Jumping the line

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Chris Hall
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Jumping the line

Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:43 pm

Several months ago So Yamashita contacted me and said that a couple of chisel sets by Kiyohisa were near complete and that one of the sets might be available to me. He was unsure if the buyer for one set would follow through, and the contact information for the other fellow was apparently no longer good and he couldn't manage to get in touch with the fellow.

I did a little poking around and found the contact information for the second fellow, who was a luthier out in California. I sent So the guy's contact info in case it was correct. I wasn't sure, but it seemed a likely match.

It turned out that I had in fact located the correct person, and he was good on the purchase completion, so that took care of a 16-set of chisels. And the other fellow completed his purchase as well, which meant that neither set was available. That was too bad for me, but I was glad to have been able to help.

I had held off ordering a large set of Kiyohisa chisels simply because the wait time is super long. I'm thinking it is probably 5~6 years now at least. I've been waiting on a couple of bachi nomi from Kiyohisa for at least one year now, along with another member of this forum. Otherwise, i've acquired the odd specialty Kiyohisa chisel here and there that happened to be still sitting on a dealer's shelf.

Well, I guess that So Yamashita felt a strong sense of obligation to me - giri as the Japanese call it - for putting him in touch with that luthier. He felt so obligated in fact that he went and asked Kiyohisa (Watanabe Kyoei is the smith's name, BTW) if he could slot in an order for me sooner than later. And it could be a chisel order that was whatever I liked - totally custom. I didn't know that was even possible to jump the line, but by accident I seemed to have unlocked a door.

Well, talk about Christmas arriving early! I realized right away that the opportunity was just incredible, and today we just finalized details on the set of chisels I will be getting. I guess they'll be made in the next several weeks. It will be expensive for sure, but it is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing, and the cost really seems almost irrelevant.

I've ordered a 16-set, 3mm to 60mm, in a special kiri box. The chisels are of the hiramachi body type with flattened shanks, with all chisel heads in the kaku-uchi shape. All the ura will be hand scraped by sen. These chisels are longer than oi-ire nomi, more like tataki nomi in length. All handles are gumi, 5-sun long, and both ferrules and handle hoops are of the hammered form. Finish is in the standard black, including ura.

I patterned these off of a special type of hira-machi chisel that Mandara-ya sells (fine chisels but not made by Kiyohisa though). Here are some pics showing the general dimensions:
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The body alignment is a straight line from head through shank:
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Well this chisel set represents pretty much my ideal in terms of the perfect all-around versatile chisel design, and I intend this set to be my go-to set for a lot of work - until I'm dead and they can be pried from my cold hands.

I also took the opportunity to order a couple of Konobu chisels, isuka type, with tsuge handles, which I have no experience with whatsoever. So Yamashita highly recommends the maker, and the waiting time is reasonable, so I thought I'd give them a try.

I have now reached, I do believe, the point where I will no longer need any more chisels. Let's hope so. I'll be a poor man with nice tools for the next few months, I do believe.
J.T.
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Re: Jumping the line

Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:31 pm

Chris;
Glad to here your prize! I have been waiting 3.5 years so far!!
J.T.
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Chris Pyle
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Re: Jumping the line

Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:34 pm

Congrats Chris! Excited to see them in future blog posts (at least while they work, if not a detailed review).
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Brian
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Re: Jumping the line

Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:58 pm

Awesome! Congrats Chris!

60mm has got to be very interesting to use, that is huge!
Matt J
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Re: Jumping the line

Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:51 pm

...
the point where I will no longer need any more chisels.
I call bullshit!

Hahaha :lol:
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Chris Hall
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Re: Jumping the line

Tue Sep 15, 2015 11:07 pm

Matt J wrote:...
the point where I will no longer need any more chisels.
I call bullshit!

Hahaha :lol:
Too true, though I need to tell myself things like that, partly to help justify the investment. Put it this way: I don't imagine wearing out the new set before I am dead and buried. Even if i did, the smith will also be long gone and his chisels a truly ridiculous price, if they could be obtained at all. Have you see the prices people are asking for Ichihiro 10-sets these days?

Of course, if I got more into carving, other chisel needs may arise.... :)...but I count myself as contented for the time being.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Jumping the line

Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:11 pm

J.T. wrote:Chris;
Glad to here your prize! I have been waiting 3.5 years so far!!
J.T.
thanks JT. What do you have on order?
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Chris Hall
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Re: Jumping the line

Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:22 pm

I forgot to mention that this chisel set will be the special 'kamon' type, which are annealed at a low temperature. These will be the 100˚C model. They generally don't sell the kamon version outside of Japan, however So Yamashita occasionally has had them in his stockpile and will sell them (I mean that in the past tense as few retailers have any stock of Kiyohisa stuff of any description).

I'm not totally sure what difference it will make, though from what I understand the low temperature annealing makes the steel harder but yet still relatively easy to sharpen. I have one Kiyohisa bench chisel, a 135˚ kamon model, and a couple of Kiyohisa planes, both kamon (one is 150˚ and the other I'm not remembering the temp), and I find them excellent but I can't say the difference is especially stark to other chisels I have kicking around.

This page talks a bit about this special model:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/togi/kamon-pg.html

The kamon line is stamped with a mark of three dots, which is apparently the smith's family crest (kamon, 家紋, means family crest). So, in short, these are a really special set of tools.
shawn M
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Re: Jumping the line

Sun Sep 20, 2015 9:58 pm

Hey Chris,
I will be interested in your review of the kamon Kiyohisa. I have a bunch of regular kiyohisa and they are very nice. I also have an order in with So-San. I will be trying the 100 degree kamon. Thats nice that you were able to get those so fast.

All the best
Shawn

Chris Hall wrote:I forgot to mention that this chisel set will be the special 'kamon' type, which are annealed at a low temperature. These will be the 100˚C model. They generally don't sell the kamon version outside of Japan, however So Yamashita occasionally has had them in his stockpile and will sell them (I mean that in the past tense as few retailers have any stock of Kiyohisa stuff of any description).

I'm not totally sure what difference it will make, though from what I understand the low temperature annealing makes the steel harder but yet still relatively easy to sharpen. I have one Kiyohisa bench chisel, a 135˚ kamon model, and a couple of Kiyohisa planes, both kamon (one is 150˚ and the other I'm not remembering the temp), and I find them excellent but I can't say the difference is especially stark to other chisels I have kicking around.

This page talks a bit about this special model:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/togi/kamon-pg.html

The kamon line is stamped with a mark of three dots, which is apparently the smith's family crest (kamon, 家紋, means family crest). So, in short, these are a really special set of tools.
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Brian
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Re: Jumping the line

Mon Sep 21, 2015 8:06 am

Interesting, I was also curious if those were the Kamon 100c model. Kiyohisa look very elegant and refined, all of the details are nicely done.

Also curious as to how well they sharpen on natural stones.

The Konobu are interesting to me as well, I ordered a few paring chisels about a month~ ago in K120, if they're really awesome I will probably return to finish the 10 set.

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