Tataki-Nomi Japanese Made Timber Chisel By Takashiba Ⅱ - 48mm

Smith name: Takashiba Ikuo (高芝郁夫)

Steel: White Steel (Based on my assessment)

Blade width: 48mm

Blade thickness: Blade Bottom(about 12.70mm)，The blade near the bevel (about 6.10mm)

Manufacture Era: around 1990s

Weight: 459g

Blade Angles: 24°

Total length: 290mm

Neck length:  63mm

Blade length: 80mm

Wooden handles：Japanese white Oak

Accessories：—

Additional Information:  This is a pre-owned tataki-nomi, acquired from a retired carpenter in the Kansai region. Despite previous use by its former owner, the chisel remains in fine condition with plenty of service life left. I have performed a restorative sharpening on it, lapping both the primary bevel and the hollow back (ura) up to a 1,000-grit finish. Overall, the craftsmanship is quite commendable; the symmetry, shoulder shaping, neck-to-blade transition, and forge lamination all demonstrate the smith's solid skill.

During sharpening, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this chisel is laminated with traditional Japanese iron.

Additionally, based on the tactile feedback on the stones and the formation of the burr along the cutting edge, the core steel exhibits high hardness and decent toughness; however, the grain structure at the apex appears relatively coarse in its current state, likely due to slight overheating of the blade tip during the forging or heat-treatment process.

The neck of this chisel is shorter than that of typical tataki-nomi , with a noticeably steeper taper. As a result, both the wooden handle and the ferrule (kuchigane) had to be enlarged. While this design is less efficient for transmitting striking energy down to the cutting edge, watetsu is inherently softer than modern iron; without this structural compromise, the neck would lack sufficient rigidity and strength under heavy impact.