I just opened FWW and there's a brief review of them. They are referred to as "Japanese style" chisels. They have a hollow back, but the blades aren't laminated. Amazon has them for about $35 each.
I'm curious whether anyone has tried these?
Fred
[OP]
Contributor
I just opened FWW and there's a brief review of them. They are referred to as "Japanese style" chisels. They have a hollow back, but the blades aren't laminated. Amazon has them for about $35 each.
I'm curious whether anyone has tried these?
Fred
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Contributor
Looks like it's made for whacking pretty hard, with that ring on the handle?????
Contributor
Hardness of 59 for dovetailing cheddar cheese. Too soft for me
Aj
Member
Dovetail chisels should have a very narrow side bevel to avoid dinging dovetail corners. The Narex dovetail chisel has a one millimeter flat on the sides. This is the same as their bench chisels so why bother?
Member
These are common on Japanese style chisels, because the Japanese woodworkers did their work sitting down at a bench so they used metal hammers which meant they didn't have to hit their chisels as hard. The ferrule is to prevent the wood from splitting due to the metal hammer hitting it.Originally Posted by Tom M King
Guest
The hoop is a thing brass ring, nothing like a good, solid metal hoop on a Japanese chisel. The same goes for the ferrule. It's a thin piece of brass that's been shaped in a hydraulic press. It's absolutely worthless.
Contributor
Andrew, I'm curious, what chisels are you using for dovetails? I'm considering my first Japanese chisel and am leaning towards a "dovetail style".
Contributor
I've chopped a lot of dovetails with ordinary bench chisels and never had any problems or desire for a different shaped chisel. I do have a 3/8" fishtail for when I want to get into tight corners.
Mike
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Member
Rc 59-ish is pretty typical for western chisels... Assuming the heat treatment is good - that’s plenty hard...
Contributor
When chopping my preference was for a bit heavier chisel than ones used for paring. Since then my practice has changed to sawing out the waste and then paring to the lines.I've chopped a lot of dovetails with ordinary bench chisels and never had any problems or desire for a different shaped chisel.
Of course anyone can use just about any chisel the desire for dovetail work. My choice is to have different chisels set up for different tasks.
The closest any of my chisels come to being a 'premium' chisel is a Narex mortising chisel.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Agreed.
I actually prefer chisels somewhat on the soft side. For western chisels, I don't really want anything over RC59 or so. I don't get the need for super hard tools that make sharpening on nice stones difficult, or chip and then take longer to fix.
I do appreciate white-steel Japanese chisels, but for western tools I'll take softer steels any day -- and preferably without the hard carbides, like A2 has.
Member
Not much flat area behind the cutting edge of that chisel. As the cutting edge gets sharpened back do you also have to lap metal off of the chisel bottom?
Guest
The hollow is different on this chisel compared to a Japanese chisel. With a Japanese chisel the hollow is shallower near the edge. This way you can use fully use up the blade without completely loosing the hollow as the blade gets shorter and thinner. If the hollow on the Narex gets too close to the edge you would have to remove a lot of steel to move it back. I guess they thought it would appeal to people who can't afford a set of good Japanese chisels but they clearly didn't think it through.
Contributor
Or maybe they made the common mistake of thinking if a little hollow is good a lot of hollow must be better.I guess they thought it would appeal to people who can't afford a set of good Japanese chisels but they clearly didn't think it through.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
I've been using them for about 6 months now. They are pretty comfortable to use, sharpen well, and do what they are supposed to do. I prefer using them to using my bench chisels. Worth the cost, and then some.
Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.
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