A clay blade is the tool you reach for most and think about least. These are long, thin steel blades for slicing canes, trimming edges, cutting clean straight lines and lifting finished work off the tile without distorting it — jobs a craft knife does badly because its short edge drags and its point digs in.

Flexible blades bend under thumb pressure into a shallow curve, which lets you cut a concave line, shave a curved surface, or follow the contour of a bead. They also lift thin sheets more kindly than a rigid blade, since the blade can flex rather than forcing the clay to.

Most people end up owning both and using the rigid one for accuracy and the flexible one for shaping.

These are genuinely sharp. Sharp enough to cut you badly before you have registered touching them — Ginger Davis Allman’s standing warning on ultra-sharp clay blades is worth repeating. Check which edge is the cutting edge by eye before each cut rather than finding it by feel, keep the blade somewhere it cannot be picked up blind, and keep it away from children.

Wipe them dry after cleaning. Steel this thin will spot if it is left damp.

Ginger Davis Allman surveys the whole category — blades, slicers and the tools built around them — in Polymer Clay Slicers — An Overview at The Blue Bottle Tree.

• Cernit reference: CE909C
• Type: Flexible
• Quantity: 2 blades
• Material: Steel