Do I "Need" a 1/8" Chisel??

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I have a couple 1/8th-ish chisels, I find I use them more than I thought.

One time I needed a smaller chisel for inlaying some small brass. I sharpened the end of a jewelers screwdriver.

[Bobby O'Neal]

Buy it. Because chisels are awesome. And because I want one and haven't done it yet.

I have found myself wanting when when dovetailing and working to get thin pins. I have also made a few small mortises and inlays that it would have been nice to have something smaller than 1/4"

[Gary Muto]

I have the veritas detail chisel set which includes a 1/8" and 1/16". I don't use them heaps but every now and then I need them and they're nice to have. I have them set up with a 20deg bevel so they cut like a hot knife though butter.

I have that set too. I use at least one of them on every project. They are easy to control and sharpen and comfortable to use.

[lowell holmes]

I have the set also. They are not used often, but when they are needed it's nice to have them.

[Brian Holcombe]

I have one that's 25 degrees, so I basically use it as a paring chisel. I use it more often than I thought I would.

[Winton Applegate]

Do I "Need" a 1/8" Chisel??

Andy,

When you get REALLY GOOD . . .
and I mean, REALLY, REALLY GOOD . . .
(and fast)
A 1/8 " chisel is ALL that you need.
or that seems to be what I was thinking when I bought chisels.
First photo, note there are at least two 1/8 inchers.



Second photo (close up of three that are in the upper left of the first photo) shows the one I ground into a double skew and a couple of slightly wider ones are left and right skew. These are my half blind dovetail clean up chisels.



Third photo; looks like at least three more there. One is even narrower.



So to answer your question. No you don't need ONE.
You need like four or five.

[Jim Koepke]

My 3mm and 1/8" chisels do not get used a lot. They do get used.

But then again, I have eight 1/4" bevel edged chisels and most of them are used often. (yes, there are also straight side 1/4" chisels in my kit.)

jtk

[Bob Easton]

You'll know when you need one! I didn't need one til this week, when I decided to build a small box with internal dividers. The dividers are made from stuff that's 1/8" thick. They are fixed in end pieces that each have 3 stopped dadoes. Dadoes? Bingo, there came the need for a 1/8" chisel. Not having one, and not wanting to wait for one to arrive from somewhere, I found an Allen key of the right width, ground it, and sharpened it. It fits very well in my "Old Woman's Tooth" router.

For example: http://www.bob-easton.com/blog/2014/3042/

[Cody Armstrong]

I see Lee Valley now has 1/8th and 3/16th PMV11 bench chisels. Hoorah!!!

[allen long]

I'll be getting those for sure. I was really hoping for that 9/64 chisel though!

Since I found an old 1/8" Swan Mortise chisel in a box full of tools I got for cheap, I may think about turning my Narex Mortise chisel into a 1/16 chisel. I figure the extra meat on the top of the beam might be better than modifying a regular chisel into such a narrow version. Any thoughts? Anyone interested in seeing how it turns out?

[Jim Stewart]

Don't buy an 1/8 chisel but make one by grinding the lower edges of a 1/4" chisel. you will have much greater control of the chisel because of the wider portion above the working portion of the chisel. This is also an advantage when sharpening the chisel. The 1/8 chisels are so narrow it is difficult to keep it held true when sharpening. The 1/4" remedies this.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have the veritas detail chisel set which includes a 1/8" and 1/16". I don't use them heaps but every now and then I need them and they're nice to have. I have them set up with a 20deg bevel so they cut like a hot knife though butter.

I want to jump onto this bandwagon. I LOVE my detail chisel set from Lee Valley. I purchased them when I wanted to cut some relatively small dovetails. I purchased a 1/8" sweetheart at the same time. It really gets into the corners and I use it sometimes even with larger dovetails.

[bridger berdel]

I occasionally use the corner of a card scraper with a scraper burr turned on it as a narrow chisel. works pretty well, if slow, for shallow cuts. I also have some scrapers with acute corners that get used without turning a burr on the corner. I have a few chisels in the 1/8" range, but sometimes narrower is needed.

[Gary Muto]

I see Lee Valley now has 1/8th and 3/16th PMV11 bench chisels. Hoorah!!!

Me Too. It's in my shopping cart.