Jon,
Its the other way around. The edge is very hard, high carbon steel. It
is so hard that the chisel would snap if it were hit. The backing is
softer metal, the best being some sort of wrought iron, very tough, with
a fibrous grain structure. The tough iron supports the brittle steel.
There are different grades. My bench chisel are designed to take a blow
from a mallet. The paring chisels, however, are too thin and hard for
that - they must be pushed.
In my shop these chisels are recognized as "sacred objects" - employees
use them at their peril! They are great to work with , a real problem if
they are nicked, for the edge steel is so hard that it is difficult to
work a nick out. We use old shop-made stuff and my Marples set when
there is a chance that a nail would be hidden in the workpiece.
GHB
On 12/3/2010 4:27 AM, Jon Murphy wrote:
I concur with Howard on Japanese chisels, the lamination is sort of an
analog of the Samurai sword - the cutting edge is softer so as to not
be brittle and can be sharpened with a touch up, the body is hard to
maintain form.
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