Jerry_in_SD Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I bought some Stanley Sweetheart socket chisels recently and discovered that the 1/2" is actually shy by a 32nd. I'm ok with this as allows a little room when chopping 1/2" mortises. I noticed the others in the set were spot on. Was this a defect or a feature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raefco Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I just read a article about this, they were suggesting you buy japanese or metric chisels so you could get them slightly under sized as to not over cut, so if this is the case the one must be a little under sized. I was thinking if it became an issue you could just "rub them down" a bit your self rather than going to the time, trouble and expense of getting metric ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 It was probably made as a 12mm chisel in the first place, just a bit over 15/32 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Wilkins Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Adam Cherebuni talks about 'bare' chisels that are slightly under size as being useful. It was the same blog article he talked about metric size chisels and what he thought should be the real basic set of four chisels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 I just read a article about this, they were suggesting you buy japanese or metric chisels so you could get them slightly under sized as to not over cut, so if this is the case the one must be a little under sized. I was thinking if it became an issue you could just "rub them down" a bit your self rather than going to the time, trouble and expense of getting metric ones. Depends on what you are buying and where. Amazon has metric Narex very inexpensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanis Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Yes, I agree Arminius, it is probably 12 mm. 1/2" is 13.8 mm but 15/32 is 11.9 mm. I have found in the past that occasionally metric is incorrectly labeled as imperial and visa versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weithman5 Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 why would not a 1/2 inch chisel be 12.7 mm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 why would not a 1/2 inch chisel be 12.7 mm? 'Made in England with global components' means that somewhere in Sheffield a handle was put on a 12mm metal piece likely fabricated in China, definitely using metric tooling, to meet a delivery contract with tolerances that allow for a discrepancy that size, and then marketed as a 1/2 inch. When Narex wanted to meet Lee Valley's demand for true inch-sizes, it took quite a bit of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 ... 1/2" is 13.8 mm... 1/2" is 12.7 mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_in_SD Posted January 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Since all the others are spot on, I'll bet they did mix up and put a 12mm. Not a big deal and probably for the better for the reasons stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cochese Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 All my Narex are metric, but I don't really see that as a drawback. I just pick the best one that fits and carry on. As for the topic at hand, I remember this coming up once before on another forum. I don't remember the brand, but the assumption there was that it wasn't worth the added tooling cost to make another chisel nearly identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 Welcome to the global economy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanis Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 1/2" is 12.7 mm Of course it is. (Brain freeze!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 'Made in England with global components' means that somewhere in Sheffield a handle was put on a 12mm metal piece likely fabricated in China, definitely using metric tooling, to meet a delivery contract with tolerances that allow for a discrepancy that size, and then marketed as a 1/2 inch. When Narex wanted to meet Lee Valley's demand for true inch-sizes, it took quite a bit of work. It doesn't matter what the measure to, but what tollerances they hold. If the measurement is +-.1mm that is very much the same as a +-.004" Yes there is a slight discrepency between that but the unit of measure doesn't change the object being measured. Now tooling for 12.7mm instead of 12mm might be a non trivial cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arminius Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 It doesn't matter what the measure to, but what tollerances they hold. If the measurement is +-.1mm that is very much the same as a +-.004" Yes there is a slight discrepency between that but the unit of measure doesn't change the object being measured. Now tooling for 12.7mm instead of 12mm might be a non trivial cost. That was exactly my point, the tooling was likely 12mm, and the tolerances allowed in the contract mean that that is close enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 I would seek out the lawyer that won the 5 dollar foot long case based on 11.5" submarine sold to that poor fella at Subway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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