Zen-Wu DC-1 Paring Chisel

The DC-1 is sold as a pair: 1-15/16" (49mm) and 15/16" (24mm).

Same steel as the Y-2: ZW-C2 white-paper carbon steel, dovetail-laminated into a titanium alloy body. Jatoba handles. Blade 3-15/16" (100mm), neck 4-5/16" (110mm), handle 8-1/4" (210mm), total length 16-1/2" (420mm).

The chisel head is thin enough to go down inside a mortise and pare the walls, which often puts considerable leverage on the shaft. The traditional Japanese build for a paring chisel this thin backs the hard steel with soft iron (all-steel at proper hardness would be too brittle at this length and thickness), but soft iron gives way well before the edge does, and a blade under that load does not always come back straight. Titanium alloy takes several times the load before it yields, at lower weight, and will not rust.

A paring chisel is not normally struck. This one takes a mallet, and we strike ours at the shop all the time.

The wider of the two takes its head shape from a design by Kokichi (@chantarokichi), a temple carpenter who works on the restoration of Japan's National Treasures. He sent it to Zen-Wu as a handmade wooden mold.

The pair ships in a linen-lined bamboo box, with stitched leather guards for both edges.

Care and use instructions