Experience the difference with these premium bench chisels. Superbly crafted for lasting performance, they offer excellent edge retention and easy sharpening, making them a joy to use.
Zen-Wu Toolworks is a relatively new manufacturer of high-end hand tools. I’ve been using their Y-1 bevel edge chisels for the past couple of months, and have found their performance to be quite good. The chisels are well-made and appear to be durable, with sharp blades and comfortable handles. They have functioned effectively for a variety of woodworking tasks. Based on my experience, Zen-Wu Toolworks’s offerings seem to be a worthwhile consideration for those in the market for quality hand tools.
Manufacturer: Zen-Wu Toolworks
Model: Y-1 five chisel set
Price: $319 US (approximately $449 CAD), free shipping
Warranty: Limited lifetime, 1 year worry-free return policy
Made in: China
Source: Zen-Wu Toolworks
Features:
When buying a set of chisels you want to consider steel composition, durability and ease of sharpening, the edge finish, the shape and length of the blade and handle and, of course, price.
Y-1 chisels are crafted from ZW-C1 steel, a premium white-paper carbon steel rivaling Japanese white steels. With approximately 1% carbon and 1.5% chromium, it achieves a 64 HRC hardness. Critically, it excludes wear-resistant alloys like tungsten and vanadium, prioritizing ease of sharpening alongside hardness. The ZW-C1 steel undergoes electroslag remelting (ESR) to eliminate impurities, resulting in exceptional toughness. This refined steel allows Y-1 chisels to hold a keen edge, resist crumbling, and sharpen readily—a perfect balance for discerning woodworkers.
The five blades in this set run from 1/8″ to 1″ and the width measurements are as close to exact as can be expected. Many comparable sets don’t include a 1/8″ chisel, which I find very useful for cleaning up dovetail corners and small inside corners. The set lacks a 3/4″ chisel, but for all practical purposes the 5/8″ chisel is an adequate substitute when doing light chopping on 3/4″ wide mortises.
The chisels are sharp out of the box with no need for any honing. As you can see in the photo below, the edges of the 5/8″ and 1″ chisels are slightly tapered, and the top of the chisel is slightly concave. I feel that this design helps to reduce resistance when chiseling. The concave top also serves as a register for your thumb when making paring cuts.
The lands (the flats on the chisel sides that intersect with the back) are very narrow, which makes the chisels more suitable for use when cleaning out the waste on a tail board. However, the slight tapering on the sides makes these chisels, in general, less useful for dovetail work.
The backs are well machined and all were perfectly flat. Though not necessary, they could stand some polishing to achieve a mirror finish.
With 5″ blades and an overall length of 10-1/2″ these are some of the longest chisels I’ve used. The longer length makes them ideal for paring work.
I found the large, maple handles very comfortable — the shape and size helps reduce hand fatigue during prolonged use. The chisels have a tang that extends into the handle, which is reinforced with a steel ferrule to ensure durability and resistance to splitting when used with a mallet.
Based on 3 months of shop use I would rate the Zen-Wu Y-1 as very good value in a premium bench chisel — in the same league as Veritas and Lie-Nielsen. Of course, only time will confirm their long-term durability. At around $450 CAD for a set of 5, they are value-priced. In comparison, a set of 5 Veritas PM-V11 chisels is $529 CAD while a Lie-Nielsen set will cost $510 US (about $715 CAD). The Y-1 chisels are also available individually in both Imperial and metric sizes.
Carl Duguay - [email protected]
Carl is a Victoria-based furniture maker and the web editor at Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement.
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