鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different makers

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Chris Hall
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鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different makers

Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:19 pm

In this forum I plan to post pictures of various chisel maker's marks, mei, which are generally stamped into the lower neck of the chisel. Then we can examine the kanji for that mei clearly, along with their meanings. In time this will grow into a database of makers an their marks and will become a sticky. If you don't know who made your chisel, this will be one place to figure it out!

I'll start with an alphabetical index, posting makers and examples of their work. I will not bother translating the chisel maker's names, and chisel blades otherwise are not generally named, unlike plane blades. As per Japanese practice, 'll be giving the smith's name in the 'last name first' order. For the immediate future I'll be loading names and pictures into the thread, and filling out the details later.


A.

B. 梵字 Bonkaku
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C.

D. 太進 Daishin
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E.

F.

G. 元寿舟弘 Genjū Funahiro, the work of the celebrated blacksmith Funatsu, Yuji (船津祐司), hailing from Echigo-Yoita, a traditional craft center in the village of Yoita in Niigata Prefecture.
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Genjū Funahiro mei
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Genjū Funahiro Mei
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Funatsu-san at work
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H. 左市弘 Hidari Ichihiro. There's some curious history to the Ichihiro brand name. Early on it was called 'tsuki-ichihiro' (月市弘), the prefix tsuki (月) meaning moon. The maker's mark, or mei (銘) featured a gourd-outline with the characters stamped within. An example of that mark is found among the pictures below. Also you will see, above or below the mei, another registered stamp, which is the mark of the Tōkyō Guild of Blacksmiths.

Along the way, apparently, Yamazaki forge work was in such high esteem that another company in the late 1940's - Natori Trading - registered the brand name 'ichihiro' (at a point before Yamazaki had thought to do so) and produced inferior knock-offs. So Ichihiro, unable to register his name 'Ichihiro', registered 'hidari Ichihiro' instead - the left ichihiro.

To further distinguish his brand, the mei which was stamped into the tools was in mirror image - see the stamp shown in the second to last picture below. This mirror-imaging is a bit confusing for those not entirely savvy with looking up Japanese characters - unless you recognized the mirror inversion of the kanji, one would have an impossible time looking up the characters in a dictionary.

At the top there's a picture of the blacksmith and some of his work. He is most famous for his white steel chisels, however his planes are pretty awesome too. Then a couple of illustrations of his makers marks, first the moon then hidari, and an example of Yamazaki's mei from a few chisels. Now that Yamazaki has passed on, his work commands among the highest prices of any blacksmith, alive or dead.
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Yamazaki
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'Hidari Ichihiro' reversed stamp
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'Tsuki Ichihiro' maker's mark
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Ichihiro mei .jpg
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五百蔵 Iyoroi
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左信正 Hidarinobumasa
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左新作 Hidari-shinsaku
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Simply a brand name. The smith's name for that brand is Miyawaki, and the chisel is likely more than 65 years old. Likely to be White Steel #2.

弘正 Hiromasa
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弘幸 Hiroyuki
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久次郎 Hisajiro
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久国 Hisakuni
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左久作 Hisano
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I. 市芳 Ichiyoshi
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J.

K. 啓寿 Keiju
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菊弘丸 Kikuhiromaru Hitachi White Steel #2
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菊王 Kikuō
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国慶 Kunikei Smith's actual name is Ikeda (池田慶郎).
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M. 正道 Masamichi
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正よし Masayoshi These are some 'chunky' chisels!
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宮永 Miyanaga
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Chris Hall
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Re: 鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different mak

Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:30 pm

N. 長弘 Nagahiro
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本永国 Nagakuni
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錦龍 Nishiki
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徳綱 Noritsuna
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O. 大内 Ō-uchi. A maker from Miki City in Gunma Prefecture.
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R. 龍正宗 Ryūmasamune
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韶山 Ryūzan
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S. Shinobu
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助國 Sukeguni
sukeguni 助國.JPG
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助丸 Sukemaru The upper one is made from HSS
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T. 孝弘 Takahiro A brand of the blacksmith Maruzan (圓山) living in Urawa City (浦和市), Saitama Prefecture (埼玉県)
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高芝 Takashiba
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田齋 Tasai. This forge is run by a father and son team, Aki-o (田斎明夫) and Michi-o (田斎道生). Like Funahiro, they are based in Echigo-Yoita in Niigata. A couple of examples of Tasai's chisels, the first with a hand-filed finish. Tasai is also famous for their wood-grain "moku-me" decorated chisels:
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Michio (L) and Akio (R) Tasai
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Tasai's mei
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貞助 Teisuke
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俊信 Toshinobu
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U. 海弘 Umihiro
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Y. 山弘 Yamahiro The blacksmith Okuyama (岡山猛)
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yamahiro mark.jpg
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yama deki1.jpg
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okayama.jpg
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宝龍斎 Yuzawa
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Z.
Gr
Gregoré

Re: 鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different mak

Tue Jun 28, 2011 11:46 pm

i have chisels from 2 makers

the wide slick made by kiyomi nishiki ,

the bench chisel ouchi white steel #1
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ya
yanai

Re: 鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different mak

Sat Jan 21, 2012 9:35 pm

This doesn't fall into the deciphering of kanji, but is about chisels.
I just order my first set of handmade Japanese chisels that should be ready in about 5 months or so and I'm really excited.

Right now I have several Japanese chisels, but only one or two of a decent quality. I notice right away the difference in sharpening. I notice that my lower quality chisels feel much more "gritty" when sharpening. The sound is more of a grinding sound as compared to my nicer chisels. I think this is due to the finer particles in the steel. Is that right?

I find it much easier to sharpen chisels made from good quality steel and they are much easier on the stones.

I welcome other opinions.

The next thing is stones. What is everyone out there using? I have a pretty good range of different stones collected over time... trial and error. First is, I never and will never use a grinding wheel. I'm really shocked how many carpenters i see in Japan slapping their chisels on grinding wheels, grinders, sanders... ouch.

I have DMT diamond stones which do an ok job. I use them on my cheaper chisels to spare my better stones. I also have Norton diamond stones which I find useless and use only to keep my stones flat. The diamond stone I have weren't cheap and they take a bit of effort to get a good edge.

I really find that David Charlesworth's suggestion for a reasonably priced set up of king stones is very effective. I find the King stones to be very easy to use and keep flat, they remove material more efficiently, and they are not expensive.

I also have some Shapton "Hano-Kuromaku" which work very well and are a little more pricey.

My own personal method seems to be a blending of all these stones. When i don't want to eat into a stone with heavy work I'll grab my diamond stones, then when the surface is close to where I want it to be I'll switch to the King stones or Shaptons. I always use a jig and I seem to get really good results.

I find that if I take the time to get a blade in good condition; flat and sharp, it's not hard to maintain.

I'm always interested to hear what others do and find useful. I've never used the really nice natural stones from Japan so I'm interest to hear from anyone who has... how are they to maintain? I'm also happy to hear from anyone who thinks they have a better method and why.
Jack_Ervin.
5
5
Posts: 296
Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2011 7:36 pm

Re: 鑿 Nomi (Chisels): deciphering the kanji of different mak

Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:55 pm

yanai wrote:This doesn't fall into the deciphering of kanji, but is about chisels.
I just order my first set of handmade Japanese chisels that should be ready in about 5 months or so and I'm really excited.

Right now I have several Japanese chisels, but only one or two of a decent quality. I notice right away the difference in sharpening. I notice that my lower quality chisels feel much more "gritty" when sharpening. The sound is more of a grinding sound as compared to my nicer chisels. I think this is due to the finer particles in the steel. Is that right?

I find it much easier to sharpen chisels made from good quality steel and they are much easier on the stones.

I welcome other opinions.

The next thing is stones. What is everyone out there using? I have a pretty good range of different stones collected over time... trial and error. First is, I never and will never use a grinding wheel. I'm really shocked how many carpenters i see in Japan slapping their chisels on grinding wheels, grinders, sanders... ouch.

I have DMT diamond stones which do an ok job. I use them on my cheaper chisels to spare my better stones. I also have Norton diamond stones which I find useless and use only to keep my stones flat. The diamond stone I have weren't cheap and they take a bit of effort to get a good edge.

I really find that David Charlesworth's suggestion for a reasonably priced set up of king stones is very effective. I find the King stones to be very easy to use and keep flat, they remove material more efficiently, and they are not expensive.

I also have some Shapton "Hano-Kuromaku" which work very well and are a little more pricey.

My own personal method seems to be a blending of all these stones. When i don't want to eat into a stone with heavy work I'll grab my diamond stones, then when the surface is close to where I want it to be I'll switch to the King stones or Shaptons. I always use a jig and I seem to get really good results.

I find that if I take the time to get a blade in good condition; flat and sharp, it's not hard to maintain.

I'm always interested to hear what others do and find useful. I've never used the really nice natural stones from Japan so I'm interest to hear from anyone who has... how are they to maintain? I'm also happy to hear from anyone who thinks they have a better method and why.
To start off I own several Japanese chisels that I purchased from Woodcraft, several from Japan Woodworker, which I think are their lower middle line of stock and a set that came from Hida tools which I traded western planes to a fellow woodworker for. I think they are middle quality stock white steel. They are the best quality that I own and have used. They sharpen up very nice and retain the edge well.
As for sharpening I have King stones from 800 to 8000 that work very well for me. Early on I had trouble flattening but got on to using an extra course diamond plate and water stone against water stone so now have that sorted out. Yes cost wise and productivity wise they work well for me.
I sharpen free hand but if I had deep pockets I might be tempted to try a Sharp Skate 3 Dual Dock by Harrelson Stanley. I do use his side sharpening method though.

Regards,

Jack

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