new toys from Japan

[Paul Saffold]

From Stu at toolsfromjapan.com. Atoma 400 diamond plate, inexpensive mortice gauge, Koyamaichi chisels and a hammer. Replaced the wing-nut on the mortice gauge with a M6 epoxied into a scrap of cherry. Much more comfortable to use. Stripped the lacquer finish from the hammer and chisels and set the hoops.


I wish I had gotten a diamond plate years ago to flatten my water stones. I had gone from sandpaper then to drywall screen on a ceramic tile. What a huge improvement both in flatness and time saved with with the diamond plate.


Now I need more freehand sharpening practice as the chisels don't fit in my eclipse type jig.

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[Chris Griggs]

Nice! I've got some toys from Stu that should be arriving next week. He should rename his store Toys From Japan

[David Weaver]

You'll love the chisels. Be gentle with the sharpening, you don't want to waste them.

They are the best of the inexpensive chisels that I've used so far.

[Jack Curtis]

You'll love the chisels. Be gentle with the sharpening, you don't want to waste them.

They are the best of the inexpensive chisels that I've used so far.

Inexpensive? Granted, not as expensive as Tasai and the like, but $60-90 per is not inexpensive. What's the most you've ever paid for a chisel, David?

[Rick Fisher]

Good haul Paul .. Nice looking stuff .. How do you like the hammer ?

[David Weaver]

Inexpensive? Granted, not as expensive as Tasai and the like, but $60-90 per is not inexpensive. What's the most you've ever paid for a chisel, David?

They are $47-$60 for chisels 3 to 24mm.

And more than $60 would answer the second question.$47 to $60 is pretty inexpensive for very very good japanese chisels.

[Paul Saffold]

Rick, I haven't used it enough to know. My left thumb still likes it. I'm used to using my shop made wooden mallet so it will take a little getting used to. When I pick up the mallet I know what way the head is facing without looking, not so with the hammer. And I guess you are supposed to hit the chisel with the concave face. I may have to contour the handle a bit. I saw a post somewhere about that, maybe Wilbur's blog. The hammer I got is a generic one, nothing fancy, octagonal or made by an individual craftsman.

[Jack Curtis]

They are $47-$60 for chisels 3 to 24mm.

And more than $60 would answer the second question.$47 to $60 is pretty inexpensive for very very good japanese chisels.

Well, I've paid 5 times that; and while I love those expensive chisels, I don't think there's five times the performance there. Also, I'm guessing that $47 is the latest price, right? Last I looked it was more, but it's not a big deal. I consider $10 or $20 inexpensive. It's all relative, of course; but still, no reason to try to make the op feel bad.

And how about that set of 10 Ichihiro for $9800? That's $980 per.

[Paul Saffold]

Jack, please don't stir the pot here. The description is perfectly accurate. I know there was no ill will intended at all.

"It's all relative, of course; but still, no reason to try to make the op feel bad."

[David Weaver]

It was to make the OP feel good. My user bench chisels were $60 per. My koyamaichi dovetail chisels were bought at $50 per about 7 years ago. I think they are GREAT chisels and if my discount bench chisels somehow went dud, the koyamaichi are what I would buy to replace them.

When stu said he was meeting KI long ago, I begged him to carry them. They are the best chisels I know of when you compare price to performance and I don't know of any measure more relevant.

Jack, you read it exactly wrong.

[Wilbur Pan]

Rick, I haven't used it enough to know. My left thumb still likes it. I'm used to using my shop made wooden mallet so it will take a little getting used to. When I pick up the mallet I know what way the head is facing without looking, not so with the hammer. And I guess you are supposed to hit the chisel with the concave face. I may have to contour the handle a bit. I saw a post somewhere about that, maybe Wilbur's blog. The hammer I got is a generic one, nothing fancy, octagonal or made by an individual craftsman.

Your hammer should have a flat face and a convex face. You're supposed to hit the chisel with the flat face. The convex side is for driving the head of a nail flush with the surface of the wood without marring the wood.

Sometimes there's a maker's mark on the underside of the hammer head, which is usually on the side of the flat face. That's one way of figuring out which face is which without having to remake a new handle. I've heard David Charlesworth marked the handle of the hammer with an arrow pointing to the flat face, which is another option.

Having said all that, I really like the curved handle on my hammer the more that I use it.

[Paul Saffold]

Thanks for chiming in Wilbur. After my post about the hammer last night I went to your blog and found the post you just linked to. It's on my to do list.
Paul

[Jack Curtis]

It was to make the OP feel good. My user bench chisels were $60 per. My koyamaichi dovetail chisels were bought at $50 per about 7 years ago. I think they are GREAT chisels and if my discount bench chisels somehow went dud, the koyamaichi are what I would buy to replace them.

When stu said he was meeting KI long ago, I begged him to carry them. They are the best chisels I know of when you compare price to performance and I don't know of any measure more relevant.

Jack, you read it exactly wrong.

Well, good, much more positive. I think Paul got a great deal, too. He should be very happy.

[Jack Curtis]

...I really like the curved handle on my hammer the more that I use it.

Great post. How close to lining up with the flat face does the curved part of the handle bottom come?

[Sam Murdoch]

In addition to shaping a curve to the handle, I added a few thumb notches on the back side (away from the flat face). I do not always position my hand in the same place for striking the chisels but the notches are in the "normal" resting place of my thumb and is a very natural no look way of insuring that I am striking with the correct surface.

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