Dig It
Many woodworkers have commented that one downside of Japanese chisels is that the metal hoop can dig into the palm. This is usually mentioned in the context of using a Japanese chisel for paring. I suspect that this might really be an issue with an improperly set hoop. Even if you are paring by wrapping your palm around the end of the chisel, the wood fibers covering the hoop will act as a cushion between the hoop and your palm. It’s easy to see how trying the same maneuver with an exposed hoop might not be the most comfortable thing to do.
I can say that I have never felt any discomfort when using a Japanese chisel, even when paring, and even if holding the chisel like this. I’ve got the hoop of the chisel right in the middle of my palm.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then at 30 frames per second, 1:26 of video should be close to 2.6 million, or close to three times the entire published output of William Shakespeare. Unfortunately, all I’ll have to offer is what hammering the end of the chisel handle to compress the fibers, setting the hoop, and mushrooming the end of the handle is like in real time, as opposed to creating the greatest opus of written work in the English language.
The bouncing of the video in the hammering the end of the chisel segment is due to the camera tripod sitting on the workbench. Not the best move from a cinematographic standpoint, but it gave me the best angle for this shot. If you listen carefully, you can hear the difference in the sound of the hammer hitting the hoop while setting it and the hammer mushrooming the end of the handle.
Hoop-Dee-Doo: Japanese chisel set up
One of the Christmas gifts I got this year was a 1.5 mm Fujihiro brand chisel from Hida Tool. I’ve been wanting an ultra-skinny chisel for a while, so this was a welcome addition to my chisel rack. Like nearly all Japanese chisels, the hoop needed to be set.
The first step is to remove the hoop from the chisel. Usually, the hoop is pretty tight as the chisel comes from the store. Some taps from a small hammer on the underside of the chisel will pop the hoop off of the end of the handle. With the hoop off, I like to use some lacquer thinner to remove the finish from the blade and the handle. Not everyone does this, but I like the feel of unfinished wood. This is strictly a personal preference, and this step can be skipped.
Japanese chisel hoops have an orientation to them. If you inspect the hoop carefully, the thickness of the rim will be thicker on one side than the other. This is the end that should be at the end of the chisel. The inside of the hoop is not perfectly cylindrical. There is a slight narrowing in the middle of the inside of the hoop, so that the cross section of the hoop’s interior is slightly hourglass shaped, which helps hold the handle in place, as will be seen later on.
The next step is to make sure that the inside of the chisel hoop is nice and smooth. A round file will quickly take care of this.
Then, the wood fibers at the end of the handle are compressed slightly using the subtle technique of bashing the handle with a hammer. The handle is rotated as it is being hammered. By compressing the fibers, the diameter of the end of the handle will be decreased slightly, which will allow the hoop to slide on more easily.
The hoop will slide on easily at this point, but it will only go so far.
By tapping the hoop around its outside with a hammer, the hoop can be persuaded to move down the handle some more. I like to get the hoop to seat further down the handle by about 1/16”.
Then dunk the end of the handle into some water. This will soften the fibers at the end of the handle and cause it to swell, which will help lock the hoop in place, thanks to the slight hourglass profile of the inside of the hoop.
I usually let the handle soak for 25-30 minutes. After the soaking, the last step is to bash on the end of the handle once more, but this time you want to hit the wood instead of the hoop. The wood is hit with a glancing blow in order to “mushroom” the fibers out over the top edge of the hoop, which is the final factor locking the hoop in place.
And here’s the final result.
The handle of this chisel is still a little wet. As it is used for chopping, the fibers at the end of the handle will continue to lock the hoop in place even more firmly.
And that’s it. Altogether, it’s about 5 minutes of work to set the hoop for a chisel, not counting the soak time. All in all, it’s a pretty quick job.
