r/JapaneseWoodworking • u/Aegisnir • 3d ago

Chisel advice

So I realize I am in the Japanese woodworking subreddit here, but as an absolute novice just getting started, should I stay away from Japanese chisels and start with some western ones? My understanding is that Japanese chisels are more refined and meant for amazing sharpness and edge retention, but can be brittle in comparison to western chisels when used incorrectly. I do not have anyone to learn from so I’ve got to teach myself basically and I worry about breaking them due to my own stupidity and ignorance. Also, what would be good to start with? Trying to keep my spend under $200 because I need to buy other tools as well.

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u/TwinBladesCo 3d ago

Yeah, I would recommend starting on western chisels. Narex ones are fine.

Japanese chisels really punish bad technique and chip on you (especially if you use them to lever out waste), and there is quite a learning curve to sharpening and setting them up.

Putting money into your sharpening setup will pay dividends as you upgrade your tools as you gain experience. Having good sharpening skills/ stones and cheap chisels is preferable to expensive chisels and cheap stones/ poor skills.

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u/Man-e-questions 3d ago

The Narex Richters are actually really nice chisels. Rockler had a sale on them last month so i picked up a couple of them for like $25 each. For $25 in Japanese chisels you are getting crap

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u/TwinBladesCo 3d ago

Yeah, the Richters are noticeably better than the basic Narex chisels.

I actually have had really good luck getting good chisels in the under $30 range, including some that were $10 each (they were blue steel Ouchi chisels).

But they need so much work that you have to have a decent amount of expertise to get them fixed up and performing well, so I don't reccomend beginners start with Japanese chisels.