Hi all,
I have been trying to understand all the intricacies & attributes of the japanese chisels over western but I still don't get it. Okay so they have a harder cutting edge by say 5 points on the rockwell C scale --that comes out to a 7% difference...thats it! Or is Rockwell on some kind of logrithmic scale?
Then the steel is of course laminated with a softer steel to "absorb the impact"? and keep it from chipping. Okay, this thing isn't a jack hammer so that doesn't make much since to me. Some users indicate it chips anyway, not everyone but enough to make me wonder why people are paying hundreds of dollars for a chisel that may or may not chip. I guess the maker is of paramount importance but the only info I can find on makers are what the catalogs that are selling it tell us.
Then they say the Japanese chisel needs to have a steeper angle of bevel than western counterparts because it is brittle and needs more steel behind the cutting edge (The Japan Woodworker told me that one).
Well, doesn't that make it harder to push and hammer thus making control harder? Maybe not so much on the bench work chisels but on the carving chisels it sure would. My carving R. Sorby and H. Taylor, etc carving chisels generally have a 15 degree bevel. Woodcarving is mainly isometrics with pushing and pulling to control the edge where minor differences can be magnified over an 8 hour period. It's not like bench work where you use it for a few minutes and set it down for half an hour. I asked the Japan Woodworker if their Professional Carving Chisels could be reground from their standard 25 degree bevel to a 15 degree without damaging them & I never got an answer to the email.
I read the reviews in Fine Woodworking comparing the hardness of these chisels but I was really disappointed there was not much mention of bevels or how that changes it's performance. Ultimately it seems we need the lowest bevel angle possible while still maintaining the integrety of the steel and edge for the purpose it is intended for.
Or balance? As a canoeing fanatic, I have made canoes and paddles & am acutely aware of how important balance is. Anyone who has ever paddled with a blade heavy paddle for a length of time probably knows what I mean. I have yet to see a review of chisels give any comparisons that are not totally subjective. Its a simple process to see where the balance point is. How much does it weigh compared to another? Never discussed-- but if one is 50% heavier than another it might of interest. At exactly what point does the steel chip? Know one seems to know.
So why does that seem to leave out Japanese chisels when I add up
the points? I'm really looking for a reason (on some level) to find Japanese chisels superior somehow but these questions keep bugging me. I don't get it.
Mark