Woodbloke
Sequoia
My original recommendation for Workshop Heaven still stands though and apologies for not clicking your linkie but it was late here in the UK and I was just about to climb 'the wooden hill'
- Rob
-
Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!
Fixing a Chipped Japanese Chisel Blade
- Thread starter Woodbloke
- Start date
- Rob
Dr.Al
Old Oak
The 10 mm chisel was quite bent: rather than just having been raised up at the tip, there was a clear bow to the shape with both the tip and the back of the flat area leaning away from the centre.
I'm not brave enough to try to bend a chisel back into shape, so I went with the only sensible option I could think of, grind the middle on the side of the CBN wheel:
It then went onto the 240 grit waterstone until the grind marks reached the tip. This, unsurprisingly, completely removed the dip (ura?) in the middle of the back of the chisel:
After moving to the 800 and then 8000 grit waterstones, it looked like this:
There are still some coarse grinding marks on the side in the middle: I think I must have slightly tilted the chisel as I offered it up to the side of the grind stone. I don't think those marks will have any effect on function so I'm not going to worry about them.
The smallest (6 mm) chisel was also a bit misshapen, but it's narrow enough that it was quite easy to just deal with it on the 240 grit waterstone. The dip in the middle was completely gone by the time I reached the tip. With that, they're all polished near the tip and of varying levels of polish further back:
In the meantime, Carolyn had taken the machine-stitched leather tool roll that they came in (which had most of the stitching coming undone) and hand saddle-stitched all the way round to give it a new lease of life (I didn't get any photos from before apart from this one) from my first post:
Next up was the bevels. I started by getting my preferred honing guide out (the Eclipse one), but the fairly short bodies of the wider chisels meant that it couldn't grip them properly. Instead I had to pull out my rarely-used Veritas guide. The 35 mm chisel went in and I set to work on the 240 grit waterstone:
After a while doing that (and several times of stopping to reflatten the stone as it was wearing down so fast), I got fed up and decided to use the grinder instead. However, just like the Eclipse jig, I was struggling to get a good grip on the chisels with the Tormek square-edge jig I usually use on the bench grinder. I went inside and spent 10 minutes in Solidworks on the computer and then set the 3D-printer going for a couple of hours to make a new jig.
While that was printing, I exchanged a few messages with the owner of the chisels. That has changed things rather dramatically, but more on that later.
Once the printer was finished, the chisel got mounted in the jig and things proceeded much quicker from then on:
Fresh off the bench grinder (in the background you can see the pot of water that the chisel got dunked in every few seconds):
With a rough bevel ground on the end, I went for my usual sharpening approach (except for using the Veritas jig instead of the Eclipse one):
I'd been planning to sharpen these chisels by hand, by resting the rear and tip of the hollow-ground bevel on the stones and then rubbing back and forth on the stones. Given I was sharpening for someone else, I figured that would make it easier for the recipient to maintain the edges. However, as I said earlier, things had just changed a little so I just went with my normal approach.
The sharpened edge (the slight scarring on the face near where it's clamped in the jig is from the grub screw in my 3D-printed jig):
Rinse and repeat:
In case anyone cares, the two widest chisels have been ground at 24° and sharpened at 25°, the narrower ones at 29°/30°.
The next job will be to deal with the ferrules (but I'm going to have to read the website that @GaryR shared first). As I mentioned, one had fallen off. The ferrules on the smaller two spin freely and the one on the widest one spins with a bit of resistance. The 24 mm one has a firm ferrule but the wood has chipped slightly:
I mentioned that the situation had changed as a result of some messages exchanged while I was waiting for the jig to print.
I shared an extract from the original request before:
I had (obviously) agreed. After the chisels arrived I asked him to send me his address (I've never met him, just interacted on another forum).
After a while I'd sent another message reminding him he hadn't sent me his address yet and I got this slightly cryptic response:
So I sent him a picture of the flattened backs to show that things were progressing and again asked for his address. The response:
(that's just an extract, but it gives the general idea).
I'm slightly blown away by his generosity (especially given that I've never met him). Apparently I'm now the owner of a set of Japanese chisels
I'm not brave enough to try to bend a chisel back into shape, so I went with the only sensible option I could think of, grind the middle on the side of the CBN wheel:
It then went onto the 240 grit waterstone until the grind marks reached the tip. This, unsurprisingly, completely removed the dip (ura?) in the middle of the back of the chisel:
After moving to the 800 and then 8000 grit waterstones, it looked like this:
There are still some coarse grinding marks on the side in the middle: I think I must have slightly tilted the chisel as I offered it up to the side of the grind stone. I don't think those marks will have any effect on function so I'm not going to worry about them.
The smallest (6 mm) chisel was also a bit misshapen, but it's narrow enough that it was quite easy to just deal with it on the 240 grit waterstone. The dip in the middle was completely gone by the time I reached the tip. With that, they're all polished near the tip and of varying levels of polish further back:
In the meantime, Carolyn had taken the machine-stitched leather tool roll that they came in (which had most of the stitching coming undone) and hand saddle-stitched all the way round to give it a new lease of life (I didn't get any photos from before apart from this one) from my first post:
Next up was the bevels. I started by getting my preferred honing guide out (the Eclipse one), but the fairly short bodies of the wider chisels meant that it couldn't grip them properly. Instead I had to pull out my rarely-used Veritas guide. The 35 mm chisel went in and I set to work on the 240 grit waterstone:
After a while doing that (and several times of stopping to reflatten the stone as it was wearing down so fast), I got fed up and decided to use the grinder instead. However, just like the Eclipse jig, I was struggling to get a good grip on the chisels with the Tormek square-edge jig I usually use on the bench grinder. I went inside and spent 10 minutes in Solidworks on the computer and then set the 3D-printer going for a couple of hours to make a new jig.
While that was printing, I exchanged a few messages with the owner of the chisels. That has changed things rather dramatically, but more on that later.
Once the printer was finished, the chisel got mounted in the jig and things proceeded much quicker from then on:
Fresh off the bench grinder (in the background you can see the pot of water that the chisel got dunked in every few seconds):
With a rough bevel ground on the end, I went for my usual sharpening approach (except for using the Veritas jig instead of the Eclipse one):
I'd been planning to sharpen these chisels by hand, by resting the rear and tip of the hollow-ground bevel on the stones and then rubbing back and forth on the stones. Given I was sharpening for someone else, I figured that would make it easier for the recipient to maintain the edges. However, as I said earlier, things had just changed a little so I just went with my normal approach.
The sharpened edge (the slight scarring on the face near where it's clamped in the jig is from the grub screw in my 3D-printed jig):
Rinse and repeat:
In case anyone cares, the two widest chisels have been ground at 24° and sharpened at 25°, the narrower ones at 29°/30°.
The next job will be to deal with the ferrules (but I'm going to have to read the website that @GaryR shared first). As I mentioned, one had fallen off. The ferrules on the smaller two spin freely and the one on the widest one spins with a bit of resistance. The 24 mm one has a firm ferrule but the wood has chipped slightly:
I mentioned that the situation had changed as a result of some messages exchanged while I was waiting for the jig to print.
I shared an extract from the original request before:
I had (obviously) agreed. After the chisels arrived I asked him to send me his address (I've never met him, just interacted on another forum).
After a while I'd sent another message reminding him he hadn't sent me his address yet and I got this slightly cryptic response:
So I sent him a picture of the flattened backs to show that things were progressing and again asked for his address. The response:
(that's just an extract, but it gives the general idea).
I'm slightly blown away by his generosity (especially given that I've never met him). Apparently I'm now the owner of a set of Japanese chisels
Last edited:
Woodbloke
Sequoia
Nice score Al! The Eclipse jig is great (beloved of Saint Dave of C as well, who did a very useful modification to it) and many moons ago I owned an original, now residing on Vancouver Island in Canadia. Good as it is, it won't grasp Japanese chisels at all well, but the Veritas will quite easily.
Fwiw, I used to hone a secondary bevel on Japanese chisels as well until the penny dropped only quite recently. Most of the material on the blade is soft iron, with only a thinnish layer of super hard ('White Paper' on the best chisels) steel, so it's as easy to hone a single bevel of whatever your preference, but I do mine at the standard 30deg as most of the material you're removing is soft. The same is true on the blades of Japanese 'kana' planes...single bevel only.
Contrast that to the 5mm thick, tool steel blades on a Veritas LA plane (I have 8) where of absolute necessity you can't allow the honed bevel to creep past one of two mm wide before the primary bevel needs to be reground at 25deg and on a Tormek with a coarse diamond wheel that can take aeons; hence the shift to the Ax 'Ultimate Edge' - Rob
Fwiw, I used to hone a secondary bevel on Japanese chisels as well until the penny dropped only quite recently. Most of the material on the blade is soft iron, with only a thinnish layer of super hard ('White Paper' on the best chisels) steel, so it's as easy to hone a single bevel of whatever your preference, but I do mine at the standard 30deg as most of the material you're removing is soft. The same is true on the blades of Japanese 'kana' planes...single bevel only.
Contrast that to the 5mm thick, tool steel blades on a Veritas LA plane (I have 8) where of absolute necessity you can't allow the honed bevel to creep past one of two mm wide before the primary bevel needs to be reground at 25deg and on a Tormek with a coarse diamond wheel that can take aeons; hence the shift to the Ax 'Ultimate Edge' - Rob
SteveMP
New Shoots
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2026
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- 54
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- 99
- Name
- Steve
- LOCATION
- San Diego
Looking great! And very generous of that guy ! The part you are calling ferrule is typically referred to as hoop or crown. There is a tool to set it https://www.amazon.co.uk/KAKURI-Japanese-Chisel-Setting-40900/dp/B0CN8FD8G1
But personally I never bought the tool and just use an automotive socket that fits. Handles often are different sizes so just find whatever socket is larger than handle but still contacts the hoop well. As mentioned the link to Stan Covington’s site has a great instruction on proper setting the hoop. Otherwise they get smashed like some of those were. You can also order replacement hoops if any are too out of sorts. I often otder from this site (but don’t brwse their tools unless you want to part with your money lol)
shop.kurashige-tools.com
But personally I never bought the tool and just use an automotive socket that fits. Handles often are different sizes so just find whatever socket is larger than handle but still contacts the hoop well. As mentioned the link to Stan Covington’s site has a great instruction on proper setting the hoop. Otherwise they get smashed like some of those were. You can also order replacement hoops if any are too out of sorts. I often otder from this site (but don’t brwse their tools unless you want to part with your money lol)
Chisels Hoop Ring (Uchi-Katsura) with Tsuchime Finish ___鑿用 鑿桂 カツラ 槌目
Handmade Japanese chisel hoop rings (uchi-katsura) with black & tsuchime (hammer) finish. Inside diameter 18–27mm. Sold individually. Made in Japan.
shop.kurashige-tools.com
Woodbloke
Sequoia
I bought one from Tyzack Tools in the UK and it makes the irksome process of fitting the hoop a piece of cake...on offer as well. I saw these in Japan some time ago and forgot to buy one, but I never thought I'd ever come across one in the UK - RobLooking great! And very generous of that guy ! The part you are calling ferrule is typically referred to as hoop or crown. There is a tool to set it https://www.amazon.co.uk/KAKURI-Japanese-Chisel-Setting-40900/dp/B0CN8FD8G1
But personally I never bought the tool and just use an automotive socket that fits. Handles often are different sizes so just find whatever socket is larger than handle but still contacts the hoop well. As mentioned the link to Stan Covington’s site has a great instruction on proper setting the hoop. Otherwise they get smashed like some of those were. You can also order replacement hoops if any are too out of sorts. I often otder from this site (but don’t brwse their tools unless you want to part with your money lol)
Chisels Hoop Ring (Uchi-Katsura) with Tsuchime Finish ___鑿用 鑿桂 カツラ 槌目
Handmade Japanese chisel hoop rings (uchi-katsura) with black & tsuchime (hammer) finish. Inside diameter 18–27mm. Sold individually. Made in Japan.
Edit - looks like I bought the last one, now out of stock.
Dr.Al
Old Oak
It's been too hot to spent much time in the workshop today, but I've done a little bit on the hoops. Given they were mostly loose, I decided they all needed to come off to be dealt with. Loose in this context mostly means that they would rotate freely, not that they would come off easily. To get them off, I pared away the bit of the handle that was sticking out above the hoop:
I then took it down to the other end of the workshop and whacked it out (with a bit of round bar smaller than the inner diameter of the hoop). To make that easier (and less hazardous) I removed the blades from all the chisels except the one that had the properly loose hoop:
I decided to start with the 15 mm chisel as the hoop had been so loose that the handle had stayed in good nick but the hoop was a bit mashed:
I put it in a collet in the metalworking lathe and gave it a bit of a tidy-up, including cutting a chamfer on the inside:
I then mounted an off-cut of acetal (just because it's what came to hand) in the lathe, cut a taper on it and jammed the hoop onto the taper. I could then clean up the outside a little with a file and some 240-grit wet-and-dry paper.
To re-fit it, I used @SteveMP's excellent tip and grabbed a socket to be whacked with a persuading stick:
Re-fitted:
I imagine the wood will very quickly mushroom into that chamfer when the chisel is used.
With that, done, the first chisel is finished:
That was the easy one. The 6 mm and 10 mm ones look like they'll also be fairly straightforward, but I'm not yet sure what to do about the big ones:
The handles are a bit mashed.
The obvious answers that occur to me are:
1. Use a chisel to carefully pare down the handle near the transition to reduce the diameter slightly so that the hoop goes on further than it did before (and hence the handle will get a little shorter, but that's probably fine). The end can then be tidied up once the hoop goes past the damaged bit.
2. Same as #1 but do it in a bit more of a controlled way by setting up the wood lathe and skimming the surface near the end.
3. Set up the wood lathe and make a brand-new handle.
At the moment, the list above is probably my order of preference, although #2 is probably a better idea than #1 (I'm just feeling lazy about getting the lathe set up).
Other ideas or suggestions for which is the best idea are welcome.
In the meantime I can do the other two (if I can face the fact that the workshop thermometer is reading 33 degrees at the mo
)
I then took it down to the other end of the workshop and whacked it out (with a bit of round bar smaller than the inner diameter of the hoop). To make that easier (and less hazardous) I removed the blades from all the chisels except the one that had the properly loose hoop:
I decided to start with the 15 mm chisel as the hoop had been so loose that the handle had stayed in good nick but the hoop was a bit mashed:
I put it in a collet in the metalworking lathe and gave it a bit of a tidy-up, including cutting a chamfer on the inside:
I then mounted an off-cut of acetal (just because it's what came to hand) in the lathe, cut a taper on it and jammed the hoop onto the taper. I could then clean up the outside a little with a file and some 240-grit wet-and-dry paper.
To re-fit it, I used @SteveMP's excellent tip and grabbed a socket to be whacked with a persuading stick:
Re-fitted:
I imagine the wood will very quickly mushroom into that chamfer when the chisel is used.
With that, done, the first chisel is finished:
That was the easy one. The 6 mm and 10 mm ones look like they'll also be fairly straightforward, but I'm not yet sure what to do about the big ones:
The handles are a bit mashed.
The obvious answers that occur to me are:
1. Use a chisel to carefully pare down the handle near the transition to reduce the diameter slightly so that the hoop goes on further than it did before (and hence the handle will get a little shorter, but that's probably fine). The end can then be tidied up once the hoop goes past the damaged bit.
2. Same as #1 but do it in a bit more of a controlled way by setting up the wood lathe and skimming the surface near the end.
3. Set up the wood lathe and make a brand-new handle.
At the moment, the list above is probably my order of preference, although #2 is probably a better idea than #1 (I'm just feeling lazy about getting the lathe set up).
Other ideas or suggestions for which is the best idea are welcome.
In the meantime I can do the other two (if I can face the fact that the workshop thermometer is reading 33 degrees at the mo
)I don't have any Japanese chisels but I did buy a second hand copy of Toshio Odate's book.
He says that if you need the hoop to go lower, reduce the handle diameter by tapping all round the handle, rotating it on an anvil. Then, with a millimetre or two of wood above the hoop, dip the end in water for a few seconds, then mushroom it over the hoop by tapping all round with a hammer.
He says that if you need the hoop to go lower, reduce the handle diameter by tapping all round the handle, rotating it on an anvil. Then, with a millimetre or two of wood above the hoop, dip the end in water for a few seconds, then mushroom it over the hoop by tapping all round with a hammer.
Woodbloke
Sequoia
The other option ref the mangled handles is to clean them up squarely (lathe) and then epoxy (Araldite 'old skool') a matching piece of timber in place. Re-turn then in the lathe to the original length - Rob
SteveMP
New Shoots
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- Jun 18, 2026
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- 54
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- Name
- Steve
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- San Diego
I'd probably turn them on the lathe since you have access. Another thing to note, if you use the "burnt silk finish" in the article, it looks really nice and traditional. You can do this to the hoops AND the metal part between the handle and blade and it looks really nice together. Make sure to mushroom them correctly with the right amount protruding or they will just get beat up again, or the wood will chip.
covingtonandsons.com
Setting Up Japanese Chisels
A 48mm Oiirenomi chisel by the Yamazaki brothers (RIP) under the brandname Hidari no Ichihiro, one of Japan’s most famous and excellent chisel blacksmiths Introduction This article contains i…
covingtonandsons.com
Dr.Al
Old Oak
Thanks Andy, that was really useful... however, I tried it and although the hoop went on further than it had, it wasn't really enough, so I decided to pare a bit away with the chisel:
and then pared a bit more again when that didn't allow it to go on far enough either!
After that, it was nearly there, so I did the hammer all round trick you suggested and this time it worked a treat.
With all the hoops cleaned up and refitted, the chisels were looking like this:
As Andy said there, the next job was to chop off the end, leaving a millimetre or two. I did that by eye with a Dozuki:
... then dunked each one in water and whacked it on the end with the blade held in the vice:
I really should have done that in the metalwork bench vice but that end of the workshop was getting punishingly hot and I've been meaning to replace the vice jaws for a while so I'll accept the damage it did!
I haven't treated the metal in any way (but thanks for the reminder @SteveMP) and it's probably too late now for a fancy finish. I'll probably just give them a coat of protective oil I think. For now though, I'm going to call it job done well enough to have some usable chisels. Here they all are, alongside what is currently probably my most often used Narex (the 18 mm, which was what I used to pare down the handles)):
Sometime soon the Japanese chisels will gain a 3D-printed protective cap (to save my fingers) like the one on the Narex but I can't be bothered to measure them and model the caps right now - time for a Landlord Dark methinks.
SteveMP
New Shoots
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2026
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- 54
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- 99
- Name
- Steve
- LOCATION
- San Diego
Looks good so far! By the way, if you sharpen Japanese chisels with a single bevel and use certain stones, you get a nice visible lamination line between the jigane (iron) and hagane (hard steel), this is called the hazakai. On hand forged ones you can see that a blacksmith will usually make the hard steel wrap around the corners like this:
Woodbloke
Sequoia
This was one of the desirable features of a hand forged chisel that was pointed out to me in Tokyo:
This is a brand new chisel straight off the shelf and hasn't yet had any work done; when I picked it up the hoop fell off so it needs a bit of 'attention' - Rob
This is a brand new chisel straight off the shelf and hasn't yet had any work done; when I picked it up the hoop fell off so it needs a bit of 'attention'
- RobSteveMP
New Shoots
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2026
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- 54
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- Name
- Steve
- LOCATION
- San Diego
Yep! Looks like a really nice chisel. its normal for the hoops to not be installled. That is up to the purchaser to setup the chisels how they like.This was one of the desirable features of a hand forged chisel that was pointed out to me in Tokyo:
View attachment 56770
This is a brand new chisel straight off the shelf and hasn't yet had any work done; when I picked it up the hoop fell off so it needs a bit of 'attention'
Dr.Al
Old Oak
Just a small update: the chisels all have caps now (to protect my fingers) and I had a quick go at chopping some end grain with a couple of them:
SteveMP
New Shoots
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2026
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 99
- Name
- Steve
- LOCATION
- San Diego
Very cool. Yeah Japanese chsiels love to eat fingers. Flattening the backs tends to sharpen the ariss corner of the back and side. Many times i have been sharpening mine and noticed blood dripping down to the stone.
Dr.Al
Old Oak
Yeah, I probably cut myself sharpening more often than when I'm doing anything else.
All of my chisels have caps now (all 3D-printed) since I went to grap something from the tool wall & lifted up a bit too enthusiastically. There was a mortice chisel hanging above it & a trip to the local minor injuries unit swiftly followed!