Oire Nomi Japanese Wood Chisel 24mm

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16"), Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
This chisel is a beautifully crafted Japanese woodworking tool made for precise, detailed work. The thin Yasuki White Paper Steel blade cuts smoothly and cleanly, making it great for joinery, carving, Kumiko work, and fine trimming. The edge holds sharpness well thanks to full heat‑treatment, and it can be resharpened repeatedly for long‑term use. The traditional design gives you excellent control, especially when working on delicate cuts where accuracy matters.Overall, it’s a durable, sharp, and well‑balanced tool that’s perfect for anyone who appreciates traditional craftsmanship.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
I've been using this chisel for final fitting and cleanup work around the shop, and my impressions are mixed. My first reaction when I opened it was surprise at how small it is. The blade is quite short, the handle is short, and the handle diameter is noticeably smaller than most chisels of this width. I initially wondered if it was intended for younger users, but there's nothing in the description to suggest that.It arrived reasonably sharp, but it needed a fair amount of additional sharpening before I considered it ready for fine work. The steel itself feels decent. It sharpens a little more easily than I expected, but it also takes a very nice polish and will hold a keen edge.Unfortunately, the back of the blade has an overly large hollow grind that extends too close to the cutting edge. That means you'll need to remove more material from the back than should be necessary before you have a proper flat reference surface, something that shouldn't be required on a new chisel.Overall, it's an acceptable tool, but the sizing and blade geometry keep it from being one I'd recommend, especially considering the price.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
I own various wood chisels, some with plastic handles and no metal ends and some with plastic/rubber handles and a metal end, for tapping with a hammer to improve cutting ability when necessary. I was attracted to this Japanese chisel for various reasons like one, it's Japanese so that's cool, but also I know it would be very sharp and I liked the overall appearance with the wood.Packaging: It comes in a plastic package, nothing special, very basic and gets the job done. There is a small cover that is over the cutting edge.Build: Looks and feels good, no crooked components, defects or problems here. It is extremely sharp so be careful.Function: I have been using it some and it's very satisfying to have a super sharp chisel. I like the nimbleness of this one. It has a good shape and I like the feel of the wood in my hand. I am avoiding hitting on it too much, as I don't think it's going to hold up quite as well as a more beefy chisel, but I likely will use a small mallet if I do need to tap the end.Overall I am pretty satisfied with this chisel from the overall appearance, feel and it being super sharp out of the box. It's not going to be the only chisel I use but I am glad to add it to the collection.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16"), Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
This appears to be a true, traditional nomi. The construction is good but for one major flaw in the one I received: the conical steel section the handle it's into is cracked on mine. It doesn't seem like it's going to fall apart any time soon, but it's possible for it to happen when using a mallet with it.I don't anticipate this being a problem with all of them though and other than that this seems very durable and functional. This has a true laminated construction with a thin layer of hardened steel for the cutting edge and a thicker layer of soft steel above it. Because of this I was able to "tap out" the edge in order to lower the cutting edge so that I could lap and polish it without as much effort and without having to remove as much material.The laminated construction also means this will always be less effort to sharpen, as well as being eminently traditional. The hard layer seems appropriately hardened and can be sharpened to a very keen edge.I find this to be a viable option among other low end, made in Japan nomi.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
Up for review is a Senkichi brand woodworking chisel. This is a genuine Japanese made and Japanese-pattern chisel billed as a "detail chisel." It is relatively compact with a short 1 5/8" long blade, 7" overall length, but a wide-format cutter that comes in at about 1 1/8" wide.Japanese woodworking tools are relatively familiar these days to most Western woodworkers, especially Japanese saws but to some extent chisels and even hand planes. It's easy to get overwhelmed by enthusiastic (mostly) western devotees of Japanese tools who can quickly confuse with jargon and discussions of various smiths and "paper" steels, etc., but as far as Japanese chisels go, they work mostly the same as conventional western chisels, with a few quirks of their own. For starters, they tend to have rather thin handles (this chisel has a handle that is about 5/8" in diameter) and hard steel striking-rings that are not flush with the back of the handle. This is worth noting for those who drive chisels with wooden mallets--these rings can do some damage and are intended to be driven by a steel hammer and "broken in" such that the rear of the wooden handle mushrooms over, after which time a wooden mallet will work fine. The rings also do a number on your hand until you break the chisel in. Also notable is the hollow ground back found on most single bevel Japanese cutting tools. This serves to create fewer points of contact on your sharpening stone to make honing faster.Japanese tool are also usually laminated, which is a procedure mostly left behind in western tool making as tool steel has become fairly cheap, and this chisel is no exception. There is what appears to be a relatively small section of carbon steel laminated to the cutting edge, extending back maybe a 1/4" or so. The idea is that the tool can be made with a very hard cutting edge that would be too brittle to support the whole structure of the chisel without shattering. The rest of the tool is softer and "tougher" steel. The steel here is "white paper" steel or "Shirogami #2", which is just a trademark for a particular formulation of carbon steel from one particular manufacturer. The "paper" in question is what the steel is wrapped with by the maker. White paper is the best grade for me: While it is still maybe a little harder and more brittle than I'm used to, it's not so easy to chip that it's a problem, but care should be taken to keep these sharp so they don't meet excessive resistance when driving with a hammer. Also avoid twisting these like you might with a western chisel to pull waste out of the cut.I honed this one on a few water stones starting at first with 1000 grit, but I ended up backing down to 320 grit before returning to 1000 then on to 4000 and 16000. It was a quick process as the back of this chisel is milled pretty flat, and, as mentioned, hollow ground to save time. The edge it took was very fine and held up well in testing with no chips or other problems. This is a short chisel, which makes it easy to position one handed, but provides little reference in long slicing cuts. I also had some trouble testing it on narrow end grain pine--a good test for fine edges--because the hollow grind along with the width of the chisel makes it hard to keep flat. The small handles on these is something else I always struggle with, and I didn't fully break in the handle / ring so it was a little bit of a bruise-inducer on the palm of my hand working without a hammer. But for chopping down end grain or digging concave scallops out of long grain, it's a very capable chisel with tremendous resilience.My complaints are mostly along the lines of personal taste, as outlined above, but overall this is what you expect it to be--a very nicely made Japanese pattern chisel. It would be nice to have some English instructions for folks not used to using these, as well--but that's minor. Overall, this is a great quality chisel for anyone who knows what they're getting into, fairly priced and a good overall value.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16"), Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
Wonderful little chisel. Perfect for door trimming like installing the lockset strike plates and hinge mortises. It is my go-to tool even though I have a router setup specifically for this! No tapping required or recommended! Simply pushes through grain, any grain, and lifts clean, smooth chips. About 27 degrees on the cutting edge with a concave back which makes this thing CRAZY sharp and holds an edge for a long time. Only needs minor tune ups after weeks of use.Must be stored in a case or sheath since it is very sharp. I wrap my in a lightly oiled shop towel. Highly recommended for those looking for a high-quality, precise, small-sized chisel.

[Size: 30mm (1-3/16"), Size: 30mm (1-3/16")]
The chisel is really sharp. Being fabricated of Japanese high quality steel, I expect the cutting edge to remain sharp though many cut strokes.The chisel is a bit shorter than I expected from the picture. It measures seven inches long. The handle is crafted from wood with a steel band at the hammering end. I was hoping for better blade protection, but I guess that the clear plastic blade cover will work OK. The directions on the packaging are solely in Japanese—there are some pictures as well, but for me it is difficult to understand what they are trying to illustrate.