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Thread: 1/10" Mortise chisel

  1. #1
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    1/10" Mortise chisel

    Just got back from my local Woodcraft. I found these on sale http://www.woodcraft.com/product/12G...chisel-18.aspx . If you have access to a surface grinder these have parallel sides and can be ground down to make 1/10" for plane making.

  2. #2
    Thanks for the tip Nick!

  3. #3
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    I have a European chisel that measures in at 3mm. That is just a hair bigger than 1/10".

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
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    3mm is .118" compared 1/10 .100"

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicholas Lingg View Post
    3mm is .118" compared 1/10 .100"
    Hi again, Nick.
    Maybe I'm having a bad day, but I think that's what Jim said, isn't it? Just a hair over 1/10th?

    Regards,
    Fred

  6. #6
    Let me ask - what do you use a 1/10" chisel for in plane making? I've made some planes but haven't seen a need for a 1/10" chisel. But maybe I missed something important.

    Or maybe it's for making some special type of plane.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  7. #7
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    Hi, I believe that LN still sells a 1/10-inch mortise chisel specifically for plane making. Larry Williams of Clark and Williams (I forget what their name is now) talked them into making them. Occasionally I make small frames and so I bought one. It comes in handy sometimes.

    David C.

  8. #8
    A 1/10 mortise chisel is desirable if you are making side escapement planes (e.g. moulding planes) with the thin, 18th c.-style irons sold by Lie-Nielsen. After you saw the escapement, you reach through the mouth to chip out the waste. The LN irons are 1/8" at the thick end, so you need something smaller to reach through the initial mouth opening without fouling it up.

    Most of the 19th c.-style moulding irons that you find in the secondhand market are more like 5/32" thick. If you're using a vintage iron like this, you don't need the special chisel--a 1/8" will work.

    If I were looking for a chisel to grind down, I don't think the Irwins would be my choice. I would look for a secondhand chisel.

    Another option is to make a chisel out of an old (tailed) jointer knife. I had some old 3/32" knives and made several good user tools, including the mortise chisel below.

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    "For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert

  9. #9
    While an old thread, I thought I would pass along: Two Cherries makes a 2mm chisel that can serve in the stead of an LN if they aren't available (they haven't had some in their store for a while now): (Tools For Working Wood: https://toolsforworkingwood.com/stor...two%20cherries) also can be found a number of other locations, Rockler has them as well, I just tossed the link for TFWW because I like the availability of tools here in the states that one can't get easily otherwise, like the Ashley Isles lines (which there isn't a 1/10 or 2MM equiv that I am aware of)

  10. #10
    Quite a few years ago, I got a 2.5mm Hirsch chisel from Lee Valley. It was special order.

    That's very close to 1/10 since there are 25.4mm in an inch. About 0.0984"

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  11. #11
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    While this old thread is bumped anyway, I do have the 1/10 LN mortise chisel and I like it. I keep it wrapped up in factory packaging, in the factory box, in a drawer with other stuff on top of the box - so the tool stays in like new condition between uses. Every once in a while I get into a bind, ( like when I needed to plow a groove in the edge of board that was already nailed onto the back of a carcass).

    The 1/10 is in my head scratching drawer, the drawer of tools I open when I I am scratching my head trying to figure out how to fix whatever problem.

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