Moderately-priced chisels in 1/16" sizes???

[Joe Cunningham]

Why not just make the peg functional?

Maybe I just never grokked G&G. Seems like a whole lot of work for joinery fakery when the actual pegging would take about the same amount of time.

I like their aesthetic, don't get me wrong, but this slavish devotion to their methods seems silly unless you are doing museum reproductions.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a 1/16" Iyoroi dovetail chisel ...



... used to make this box ..



... which housed this plane ...



I also have a 1/16" oval bolstered mortice chisel that is not a modification of something larger. It is vintage and just can;t recall the name at this moment. The point is that that are out there.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[James Taglienti]

Joe:
agreed. I think G&G is bogus too. But i also think it's hideous. 90% is just over the top and nauseating. Stuff that only cabinetmakers can like, cause we recognize the joints. I like about 3 of their pieces. anyway...

Why don't you just buy some older vintage chisels and grind them to the sizes you need? I routinely find socket chisels slightly over/undersized, it would only be a matter of removing 1/16 at most, perhaps a lot less.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Guys: I'm not talking about a 1/16" chisel, but a set in 1/16"-size increments, like 3/16", 5/16", 7/16", etc. Primarily the first two.

James,
I'm not aware of any modern makers that are making bench chisels in 16th increments, though I agree with you that someone should. During the pre-industrial period of woodworking, plow plane irons, mortise chisels, firmer chisels all came in 16th inch increments up to about 10/16", at which point they switched to 1/8" increments. Unfortunately, most vintage chisels we find today were made after this period so 1/8" increments are more common.

If you don't plan to do a lot of heavy chopping with them, you might check out straight carving chisels from someone like Ashles Iles or Henry Taylor. Their straight carving chisels come in 1/16" increments up to a point. They are ground double bevel standard, which might be fine for the work you are doing. If not, you might be able to order some ground single bevel if you ask, or, they are fine enough that regrinding to a single bevel shouldn't be all that much work.

I'm not sure there is another option available if you want to stay with true imperial sizing. You could just keep an eye out for older chisels in the size you need. They do pop up every now and again in 3/16" and 5/16" on ebay, but I find waiting for the right chisel there like watching grass grow. I would much rather find one when I need it, so if it were me, I'd probably try one of the carving chisels mentioned above.

[greg Forster]

Slightly off topic, but still...while looking at the chisels I have to see if they were graduated in 1/8s or 1/16s I noticed an early 2' folding rule I had bought and "put-up" for safe-keeping. On the one side, the numbers are marked out to 1/8" increments, on the other side the first ten inches are marked out to 1/16" and 1/8" from there on.