japanese chisels ?

[dirtydeeds]

ive not looked seriously at japanese chisels

the main reason for not buying them is the maintenance

aparantly they soft back edge needs to be hammered to shape

second, they have dozens of chisel types



can anybody de mistify this for me

[jimw]

Why??

Unless you are looking at spending £200+ per chisel I can't see they are better than others and most likely are not made there.

After working for them for over ten years I on a matter of principle don't by anything jap made.

Which is not difficult as their manufacturing has gone the same way as ours.

[promhandicam]

Hi DD. I've got a few Japanese chisels that I bought off of a guy on ebay. I'm happy with them as once they are sharp they stay sharp as the cutting edge is so hard. I've never heard of having to hammer the back to shape. The one thing you do need to do on most of them is set the hoops on which isn't too complicated. Contrary to jimw's somewhat biased response, I am pretty sure that all half decent Japanese chisels are still made by small blacksmiths and are not mass produced. The most I've paid for a chisel was about 17 quid for a large dovetail paring chisel - the rest have all be around the £10 mark. I don't think I'd throw them in a bag to take out on site but in the workshop they are great.

HTH,

Steve

[promhandicam]

HERE is a link to the ebay shop of the chap I mentioned.

HERE is a brief overview of Japanese chisels types - there is a better website but I can't think of the name off hand

Steve

[jimw]

Steve,

Given the cost of living in Japan (been there done that etc) and the price of those chisels retailing at around £15. Do I believe they are hand forged by a little craftsman blacksmith?
Er well no - they are coming out of the usual Chiwanese factories.

Bias well yes, but see it my way - I put 30 years effort and lots of money into my pension at the same engineering firm. A big red (7 seas??) jap company came along and wrecked the firm & stole my pension.

Over the years I had the dubious pleasure of 100s of jap colleagues, with the exception of 3 (who I am still in contact with) I would not give the rest of them the time of day.

Smite me some more ;D ;D

[motownmartin]

jimw said:

Steve,

Given the cost of living in Japan (been there done that etc) and the price of those chisels retailing at around £15. Do I believe they are hand forged by a little craftsman blacksmith?
Er well no - they are coming out of the usual Chiwanese factories.

Bias well yes, but see it my way - I put 30 years effort and lots of money into my pension at the same engineering firm. A big red (7 seas??) jap company came along and wrecked the firm & stole my pension.

Over the years I had the dubious pleasure of 100s of jap colleagues, with the exception of 3 (who I am still in contact with) I would not give the rest of them the time of day.

Smite me some more ;D ;D

Hello Jim, I have a nice chisel some chap gave to me for doing him a favour, homemade handle too ;D ;D

[jimw]

Hello Martin,

I see you have come over to the dark side then? ;D ;D

I have to warn you we are a rough lot over here.

However all are welcome - the rulers & the story sticks

How did you guess it was me
I'm not THAT predictable am I

[jimw]

Martin,

That Chisel??

How long did you spend looking for the ON switch ;D ;D

[jimw]

OOO ! I've just noticed I've been "Moderated" ;D ;D ;D ;D

Move over Senior

[motownmartin]

jimw said:

Martin,

That Chisel??

How long did you spend looking for the ON switch ;D ;D

I didn't work till itook off the plastic bit off the end

I knew it was you when i seen all knives flying about.

[promhandicam]

Jimw - what I paid for them and what they were supposed to retail at are 2 different things. IIRC, some of them were supposed to retail at around 40 - 50 each back in 1997. It would seem that the seller bought a large quantity of Japanese hand tools which have been in storage for the last 10 years - well that was the gist of his story anyway. I know others who are happy with theirs too and to be honest whether they came out of a factory or were made in someones back yard doesn't make any difference - they work and they work well.

Steve

[davidc]

Approximately £30 buys a professional grade Japanese chisel which will outperform almost anything from the West.

Cheap Japanese chisels can be nasty.

Some of the above comments are thoroughly out of order.

David Charlesworth

[modernist]

I bought 3 push type paring chisels from PTGTG and they are excellent holding a razor edge for ages and needing little initial prep. My only regret is missing the wider ones.