3mm Bevel Edged Chisel - Really?

[JonnyW]

I thought I'd put this question to the forum members, just out of interest really.

I recently bought a set of 11 Ashley Iles bevel edged chisels (I wanted a really nice set of ferule handled chisels) - I'm not going to do a tool review because I'm not worthy, nor am I going to apologise or explain myself to the 'buy them when you need them' woodworkers, but all I can say is they are absolutely fantastic and unlike my Lie Nielsen chisels, removed several parts of my fingers whilst taking the protective wax/plastic off their ends!

The point of this post - if there is a point - is the 3mm chisel. I assume it is in demand or why would they keep making them, but I would like to know what you guys use the 3mm chisel/spike for? or what work have you used them for in the past?. I bet you after posting this, I'll need it at the weekend!

After buying one a month a long while ago, I currently own 9 of the Lie Nielsen bevel edged socket chisels - ok I wanted them and they are, like all of LN tools, something so beautiful I'd easily place them in a cabinet in my livingroom. My 'get the whole set' obsessive nature (see my lack of apology above), has me fighting a personal battle - should I stump up the £53 for the 3.2mm chisel I will probably never use!.

At this point I'll have to admit to you guys that some chisels in both sets have yet to be used. And I say in defence of that - "yeh but I have the whole set!" :lol:

Regards

Jonny

 

[AndyT]

This thread covered the ground quite well - https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/teensy-chisel-t90347.html.

The main uses are for tiny or very slender dovetails or for inlay work.

 

[Adam9453]

I bought two 3mm ashley lies chisels at the recent european woodworking show which i'm going to re-grind to make a pair of handed slender skew dovetail chisels.
They'll be for clearer out the tiniest of corners of dovetails.
Have to say I was so impressed by the two I bought at the show, I immediately ordered a 19mm one after I tested the 3mm ones.
Beautifully sharp and lovely in the hand.

 

[Beau]

Reguly use a 3mm chisel for cleaning out narrow rebates. For fitting the bottom of boxes I use a stopped rebate which I cut with wing cutter in the router but the ends have a radius so 3mm chisel to the rescue.

 

[JonnyW]

I'll read the thread Andy thanks.

Thanks for the reply guys - very interesting.

Jonny

 

[JonnyW]

Just read the thread Andy. Yep you're right, it covers the ground very well.

I understand the need for a chisel that size now. My dovetails are yet to enter the world of 'small, tight or intricate!' - the dovetails shown in the pictures are truly works of art.

Inspired.

Jonny

 

[Jacob]

.... should I stump up the £53 for the 3.2mm chisel I will probably never use....

There's nothing that chisel will do which can't be done by something else a fraction of the price. So if you are into ornamental tools then buy it - if into woodwork buy wood.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Got a 1/8" one recently (3.1-ish mm), secondhand, but looking almost new from Bristol Design. Found lots of situations already when it's been really useful:

It's by "Storm", boxwood handle (I think) and bevelled. It's very deep, more like a mortice chisel in section, lengthways. It is a fiddle to sharpen (it's very sharp, but not very square, presently).

IIRC, it was about 12 quid, possibly slightly more.

E.

 

[JonnyW]

Nice one Eric, thanks for that. Lovely looking thing!

Jonny

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

Yep, I even have and use a 1/16 in chisel. If there is a gap that small that needs wood to be removed, then it will get used. You could argue that you should design to make life easier, and not make small joints; I suppose this is logical, but then you should design what you want, then get the right tool. I can't see what tool other than a chisel that will do the work, though the right chisel should not have to cost 50 odd pounds.

Mike.

 

[bugbear]

It's by "Storm".

"Stormont", I suspect, going by the names of known tool makers, and the grind mark after "storm".

"Storm" would be cooler though.

BugBear

 

[JohnPW]

Got a 1/8" one recently (3.1-ish mm), secondhand, but looking almost new from Bristol Design. Found lots of situations already when it's been really useful:
View attachment 1
It's by "Storm", boxwood handle (I think) and bevelled. It's very deep, more like a mortice chisel in section, lengthways. It is a fiddle to sharpen (it's very sharp, but not very square, presently).

IIRC, it was about 12 quid, possibly slightly more.

E.

My guess is it's a Stormont.

 

[D_W]

A chisel that size is handy for plane making, but even more so if it's one of the older tools that has a strong vertical cross section as the old narrow chisels did.

I've got chisels that spec around 1/10th inch (they are old socket chisels and not made to a precise size), and a japanese chisel that's 1 1/2mm (admittedly, I haven't used the latter, but it was $15). As I'm further along now, if I needed something set up like a chisel that was that thin, I'd just grind part of a saw plate or harden a short piece of .08 tool steel and stuff it in a small handle.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks BB and JohnPW - I'm not clued-up on hand tool makers, as you can tell ;-)

 

[JonnyW]

Christ I love this forum! I have absolutely no idea why I never joined years ago.

Thanks guys for the very interesting replies - and I mean that. An education.

I'm an absolute tool geek. I buy them because I absolutely love them. I would love to tell you that I use every last one of them regularly, and that I know exactly what they are for - but I don't. Sometimes just the having them is enough! Very twisted logic, buts that's addiction for you!

Thanks guys again.

Jonny

 

[Jacob]

..... It's very deep, more like a mortice chisel in section, lengthways. It is a fiddle to sharpen (it's very sharp, but not very square, presently).....

Narrow chisels are much easier to sharpen if you draw them towards you across the oil stone rather than pushing them away. For some reason it's easier to keep them square and of course they don't dig in. So you pull it towards you starting at about 25º and raising it to 30 as you go.

 

[Kalimna]

Johnny - Given that you're a self-confessed tool geek, I urge you to stay well away from Blue Spruce Toolworks (chisels), Webzloff Saws, Sauer and Steiner (infill planes), Philly Planes (wooden planes). There are others, but that's a reasonable start for places to avoid

Cheers,
Adam

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Must admit I find I use small chisels quite a bit, both 1/8" and 1/16". The 1/8" is such an easy chisel to push when paring that you can control it nicely, perhaps using a wider chisel to take off the last shaving and even up any raggedness to the cut.

Another use (which I learned on this forum, courtesy of David Charlesworth) is the clearing of the last bit in the corners of a half-lap dovetail (half-blind in some parts of the world). True that it undercuts a bit, but since it's only very narrow, the undercut is negligable. Of course the real tool geek would have on hand both an 1/8" AND a pair of skew chisels, just so that all the bases were covered....

Another sharpening tip - use the edge of the stone to sharpen narrow chisels. A groove or two on the edges hardly matters, but it would on the face. It does take a long time for such grooves to develop, though, because there's so little to come off narrow chisels to sharpen them that it doesn't take very long at all. Indeed, you have to be a bit careful not to take too much off.

 

[bugbear]

Another sharpening tip - use the edge of the stone to sharpen narrow chisels. A groove or two on the edges hardly matters, but it would on the face.

I just used a washita and an arkansas - too hard even for a narrow chisel to make a groove. Easy!

(but yeah - they'd cut into some fine stones e.g. slate really easily)

BugBear

 

[JonnyW]

Thank you for the advice Adam, much appreciated. I have been tempted by the Blue Spruce chisels I must admit, just to buy one to see if the tool and quality, could in any way justify the price.

Thanks guys.

Jonny