Iyoroi bench chisel faces' aren't flat too...

[MarcW]

Well, at least one...

Yesterday I reached for a 1/2 inch japanese bench chisel - an Iyoroi I always was grateful to own - and cleaned the sockets of dovetails. Now I had considerable problems of getting the bottom straight and square. The bottoms got terribly undercut.

As I got back to work today I held a smallish square against the face of the chisel as DC teaches in his dvd on chisel work. Guess, it was quietely revealing a loud chisel desaster. This chisel had one hollow on the face originally, but I remember now that it disappeared faster than I could become aware of on a steel plate with SC. Never minding then, I understand why today...

Do you think I can get back to the sellor 4 years after my purchase? Or, is this to classify under s... happens?

Happily enough I had a replacement chisel the same size from LN, which I do not cherish as bench chisel but as paring chisel. This let me to think of giving home to a decent english bench chisel set, you know in order to overcome any disturbances of work flow...

 

[Philly]

Marc
Isn't the back of the chisel purposely hollowed? In the picture it looks like you have the square positioned over the hollow.
Apologies if I got it wrong,
Philly

 

[MarcW]

Philly,

The chisel hasn't its typical hollow of the length anymore. It disappeared the moment I flattened the face four years ago. It now has the appearance of a western face.

A japanese face always has one or several hollows that leave the edges flat in order to establish a plane that can reference to the work piece. This isn't the case here anymore. The face is one plane. So you see a distortion over the whole width of the face. The chisel is bent like a Yarri Kanna

My impression is that this bent has happened over the years, after I got the face flat. If not, I cannot explain as the steel plate on which I flattened, is perfectly flat.

 

[MarcW]

Looking on the edge of the face:

p.s. I meant inversed yarri kanna...

 

[Philly]

Ahh - all clear now.
So that chisel has moved in a big way :shock: Ouch!
Philly

 

[TheTiddles]

yeah, that's buggered.

I have a theory... maybe there has been some level of phase changing going on in one of the steels making one shrink/expand so causing it to bend? I never got why people are so in love with japanese chisels, they are only made from two materials as making hard steel uses lots of resources (like charcoal) and Japan has next to no natural resources. I'd go for a nich chunk of tool steel any day

Aidan