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

[Andy Cree]

I have several Ashley Iles bench chisels, but I do not have the 1/8" chisel. I keep looking at the 1/8" chisel thinking I am going to get one, but haven't yet. Does a guy really need a 1/8" chisel? Seems like I think I do, but can't seem to remember what I was doing when I thought that I needed one... Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Andy

[george wilson]

Do you do small work? I have made some of mine 1/64".

[Bob Lang]

Someday you will. The question is will you need it to make something or will you need it to complete the set?

Bob Lang

[Dave Beauchesne]

Do you do small work? I have made some of mine 1/64".

I am with George. I do moderately sized dovetails, and have a Japanese 1.5 mm ( 1/16") and a LN 1/8" and 3/16". I use those three a lot, as well as a LN fishtail when doing half blinds.
I would not mind something narrower, and have some 1/8" O1, but lack the skill to do it justice in a real narrow profile.
I may spring for a Blue Spruce 3/64" or 1/32" version though.
The narrower chisels can be trickier to sharpen, but if I can do it, anyone can.
IMHO, narrower chisels have their place, and are very handy one you get used to using them.
Good luck.

[Charles Wiggins]

I have several Ashley Iles bench chisels, but I do not have the 1/8" chisel. I keep looking at the 1/8" chisel thinking I am going to get one, but haven't yet. Does a guy really need a 1/8" chisel? Seems like I think I do, but can't seem to remember what I was doing when I thought that I needed one... Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Andy

My experience is that if I buy it I'll never need it, but if I choose not to buy it I'll need it almost immediately after I get the shipment.

[Mike Henderson]

I use a 1/8" chisel on an occasional basis. Not every job but often enough that I'm glad I have it.

Mike

[Daniel Rode]

I need mine. I bought an Irwin 1/8" chisel for about $8 delivered and I use it all the time. It's great for cleaning up tight corners like those in dovetails, picking out waste chips when chopping mortises and even paring along the back of a shoulder. I could honestly make use of a 3/16 and 5/16 as well.

The bigger question is do you need a matched set of chisels? I have 5 different types of chisels. They all get sharp and cut wood.

I have several Ashley Iles bench chisels, but I do not have the 1/8" chisel. I keep looking at the 1/8" chisel thinking I am going to get one, but haven't yet. Does a guy really need a 1/8" chisel? Seems like I think I do, but can't seem to remember what I was doing when I thought that I needed one... Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Andy

[Daniel Rode]

Holy cow, that's tiny. Was it made from a sewing needle and a toothpick for a handle? :)

Do you do small work? I have made some of mine 1/64".

[Jeff Heath]

I have an 1/8" chisel (actually, I have 2), and even a 1/10" mortising chisel from Lie Nielsen. 1/8" is too wide, believe it or not, for plane mouth openings, which I make every day, all day.

Depends on your work. It would be terrific to have when you need it, as long as you're not investing a lot of money. They're great for getting into tight corners and such for cleanup.

I was going to grind one of mine to the 1/10" size, but I just didn't have the heart to potentially wreck a great (greenlee) chisel, even though it cost me like $10. So, I dropped $75 to Lie Nielsen.....I know it's going to a great cause with a great American toolmaker.

[David Weaver]

I've come across a variety of chisels. I use one ( or several - whichever of the glom is closest by ) slightly narrower than 1/8 for planes fairly often. I don't too often use chisels of that type outside of planes, but I have chisels down to a 16th and have occasionally used those.

The one I use the most was about $7 at a flea market in Fayetteville, PA - it is a very long socket chisel, thick in height like a mortise chisel. The reason I say that is that if you don't need one right now, there's no great reason you have to specifically buy a chisel to match a set.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Andy

If you cannot envisage using a 1/8" chisel, then skip it.

The time to buy a tool is when you (a) need it then, or (b) have a plan to use it later for something specific.

Otherwise it is tool collecting. Nothing wrong with that, except this is a choice and not a necessity.

I do use a 1/8" frequently. Most of the dovetails I make require a 1/8" dovetail chisel (not a flat sided 1/8"). I use a 1/8" mortice chisel for morticing drawer handles. I even have a 1/16" chisel, which gets used. As I mentioned above, if you are not thinking along these lines, then you are not going to find a use for one.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Anthony Moumar]

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.

[Brian Ashton]

I have several Ashley Iles bench chisels, but I do not have the 1/8" chisel. I keep looking at the 1/8" chisel thinking I am going to get one, but haven't yet. Does a guy really need a 1/8" chisel? Seems like I think I do, but can't seem to remember what I was doing when I thought that I needed one... Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Andy


No, you don't need one. But! you probably don't need most of the chisels, planes and other doo dads you have now but that didn't stop you buying them did it. It will come in handy at some point so that's all the motivation you need.

[Robert Culver]

I have both the Ashley isles and veritas small pairing chisel . 9 times outa 10 I reach for the veritas chisel because my work does not call for a beefy chisel at that stage and I prefer the control I have with the smaller vertas . Just something else to think about !!! These are the 1/8 inch ones

[lowell holmes]

I've had one for years. It is in reality a caning chisel, but I can chop 1/8" wide mortises with it.

[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.

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/GoodtheBadandtheUgly_zps5569dc01.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/GoodtheBadandtheUgly_zps5569dc01.jpg.html)

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.

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_1636_zps09e7a2ff.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_1636_zps09e7a2ff.jpg.html)

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

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/Royaltyinourmidst_zps4eb216f2.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/Royaltyinourmidst_zps4eb216f2.jpg.html)

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.