Each of the the 10 chisels in this stepped set (2mm to 24mm ) appear to be a very high quality tool. These come in their original fitted sandal wood box with lift top lid. I don’t know the maker. There is a common maker’s mark stamped at the base of the tang on each chisel, but I cannot decipher it. The only markings are on the box lid, and these are in Japanese characters which I do not read. It seems apparent that these came directly from Japan are are not marked by an American distributor. The chisels are constructed in the Japanese manner with hardwood (probably stained red oak), each having a shiny steel hoop) The handle slips into a conical ferrule that then connects with a laminated blade assembly. The blades are essentially bevel edge style, and have well defined hollow backs The smallest blades have a single hollow on the back, the next largest have two, then three hollows, with the largest sizes having four hollows. These serve to reduce the labor when flattening the backs. The chisels in this set each have a common total length of 6”(147mm0, which I believe is shorter than the standard Japanese bench chisel lengths of 8”(203mm). I therefore think of them as “carving chisels”. They also differ from regular bench chisels in the widths of the ten chisels included. The standard Japanese bench chisel setss have widths that range from 3mm to 30mm (increments of 3mm per chisel). The blade widths in this set of 10 run from 2mm to 24 mm. The blade widths are 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24. This distribution, skewed to the smaller sizes also befits a set of carving chisels. This may have been a custom set, for I have not found one like it. These are (as far as I know) one owner tools; and that owner being a local master ivory carver. He was a professional scrimshaw artist, and these are professional tools. Two or three of the hoops at the ends of the handles are loose (easy to tighten), and there are a few dings in the handle finish as well as on the black finish on the tops of the laminated blades. But basically this is a fine set of fine tools.
Price - $650.00
To order email sushandel@msn.com
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