Nakahashi

Nakahashi manufactures the finest Mortise Chisels in Japan from the finest Japanese steel - each chisel is finished and checked by hand to ensure it is of the highest quality. These Japanese mortice chisels will fit Wadkin, Sedgwick, Multico, Centauro and other popular mortising machines. Nakahashi Manufacturing was established in 1955, in the middle of Japan’s restoration period. After the war, rebuilding new homes was one of Japans most urgent tasks. At the time, most houses were made from wood and mortising was the most time-consuming process in Japanese construction. The building method required mortice & tenon joints to be done one by one by the hands of a carpenter. In order to quickly rebuild new homes, this mortising process needed to be recreated so it could be done more efficiently and productively. With this thought in mind, Hisamasa Nakahashi studied and modified the English pattern Clico chisel & bit and created the “Kobayashi Pattern Hollow Square Mortise Chisel & Bit” to suit the working condition and environment of Japan’s carpentry giving higher performance anda better fininsh. The Kobayashi Pattern Hollow Square Mortise Chisel & Bit spread throughout Japan in no time as the tool that changed the mortising process from an artisan skill to a process that could be done by anyone easily. This innovation greatly contributed to pushing Japans' reconstruction forward. Innovation to Tradition With the creation of the “Kobayashi Pattern Hollow Square Mortise Chisel & Bit”, mortising for carpentry shifted from a process that requires skills to a process that could be done with precision no matter who did it. This was an innovative change in the mortising culture. This innovative tool has continuously been refined over the years, and is now an essential tool to the Japanese woodworking industry. This tool that contributed to the reconstruction of Japan is now being used for repairs of the temples and shrines all over country and is contributing to the preservation of world heritages and Japanese culture. We think of this as an “innovation” evolving into “tradition”. An innovative product will spread throughout the world and into the hands of the users, creating a new standard. And a standard that survives through the change of time becomes a true “tradition”.