Definition
A narrow-bladed cold chisel with a cutting edge wider than the body of the tool, used to cut narrow grooves, slots, and keyways in metal, and to reach into recesses where a wider chisel will not fit.
Plain English
A small hand chisel with a slim cutting tip, made for cutting narrow slots or grooves in metal that a wider chisel can't reach into.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft maintenance, shop work, and metal repair tool lists, rather than in normal flight operations.
Derivation
Called a 'cape' chisel because its narrow blade resembles the shape of a short cape or shoulder cloth — wider at the cutting edge and tapering back into the shaft.
Why Pilots Care
A pilot who reads maintenance material may see this term in a tool list or repair description. Knowing it is a hand tool prevents confusing the instruction with an aircraft part or location.
Intuition Check
Do not read Cape Chisel as a place name or aircraft feature. Here it means a specific narrow metalworking chisel.
Example Sentence 1
The mechanic used a cape chisel to cut a narrow slot across the head of the seized bolt so it could be turned out with a screwdriver.
Example Sentence 2
Using the cape chisel, the technician carefully removed the damaged rivet head from the wing skin.