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Kiyotada Chisel Pics 1/5 Oire & Mukomachi Chisel Sets
In response to my earlier post, some of the guys asked to see pics of some of my Kiyotada chisels. It will take 5 posts within this thread to show the some of them.
First, are my set of oire and mukomachi (mortice) chisels.
The Oire set (butt chisels) were custom made for me, and are an old fashioned style with few bevels. I have used these a lot.
The mukomachi set (mortice chisels) I built up over time. Excellent tools I have used a great deal. They don't chip easily, and stay sharp a long time, so the blades are not much shorter than when I bought them.
Stan
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Kiyotada Chisels 2/5 Tataki Nomi
Tataki chisels next. These are rather large, and are intended for timber work. I used these a lot once, but not much now. I have three or four more, but these were immediately at hand.
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Kiyotada Chisels 3/5 Shinogi Paring Chisels
Next are the shinogi chisels. I am very fond of these.
The last chisel to the right is really not a shinogi, but a paring chisel. It is a wonder, very thin and very precisely made. Very few blacksmiths can do work this slender and this precise. Another of those chisels that is seldom used, but indispensable.
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Kiyotada Chisels 4/5 Kote Chisels
Next are the kote chisels. Sometime before WWII, Mr. Ichiro Tsuchida of Sangenjaya in Tokyo lent Shimamura san (Kiyotada) an original kote chisel made by Korehide Chiyozuru, and had him imitate it in developing this style. Chiyozuru's style is widely acknowledged as the most elegant kote nomi style. The filework is not as refined as Ichihiro's, but it is decent. I only have this three by Kiyotada. He never made many of them, and they are always hard to get. One of those chisels you don't use a lot, but when you need it, nothing else will do the job as well. Great for inletting swamped barrels into curly maple Kentucky longrifle stocks too.
I have other kote nomi, but compared to these, they are ugly and clumsy and depressing to use.
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Kiyotada Chisels 5/5 Specialized Paring Chisel
Next is a specialised tsuki or paring chisel. I don't know the precise name. I bought it at Suiheiya in Tokyo 25 or 26 years ago. I had never seen one before, and have never seen another since. It is intended to be used with the ura riding a jig to pare to a precise angle. Perfect for 45 degree mitres, etc. It is very stiff. The ura is unique because it has multiple hollows, the better to ride the jig without digging in. The Japanese red oak handle is beautiful. This is one chisel I would never be without. I suppose I should ask the kids to toss it into my coffin before they close the lid.
Stan
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Some Background About the Blacksmith
I thought it would be useful to add some more information to the thread about the blacksmith himself.
There was a famous metallurgist from Niigata Prefecture named Kosuke Iwasaki that had a profound impact on blacksmithing throughout Japan. He probably contributed more to the scientific understanding (versus "tradition") of the chemical processes involved in formulating, forging, and heat treating tool steel by Japanese blacksmiths, and the improvement and widespread use of quality control methodology in blacksmithing thorought Japan than any single man before or since.
What has Iwasaki got to do with Kiyotada chisels, you ask? Patience. Iwasaki wrote that the best chisel smiths in all of Japan at the time were located in Tokyo. He tested the chisels of the top 4 chisel smiths in Tokyo and proclaimed Chugoro Shimamura as the best. If Iwasaki is to be believed, that makes Shimamura the best chisel smith in Japan. Certainly a lot of Japanese craftsmen believe it. The link below is to a webpage by Mr. Suzuki who has written 5 or 6 volumes on Japanese toolmakers. Sorry its in Japanese.
http://www.misyuku-suzuki-kanamonote...jimeijin2.html
The blacksmith was born Chugoro Shimamura (島村忠五郎) in 1890 in Yokohama just a few blocks from my current jobsite. The name implies he was his father's fifth son. He apprenticed to a blacksmith in Nagoya at age 15 and learned to make sickles, hoes, and other such farm implements. According to Suzuki, he developed an interest in chisels, and learned how to make them without formal instruction from a master. He eventually went independent and returned to Tokyo, setting up his first forge in Hashiba in Asakusa Bashi. He relocated several times, but when I visited him, he was working in the Tsukishima area of Chuo Ward (not far from Ginza in a rather rundown residential area).
The name he worked under was Kiyotada (清忠), combining the character Kiyo (清）meaning "pure" with the character Tada (忠) meaning "faithful." He probably took the Tada character from his own name, because the "Chu" in Chugoro can also be pronounced "Tada."
Allow me to digress for a minute. For many decades, Suiheiya (translated as "Level Store" as in the bubble level tool) was the largest tool store in Japan. They are probably still the largest retailer of high-quality woodworking handtools in Japan, and if you are in the area, you should pay them a visit. My favourite guy there passed away last year, so I feel sad about visiting nowadays, but they still have excellent tools. A 15 minute walk from Kaminarimon in Asakusa, or a five minute taxi ride. I think the current owner is the founder's great grandson, but his English is not so good, sorry to say.
（株）水平屋商店東京都台東区千束１丁目１−３
- Suiheiya Shouten
Address: 1 Chome-1-3 Senzoku, Taito, Tokyo 111-0031
Phone:03-3875-0292
What has Suiheiya to do with Kiyotada, you ask? Obviously Shimamura san had a deep and longstanding relationship with Suiheiya. What is curious is that I was told that Suiheiya owned the registered trademark for the Kiyotada brand, but that Suiheiya was fine with Shimamura using the brand (actually a metal stamp) on all his tools regardless of retailer. I checked with Suiheiya, and indeed, they informed me, they own the Kiyotada trademark. That is why you can still buy chisels and planes with the Kiyotada brand on them from Suiheiya. Identical to the one on my chisel photos.
The blacksmith who currently makes the Kiyotada brand chisel for Suiheiya resides in Niigata, but his work is unimpressive. Most of the large plane blades sold by Suiheiya under the Kiyotada brand are made by Sekikawa san. I have visited Mr. Sekikawa's home and forge, and have owned lots of his blades for many years, have always found them very well made, and an excellent value. But they are not made by Shimamura san, so if you go to Suiheiya and ask for a Kiyotada chisel, be sure to ask if the maker was Shimamura san, or the Niigata blacksmith.
Another retailer in Tokyo of Shimamura san's chisels was Mr. Ichiro Tsuchida. Although his store is not as grand as Suiheiya (only two or at most three people can actually enter his store at the same time) I have bought a lot of tools from him over the years. You can tell this from my collection. The white oak handled chisels in these photos were bought at Tsuchida Hamonoten, now operated by Ichiro's son Noboru, and the red oak handled chisels were bought from Suiheiya. Simple personal preference of the shop owners. Those that he made for me custom are also handled in white oak as the transaction went through Tsuchida san.
Probably more information than you wanted, but the price was right.
Stan
