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Search by English name, Japanese kanji, category, or blacksmith. Works across all tools, steel types, and workshop lineages.
Oire Nomi
The standard Japanese bench chisel, featuring a short, stout blade and a hooped handle designed to be struck with a hamm…
Mukoumachi Nomi
Thick, sturdy chisels specifically designed for chopping deep mortises. The blade cross-section is thicker than Oire Nom…
Tsuki Nomi
Long, slender chisels intended for hand-pushing (paring) rather than striking. The thin blade and swept-back bevel allow…
Tataki Nomi
Robust, thick chisels intended for the heaviest structural timber framing work. Used aggressively with a large carpenter…
Mentori Nomi
A chisel featuring an angled cutting edge designed specifically for creating decorative bevels and chamfers along the ed…
Karamitsuki Nomi
An L-shaped chisel with the cutting edges on two faces meeting at an inside corner. Used to clean and square the interio…
Usunomi
An extremely thin-bladed chisel with a skewed cutting edge. Used to undercut dovetail joints and reach into confined ang…
Hira Kanna
The quintessential Japanese hand plane. Pulled towards the user, featuring a thick tapered blade set in a wooden block (…
Kiwa Kanna
A specialized plane where the blade extends flush to the very edge of the wooden block, allowing the user to shave insid…
Sori-Dai Kanna
A uniquely shaped plane with a curved wooden body (dai), designed specifically for hollowing out or smoothing curved arc…
Nankin Kanna
A small plane with handles on both sides of the blade, used for shaping concave and complex curved surfaces, such as cha…
Kakumen Kanna
Paired planes — one with a convex sole, one with a concave — used to create mating profiles on wooden mouldings and arch…
Yariganna
One of the most ancient Japanese wood-working implements — a spear-shaped blade lashed to a handle, used for scraping an…
Ryoba
A versatile pull saw with two sets of teeth: rip teeth (along the grain) on one edge and crosscut teeth on the other. A …
Dozuki
An extremely fine-toothed saw with a rigid back spine (haryugo) that prevents the thin blade from buckling. Used for pre…
Azebiki
A highly specialized saw featuring short, dramatically curved blades. Designed to start cuts directly in the middle of a…
Kugihiki
A saw featuring an incredibly thin, highly flexible blade with absolutely no 'set' to the teeth. Used to cut wooden dowe…
Kataba
A single-edged pull saw, simpler than the Ryoba, allowing the spine of the saw to flex without the constraint of a secon…
Oga
The large Japanese rip saw used for breaking down timber along the grain. Historically, the Oga was the saw of Japan's p…
Sumitsubo
Traditional Japanese ink line tool used for marking straight lines on long timbers. Features a beautifully carved wooden…
Kebiki
A marking gauge featuring a sharp scribing pin (or blade) on an adjustable post, used to score a line parallel to a refe…
Sashigane
The Japanese carpenter's square — an L-shaped tool traditionally made from two different width arms. The back of the Sas…
Kakuuchi
A dedicated marking knife with a thin, acutely angled blade, used for scribing precise layout lines for joinery. Unlike …
Kiri
Hand-drilling tool. Types like Mitsume-kiri (three-point) and Yotsume-kiri (four-point) are used to cleanly bore starter…
Tsubanomi
A heavy-duty boring chisel for removing large amounts of material from deep mortises. Features a flanged collar (tsuba) …
Genno
The traditional Japanese carpenter's hammer. Features two striking faces: one flat for driving chisels and setting nails…
Kirikomi Genno
A specialized hammer with a wedge-shaped cross-peen face, used for splitting kindling or driving wooden wedges in timber…
Hozohiki Nokogiri
A specialized saw with a thick back spine and fine crosscut teeth, designed specifically for cutting the shoulders and c…
Uraoshi Kanna
A wooden or metal block with a very precise flat sole, used for flattening the hollow back (ura) of plane blades and chi…
Shakuri Nomi
A chisel with a curved or hooked blade, used for cleaning and cutting the bottom of grooves — particularly the grooves t…
Maru Nomi
A curved or semicircular chisel — the Japanese equivalent of a western gouge. Used for carving relief patterns, cleaning…
Kiridashi
A single-bevel utility and marking knife — perhaps Japan's most ubiquitous cutting tool. The wedge-shaped profile allows…
Nata
A large single-bevel cutting tool used for splitting kindling, rough-shaping timber, and clearing brush. The Nata occupi…
Kojiri Kanna
A very short-bodied plane — typically 40–60mm in sole length — used for flattening the bottom surfaces of joinery and fo…
Osae Kanna
A long-bodied plane (typically 80–100mm sole) used to flatten and straighten the faces and edges of boards before joiner…
Mitsukado Kanna
A specialist plane for trimming tenon shoulders — the flat faces that seat against the mortise housing. The blade extend…
Aogami #1
High-carbon steel alloyed with chromium and tungsten for enhanced wear resistance and edge retention. Ideal for hard woo…
Aogami #2
Similar to Aogami #1 but with slightly lower carbon and tungsten content. Offers an excellent balance of edge retention …
Aogami Super
The highest-carbon variant among Aogami steels. Includes vanadium and molybdenum for extreme edge retention and hardness…
Shirogami #1
Pure high-carbon steel with minimal impurities. Takes a laser-like edge and is easy to sharpen, but more brittle than Ao…
Shirogami #2
The most widely used white steel. Slightly lower carbon than #1 for an excellent balance of extreme sharpness and workab…
Shirogami #3
Lower-carbon variant of White Steel. Less pure, but significantly tougher and easier to sharpen. Often used for larger s…
Kigami
A high-carbon steel with slightly more impurities than Shirogami. Often used for saws and general-purpose tools. Easier …
Swedish Steel
Highly pure carbon steel imported from Sweden. Historically prized by Japanese blacksmiths for its exceptional purity an…
Togo Reigo
Extremely rare historical steel produced by Andrews Steel Company in the late 19th century. Known for achieving White #1…
SK Steel
Broad category of high-carbon steel widely used for general Japanese woodworking tools. Affordable, easy to sharpen, and…
ZDP-189
A remarkable Hitachi powder-metallurgy stainless steel with an extraordinary 3% carbon content — the highest of any comm…
HAP40
A powder-metallurgy high-speed steel from Hitachi, designed originally for industrial cutting tools. Japanese knife and …
R2 / SG2
A powder-metallurgy stainless steel developed by Takefu Special Steel. R2 and SG2 refer to the same steel from different…
Ginsan
Ginsan (Gingami #3) is a stainless steel from Hitachi with a carbon level approaching white steel — a deliberate design …
Tamahagane
The legendary steel produced by smelting iron sand (satetsu) in a traditional tatara furnace over three days. The bloom …
Oroshigane
Steel smelted and folded by individual blacksmiths in their own forge. Unlike Tamahagane from a centralized tatara, Oros…
V-Gold #10
A high-grade stainless steel from Takefu Special Steel, featuring significant vanadium content for outstanding edge rete…
Aogami Super Stainless
A proprietary laminated construction used by some smiths: an Aogami Super core cladded between stainless steel jackets. …
San Mai / Damascus
San Mai ('three-layer') is the classic Japanese lamination: a hard carbon steel core (hagane) forge-welded between two l…
SK4 Carbon Steel
A standardized Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) carbon tool steel. Slightly higher carbon than SK5 and lower than SK2,…
High-Speed Steel (HSS)
Originally developed for machining applications, HSS (notably M2) has found its way into a niche of Japanese woodworking…
Tasai
Established in 1975, the Tasai lineage is globally recognized for exquisite chisels. Famed for mastering a specialized '…
Funahiro
Yuji Funatsu, the 3rd generation Funahiro, is revered practically as a national treasure. He pioneered the scientific us…
Kiyohisa
Known for 'Kamon-Kiyohisa' chisels stamped with a family crest kamon. Historically recognized for their exceptional mast…
Tsunesaburo
Founded in 1947, Tsunesaburo applies ancient swordsmithing roots to plane making. They work with 11 different types of s…
Chiyozuru Korehide
Perhaps the most legendary toolsmith in Japanese history. Born into a swordsmith family, Korehide Chiyozuru (1874–1957) …
Usui Kengo
A pioneering plane bladesmith who integrated scientific metallurgical analysis with traditional forging. His blades are …
Ichihiro
A highly coveted brand of chisels from Tokyo. The 'Hidari Ichihiro' (Left Ichihiro) mark — with the name stamped mirrore…
Sakai Takayuki
Representing the 600-year history of Sakai blade making. Keijiro Doi was a legend for forging low-temperature Blue Carbo…
Tadafusa
A staple of the Sanjo forging tradition, originally founded to produce sickles, saws, and kitchen knives. Now globally r…
Yaegashi
One of the last remaining Tokyo workshops preserving true Edo-period carpentry blade craftsmanship. Their tools are dire…
Iyoroi
Founded during the Bunkyū Era (1862), Iyoroi is one of the oldest continuously operating chisel workshops in Niigata. Th…
Nishiki Hamono
A leading producer of high-quality Japanese saws from Miki City — Japan's saw capital. Nishiki specializes in precision-…
Nagahiro
The Nagahiro workshop in Sanjo is one of the premier producers of Aogami Super plane blades — a steel demanding rare ski…
Okayama Hamono
Okayama Hamono is particularly celebrated for producing curved-blade tools — spoke shaves, draw knives, and compass plan…
Masamoto Sohonten
Masamoto is arguably the most prestigious kitchen knife workshop in Japan, serving professional chefs since 1866. The Ya…
Nakaya Takashi
A solo blacksmith operating a one-man workshop in Niigata, Nakaya Takashi represents the artisan model of Japanese toolm…
Yasuki Hamono
Yasuki (Yasugi), Shimane Prefecture, is the historical home of the Hitachi paper steel family — the area's iron-sand-ric…
Konobu
Konobu is a workshop specializing in the finest-grade finishing and paring chisels — tools that are never struck with a …
Mikami Seisakusho
Mikami Seisakusho is one of Miki City's most respected saw manufacturers, producing both traditional hand-set saws for p…
Watanabe Waichi
Watanabe Waichi is a legendary solo plane bladesmith whose work is defined by absolute refusal to compromise. Each blade…
Gihei Hamono
One of the rare Sanjo workshops that produces both chisels and the hammers used to drive them — a complete understanding…