Thread: Suggestions for these chisels

For me, I would clean up the backs first, so the Ura (the dark concave part of the back) is clearly visible. Easy on the larger chisels, on the narrower can be challenging. I would sharpen, via stones, bevel. Your choice if you have secondary and Tertiary bevel . New hoops can be brought or made, depending on the internal diameter.

They look like well finished chisels, and I seriously doubt they won't be good quality.

you can either flat or hand grind or tormek them. I won't suggest a dry grinder in most cases, but i've cleaned up a lot of very forlorn chisels, you just have to have a good sense of heat if you're using a dry grinder and eschew the idea that these chisels lose their temper at 125ºC. they don't, but 350-375 is probably a more typical temper range and you can make heat quickly.

The tormek is safe, it will do the job and you can flatten bevels later.

Do one or two, work the last half inch of the back without laying the thin part of the ura over the side of a stone, just lay the whole back flat on a flat stone and put your finger pressure at the bevel, get one or two totally set up well and honed and try them out.

If there are any issues (chippy, whatever else), feel free to come back and I'll let you know how to address them. The odds are in your favor that you won't have to do anything other than clean then up only a little, hoop the ones missing hoops, and get them sharp.

Just viewed the second picture -the pitting is pretty severe in the first couple. I would do my trials with the two mid size chisels in the middle (the first two without hoops) just so you get a feel for working the front end of the chisel without running out the entire ura chasing away pitting. Finger pressure on the front biased over the bevel and you'll remove far more material there getting the pitting out.

Despite the pitting, I would still absolutely refurbish them.

Originally Posted by D.W.

the pitting is pretty severe in the first couple.

Thanks D.W.
I am not sure that the pitting, or at least what I think of as pitting, is that bad. The bulk of it is what I would call tarnishing in that it hasn't apparently eaten into the metal although certainly the middle one has a small area of pitting. Here are some closer pictures of the bevel edge chisels.
20230603_111418.jpg20230603_113049.jpg

These are the backs after I flattened them on my diamond stone.
20230603_114714.jpg

These are the fronts after I honed them on a wetstone. Unfortunately the blades are too short to go in my Lie-Nielsen honing guide so it was done freehand, not really one of my skills. 4 of the blades are 20deg and the other (second from the right) 25deg.
20230603_114815.jpg

All of the cutting edges are more or less damaged as can be seen.

It's usually one or two deep pits or small areas of pits that taunt after everything else is gone. However, that stuff can be ignored until it gets to the edge if it's not at the edge.

The chisels are well finished enough that they should be good quality and provide a lifetime of use, though. If the edges are chippy after you get the chisels setup, roll the freehand honing stroke just a little on your fine stone to dub the edge at a tiny scale. Start with just a little and then work up if needed. You'll find there's a point the edge will hold up and feel at least as sharp and for a while. If it feels more dull, then less of that is advisable, but still there are better geometries at the edge of a chisel than two flat planes meeting, just as a straight razor sees linen and leather to condition the tip of the edge and make it strong enough to run through heavy hair and the odd dirt particle left on someone's face.

As David has noted, they look nicely finished. A good sign. The hollows at the rear look unmolested, which suggested that either your uncle (I doubt that they are old enough to have beed used by two generations) did not understand how to sharpen these blades, or did so very well. However the poor sharpening on the smaller chisels suggests the latter.

The primary bevels should be around 30 degrees, and honed flat. Ideally. David’s suggestion of a Tormek to regrind those that need it is one I support. The hollow is very shallow and you will soon lap it back to flat.

Replace the missing hoops. These chisels are designed to be struck with a metal hammer (gennou).

You can restore the black if you wish with a chemical. Creswell makes an oxide for this purpose.

Here is a an article I wrote on restoring Japanese chisels (more than you need): http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRes...aRebuild2.html

Regards from Perth

Derek