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Japanese chisels hand forged after traditional methods. The steel used contains up to 1.2%C. Common hardware store chisels attain maximum 58Rc. These japanese chisels go even upper than HSS with 64Rc. They are impossible to sharpen with common abrasives. AlO and Carborundum waterstones must be used. Honing is best done with natural waterstones with grit smaller than 0.8µ . It is understood that their utility is limited to fitting wood joints. Nobody would abuse such fine tools chopping dirty wood.
Masanari - chisel 36mm wide. Pure carbon steel with 1,2%C. From the 80s. Very easy to sharpen. |
The Mei (brand) of the japanese chisel Masanari. |
The back of the Masanari chisel. A convex back chisel is completely useless and will never produce quality work. Japanese chisels are hollow ground on the back to facilitate maintaining flatness. |
The Masanari japanese chisel honed on my best natural waterstone Nakayama. This type of hazy loking finish is named in japanese ,,Kasumi", with character 霞 and means ,,mist, haze". It is the standard correct finish for high end swords and knifes in Japan. To finish in Kasumi an object is a form of respect in the japanese culture. Usually natural stones are used but sometimes man-made sharpening waterstones are good for this type of finish. In this last case it means that natural stone powder was used in the composition. |
Japanese chisel stamped with the hexagonal brand of the Tokyo Blacksmith Guild. Because of the high rent, today there are no more Tokyo blacksmiths. The majority now operate in the Miki city, Hyogo prefecture. This japanese chisel is from a very hard steel (maybe blue #1). The rough aspect denotes an entirely manual forging; even the ring of the handle is hand-forged faceted. Somehow hard to sharpen chisel. |
The ura side of the Tokyo japanese chisel. |
This Tokyo japanese chisel has straight sides characteristic of vintage chisels. |
The back; is seen a black hollow. This chisel was tempered after grinding, a thing difficult to do only by the most experienced masters blacksmiths. The majority nowadays are ground after tempering resulting a shiny finish. |
