Yasaku Umeki Kotenomi Cranked-Neck Trowel Chisels White Paper Steel Red Oak Handle

The combination of a forge welded blade, hollow back, and ferrule / tang mounted hardwood handle makes a Japanese chisel a most effective and delightful tool to use. 

The Kote Nomi is used to pare the bottom of grooves and dadoes, and in any other application where the cranked neck is necessary to allow the handle to clear the work. There is no steel hoop on the handle, and it is rounded at the end for comfort. It is the perfect design for delicate, precise work.

Traditional Japanese chisels have blades made from a layer of high-carbon steel forged to a softer wrought iron back. This produces a chisel with an extremely hard cutting edge that is cushioned by the softer steel blade. 

White Paper steel is a hard, high carbon steel with few impurities. Compared to steels with higher alloy content it is easy to sharpen to an incredibly fine edge, but the edge is more delicate. 

The hollow back (ura) is to aid the process of sharpening. The hollow creates a very thin area behind the cutting edge, and it is only this narrow section that requires flattening. Due to the hardness of the white paper steel, without the hollow back the chisel would simply take forever to flatten.

Assembled using the traditional combined socket ferrule and tang design, these chisels are a high-quality product, made by Master Blacksmiths Fujikawa in Miki City, Japan.

SPECIFICATIONS