Thanks for the comments.

I currently use and very much like a 14 ounce Glen-Drake Tite Hammer which has a brass head. In the past I have used a classic wooden joiner’s mallet made of a dense wood. It did not bounce.

While I agree a metal hammer delivers more power to the wooden handle of a Japanese chisel, and metal hammers are “correct” and traditional with Japanese chisels, power is not the only criterion and some woodworkers may prefer a wooden mallet. In 25 years of using and tuning Japanese chisels, I have found a wooden mallet works and has its own merits.

Rob

I suggest you try using a Japanese hammer on the chisels as that was what they were meant to be hit with (the hoops are fashioned to not slide down on the handles when hit) and I believe you will find as I have that you will deliver more power to each hit as the hammer does not bounce like the wooden mallet will. I’ve used my Japanese chisels for over 30 years now and have never hit then with anything except my steel hammers.

Here’s a post about the shop-made angle guides that I use:
http://www.rpwoodwork.com/blog/2008/10/28/honing-guides/
This system has worked well for me for many years.

The 32.5 and 27.5 angles are used, as opposed to whole numbers, just because they’re half way between the multiples of 5.

Lately, I’ve been trying the Sharp Skate II guide but I don’t have enough experience with it to give a reliable assessment.

For bench chisels, I finish with a Shapton 15000, going to it directly from the 5000. In the Shapton glass stones, to 16K from the 4K.

Thanks for reading,

Rob

Also, I’m curious how fine a grit you hone to.

Thanks!

Love the blog BTW, keep it up.

Rob

Typical of Japanese bench chisels, approximate dimensions are 8 1/2″ in overall length with 2 3/8″ long blades. The blade widths in this set are from 3mm (1/8″) to 42mm (1 5/8″).

Each handle measures about 3 5/8″ from its end to its entrance into the socket. The handles are slightly barrel-shaped and range in their widest diameters from about 3/4″ to 29/32″.

I hope this helps. Thanks for reading, Tom.

Rob

They are available from So Yamoshita at http://www.japan-tool.com/
And from Dieter Schmid at http://www.fine-tools.com/ which is where I got them without realizing at the time that So also sells them.
I would like to put in a pitch (unsolicited, uncompensated) for So, who is exceptionally knowledgeable, very generous with sharing his knowledge, and has been a pleasure to deal with.

Rob