swan neck and japanese chisels

[Doorman]

what is the purpose of swan neck chisels, is it to get into hard to reach places, and are japanese chisels anything special or is it just the way they are made and come from????????

[Rich]

The swan neck chisels that I've used are mostly for cleaning out the bottom of mortises (at least that's what I've used them for) and for doing deeper mortises where the handle might hit the top of the mortise before you hit full depth.
Japanese chisels are special because of the way they are made and the quality of the steel.. grab one and you'll immediately notice the difference. The backs are pre-ground on most of them so you don't have to worry about lapping the back but a few times to get your final sharpening done.
Now there are many different types of chisels.. and there are japanese style chisels made by non-japanese manufacturers but IMO they just aren't the same. Most are worth the money if you are using them on a daily basis.

[Doorman]

so thats the reason for them being so expensive then :roll: