Sometimes vintage chisel steel is harder than modern

[Gary Herrmann]

I've been lapping some vintage chisels I picked up (still not done, ugh). At the same time I've been lapping a modern Marple and Stanley for a friend and a Pfeil carving chisel for my wife.

I figured the carving chisel would be somewhat softer, but I am amazed at how much harder the vintage chisels are than the modern chisels. Granted the modern chisels are not high end, but the difference is astounding to me.

I'm not certain - since I didn't work them at the same time, but it seems like the vintage chisels are taking me about as long as the LV A2 plane irons I've lapped.

[Mike Henderson]

It's not difficult to make steel hard - it's all in the way you heat treat it. But there's a trade-off. If you make the steel too hard it becomes brittle. Japanese chisels are tempered harder than most western chisels and suffer from edge chipping if not used properly.

So when a tool is made, there must be a tradeoff between hardness and toughness (the ability to absorb shock without breaking). The best tools are those that find the sweet spot between those two competing characteristics, given the application they're designed for.

Mike