What makes the Japanese Hand Tools (Chisels) more Amazing & Incredible than the Western Variety? 

Its in the steel and the craftsmanship. I had the fortune to work for a number of customers who wanted the work done traditional Japanese .first get good quality then learn hiw to sharpen. Most important lots of bandaids there is a learning curve for tools that can be surgicaly sharpened. Such a joy to work with!

Different construction and grinding techniques, with noticeably harder steel due to the soft iron body taking most of the stress.

What makes them "more amazing".... Nothing. It's just a different style, that some people prefer. Though Japanese chisels do tend to be made in many more very specialized designs which can be very useful. Other than that, a lot of people get caught up in some perceived notions about the Japanese having a monopoly on skilled craftsmanship

As a woodworker I flatten and polish the back of my antique Marples chisels once then sharpen them to razor sharp, this lasts months and the next time I sharpen them it takes less than a minute and lasts for months again. I could do this for hundreds of years and still have a usable chisel, what happens when you get to the hollow back of a Japanese chisel? do you have to flatten the back? because to take out that hollow must take a lifetime. Also WTF? I don't know anybody who has snapped a old western chisel using it correctly.

​@@thuss5162 qdďddddddedddďddddďdddddďďďďddddďďdďdddddddddddddďďddddddddddddddŕrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrddddddďďďďdďdďddddddddddrddddddddrddddddddcďdddddddddddddrrrdrrrrrrrdddrdrrdrŕrdrrrrrrfdŕrrrrffrrrfrfrrfrfrrrrrrrdffrffrfrdrrffrrfrfdfrrrdddrrfrfrrfrfffrrfrfddcfrfdfdfdfrfrfcdrffrfrdfdcfdfffrfrffdddddddddddddrddddddddrfdddddddddddrfddddddddddddrfddddddddrfdddddddddfrrrffrfrfrrfdddddddddddfrfrrrrfrrrrfrrrrrrfrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrddddrrrrrrrrrrrrr⁴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þ5⁵t⁵5⁵55⁵55⁵⁵⁵5555þ⁵5⁵⁵5⁵555555tþ5⁵555þ⁵55⁵55⁵5⁵⁵⁵⁵⁵55⁵5⁵⁵t55þ⁵⁵⁵t5⁵5⁵þ⁵5⁵⁵⁵⁵5⁵þ555tttttttt55555555555555555555555555555555555555555t55555t55555tttttt55555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555⁵t5tt555⁵555555555⁵55tttttttþ5ttt

mute

Mud

Clay

Yeah when steel was rare and expensive to produce. Today we make steel by the megaton. So laminating blades is pointless.

@@1pcfred Laminating steel today is not done because of availability, it's because it's way easier to sharpen.

@@HdtvTh that's why I grind a primary bevel on my tools. Then I have a lot less material I have to remove hand honing. Power bench grinders are another thing that is available today. Something I'd strongly recommend anyone that wants to woodwork to get. Otherwise you will be dealing with the opposite of easy. Which is hard.

How did he get the ura (hollow grind) In the back of the chisel?

@@oystercovecraftsman9219 seeing how this guy never answered, I will. The hollow grind on the back face of the chisel was made by holding the back of the chisel perpendicular to the grinding wheel, this leaves the same radius as the wheel as a hollow grind on the chisel, smaller wheels leave a deeper hollow, large wheels leave shallow hollows. you can see this on many traditional Japanese tools, such as cooking knives like the Usuba and Yanagiba.

Your quickly‼️🛎️⏳🗓️📴⌛🔜⚰️, detailed response ❎💬 reflects clearly your extraordinary work ethic 😴🛌🏻🤒🤕🍿🏕️🧳🎉🥳, your pronounced sense of duty 🕛🕐🚽🕺🏻🚬🏖️🎰🍻💫🤢🎮🎉😪 and highly expertise 🗣️💨🧻🚾!! 🤨🧐😒 Every boss absolutely needs 🙅🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️✖️💣 such an reliable 🤪🥴😵🤯🥳🤒😷🤧🤕, honest 🤥 and extremely humble ☠️🤫🙊🤭 employee 👨🏻‍🏭👨🏻‍🔧 as you are!!! 🤢🤮😏

@@PanikBaskit Thank you very much for your excellent expertise!!! 💯👏🏻👍🏻👌🏻😊 A true master of his subject does not need to show off his (alleged) knowledge 🤫 - just like a certain person 😉

​@@PanikBaskit Anyone know what the orange coating was? Clay w/ iron oxide maybe?

I'm a shipwright and I make wooden boats for a living. I work with hard European white oak every day. Every one of my Japanese chisels holds up just fine. I can chop for hours with them and I've never had any chipping. You don't know what you're talking about.

@@Nico-bu6bj in the US we use a fair amount of hickory (1800+) for furniture which is MUCH harder than oak as is maple. YOU...have no idea what you are talking about son. I've chipped chisels with various angles, micro bevels etc. Maybe take a seat and learn something instead ofacting like a wanker.

@@Splash111 never used Hickory but I've used my tatakinomis on Maple plenty of times without any chipping. Maybe get some good tools before dumping your brain diarrhoea here. And btw, European White Oak is harder and denser than American White Oak. Some European White Oak logs I've processed were equal or harder then Maple. But you've obviously never used European White Oak so how would you know.

@@Nico-bu6bj LOL.....try Hickory you imbecile before opening your mouth. The only thing coming out is stupidity. LMAO. I'll allow you to have the last word because I refuse to argue with a moron. Let your crap fly amigo --because you have no idea what you are talking about...lol. I love owning wankers like you. Spew a bunch of nonsense and pretend to know what you're talking about. Nice try. Maybe you're just a troll. Who knows. Who cares. You already showed your hand. You almost had me...until you went overboard with your ridiculousness. Later tard.

@@Nico-bu6bjI call bullshit, I’m sorry, but chipped blade on Japanese chisels is entirely true. I’ve dealt with it as have plenty of other people. You have one laying right there and should grab another chisel but don’t. Go to work and then when it starts cutting badly you look and the edge is chipped. I have a few and I use them mainly for work where it is hand power only. I would never work only with Japanese chisels. They are WAY over hyped.

Economizes steel while allowing a higher heat treat due to the wrought iron taking the shock.

This whole comment is pretentious TRIPE from a Japanese fanboy.

One of the other benefits of having this forge-welded approach is that you can have a slightly more brittle high carbon steel at the cutting edge, which can be sharpened better initially, and the soft steel behind it will absorb much of the shock that would otherwise chip the brittle edge.

@@zakarileblanc5173 and then the thing is FINISHED in a few years

@@jadekayak01 Only if you spend a ton of time on a course stone. Many of them will last several decades of constant use. How long would it take to sharpen away two inches of a plane iron? Methinks quite a long time.

Zakari LeBlanc you are quite wrong. Japanese chisels are "dead" very quickly because of the concavity on the rear-only about 10mm of flat steel. A person using a chisel every day could "sharpen" thier way through 15mm a year every year. That is not so slow. Orobably why there are roughing and fine chisels. Fine chisels would last much longer if only used on fine work

Once you reach the hollow-grind on the underside, you must peen the bevel from the topside to push steel down, then re-flatten the bottom side. The hollow-grind is not necessary, but has become common practice in recent years for ease of sharpening. My daily use chisels and hand planes (for work) are mostly Japanese. I've not sharpened away more than 4mm on any of them in the last five years. If I were doing fine furniture work or cabinetry, I'd surely move through them a little faster. I sharpen quite often nonetheless. I'm more than happy with their performance and longevity.

Very true. That Meiji Restoration period social indoctrination of the traditional Japan way being the best way somehow managed to leak its way into western culture, and has lead to many people having nonsensical ideas

amazon!

sorry for the hassle

When Germans want quality tools they talk to the Swedes.

Dictum GmbH

Maybe to facilitate sharpening

They are made long in forging process so thickness could be reduces for most deformation possible

If you use them to cut stone maybe.

How long do Your western chisels stay sharp? I am a wooden boat builder since 1966 and have used all kinds of hand tools. I am using Japanese chisels, hand saws and hand planers since 1988 and have barely touched my western tools ever since. Most of the people commenting here have no clue how to handle and sharpen Japanese tools, let alone understanding the different types of steel and forging methods used in Japan for more than a thousand years. You are just one of those idiots who has actually never tried anything with them!

@@takuan650 if they sharpen the tools on water stones then how hard can the steel be?