# The Best Way To Get Into The Japanese Chisel Realm



## lurker

I ordered a pair of Koyamaichi paring chisels from Stu a couple weeks ago and now I'm even more anxious for them to arrive!


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## ShaneA

Nice looking set. A seven week wait will test a man's patience, just knowing the goodies are coming would build tremendous anticipation.


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## dahenley

How much are these? Just curious


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## Timbo

Nice write up Bill, very informative. I was wondering how the natural stones were working out.


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## planeBill

lurker I am sure you will like them. I also bought a 24mm paring chisel from him too and the fit and finish on it is a level above the tataki I bought. Plus, it has Koyamaichi's two cross feather logo stamped on the blade.I like it. I plan on getting a few more.
Thanks shane, the wait was agonizing for sure.
dahenley, I bought a 9mm, 12mm, 18mm, 24mm 30mm, 36mm, 42mm, and 48mm. If you visit Tools From Japan you will see the prices for yourself. 
Tim, the j-nats are just crazy. The speed with which they cut is just amazing given the finish they leave. If you are interested in maybe trying some for yourself, pm me and I will point you in the direction of where I have been getting mine. I assure you, you will not find a better deal.


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## Planeman40

I just went to the "Tools From Japan" website (http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/) to have a look around and to price a few things and all items appear to be priced in yen. Out of curiosity, I priced a "6mm Koyama sculptor's gouge" (http://www.toolsfromjapan.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=349_401_447&products_id=965) and used an online currency converter (http://www.gocurrency.com/) to convert the listed price of ¥5,895 to U.S. currency and it comes out to be *"516.83 US Dollar(s)". Yikes!!!*

Am I doing something wrong or is this really what they want for one Japanese carving gouge?

Planeman


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## KayBee

$57.55 100 yen is about $0.98. Call it 100 to 1 and just move the decimal point 2 places to the left is easier.

Are these still hand made chisels? If so, then that's a bargain.


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## planeBill

There is also a place on the left side of each page on Stu's site to switch currencies.
Koyama is mostlt if not completely machine made. Handmade, truly handmade Japanese tools are way beyond the means of most, well, most people I know. Koyamaichi chisels even use machine processes but from what Ive been told by Stu is that they are much closer to being handmade than any other commercially available and exported brand.


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## darkone

Planeman, make sure you are looking at the Japanese Yen when doing the conversion. When I bought my stones from Stu at ToolsFromJapan, I did the same thing you did.


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## jasonbyu75

Has anyone tried to contact stu from toolsfromjapan lately? I'm shooting 1/3 in getting a response from him. Then again, maybe my questions are just really annoying  Like Koyamaichi (seems to be his preferred brand) white steel edge retention vs Lie Nielsen A2 when paring American hardwoods (Oak, Maple, Cherry). I was also looking for someone with actual experience in sharpening the Fujikawa Funmatsu Nezumi 'HSS' chisels. Is it practical to use anything but diamond plates?


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