blade.
Finally, I wanted to end this epic post with something that made me smile – a tiny knife set made out of polymer clay – we’ve come full-circle!