A pair of Japanese paring chisels, one 18 mm wide and the other 24 mm. Blades measure approximately 3 ½ in. long and the total length of each chisel is about 13 in (34 cm).

According to the Japanese classification, these are “push chisels” (tsukinomi), as opposed to the usual “struck chisels” (tatakinomi), which are typically driven with a hammer. Tsukinomi are used for paring cuts, such as in the final fitting of mortise and tenon joints.

 I picked up these chisels many years ago at the Miki Kanamoto Matsuri, a festival held every November in Miki, Hyōgo Prefecture. Miki is the centre of tool manufacturing in Japan, and the festival accordingly celebrates the traditions of the blacksmith and the tool-making trade.

 This pair of paring chisels (pun unavoidable) may have been intended for a set that was never completed, but they might also have ended up at the discount market because of their stamps. Both have the common toroku (registered) mark, but their maker’s marks appear to have been struck over (see photos).

 While the illegible marks make it difficult to identify the maker of these chisels, they were no doubt forged in Miki and, aside from the imperfect stamps, appear to be of the highest quality. Their laminated blades have been sharpened to an angle of 25°. This is a relatively low angle for Japanese edge tools. Most chisel and plane blades have a bevel of 27° -29°, while mortise and heavy-duty timber framing chisels typically are given a bevel of 30°or more. The lower bevel on paring chisels is permissible because they are meant to be pushed by hand and thus never subject to the force of a hammer blow. This is the reason push chisels never have ferrules on the ends of their handles.

 A particular feature of this pair of chisels is the multi-hollow treatment of their backs. On all chisels made in Japan the back of the blade (ura) has a shallow depression. The reason for this is that the flat back of the blade is made up of the same high-carbon steel that provides the cutting edge. Given the hardness of the steel, to keep the back flat would be a chore if one had to lap its entire surface. The depressions, which are initially hammered into the steel during the forging process, solve this problem because now it is only the edges of the blade that need to be lapped.