Chisels from Aldi Return 23rd January -UK Only

For more information on chisels, see our beginner site Common Woodworking.

DSC_0051 DSC_0053 As regular as clockwork, about twice a year, Aldi stocks their shelves with chisels and when they sell out they are gone. Sometimes they last for a week and other times they are gone the same day. Sorry for everyone elsewhere in the world, I try to  keep everyone happy, but this is for UK stores only as far as I know.  Tomorrow, 23 January 2014, the four-chisel sets return to the Aldi supermarket chain bins and usually they are around for a few days, but since we blogged on them they usually go pretty quickly.  I have used the sets at the student benches for four year, going on five now, and they have proved excellent chisels. They are not pretty, but I like the balance and I use them alongside my own. I have no hesitation to pick them up and use them on any of my work and indeed we use chisel hammers and mallets on them all day long and they have never, broken or bent and the handles have never split.

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Over the years I have used them, these bevel-edged chisels take and hold a good edge. I have found that the edge lasts for a long time used on any wood so I was and am surprised that Aldi have kept the price the same for five years running at £7.99 for a set of four. Size are practical and pretty standard at 8mm, 13mm, 18mm and 24mm. The handles are single-piece Ash with a chromed metal ferrule that works but I don’t really care for. But they are very comfortable in the hand and the fat indents are pleasing to the hand too. They are finished as well as any mass-made chisel which means they could be more finely ground so they are on a par with the Irwin, Bahco, Footprint makers. Last year I filed and polished out a couple of chisels in about twenty minutes and they felt really nice. I removed the varnish from the handle, scraped and polished them and gave a couple of coats of boiled linseed oil and they felt very good to use.
I am sure you will have to flatten out the large flat face and we show you all of that on our YouTube video on an Aldi chisel here:

So, don’t necessarily see these chisels as low grade and second rate. If you need a good set of lifetime chisels, a second set, or a set for the kids and grand kids, these chisels work well, no matter how you slice it!

 

16 Comments

  1. For eight quid you can’t go wrong. Probably not the same quality as my set of Veritas PM-V11 chisels but at that price who cares!

    1. I asked about these German chisels from Aldi from a very well known authority on heavenly tools – apparently these chisels, which look very like MHG……although the sizes are different – are made by the same Messerschmitt (Yes, it means knifesmith – never knew that!) Perhaps that’s why they ARE so good! Lidl do them too – why not ask when they’ll be out again…£7:99 -! That’s Yorkshire economics – that!

  2. I got hold of a set of these last time Paul blogged about them. I was curious to see if they could be that good – it does sound like a deal that’s too good to be true. I’ve been really pleased with my Chisels and they are now my ‘go to’ set that live in a wooden box on my workbench.

  3. I checked the last time you blogged about these chisels and they are not available at Aldi in the U.S. – too bad.

  4. I got one set in Portugal! It costed 7,99€
    I’m very happy with this recomendation!

  5. Dear Paul sellers and everyone who follows you on this amazing channel. Thanks for this super tips and the most usefull instrutionvideo, the cislers kan purchased at Aldi in Germany, and I was lucky to see buy them in Lidl, I dont know how international they are, it a Germanic chain. They cost 60 Danisk crowns, its about £ 6.5. With help from the vieoen, I have been able to develop them into great tools. I was so unlucky that they rolled down my workbench, so I sanded a flat edge at the bottom of the shaft. Now they are lying where I put them.

    1. It does seem that the chisels are available in mainland Europe as someone else said they acquired them in Portugal already too.

  6. I cycled up to Aldi this morning and bought a set. Looking at them they do look quite similar to the Two Cherries chisels, I guess they were based on that design?

    One question for Paul. In the Youtube video you used wet & dry, do you always flatten the backs that way or do you use your diamond plates?

  7. Paul, I got my set today and at the weekend I will give them a sharpen and work out- let you know what I think, looking at them they seem to be of good quality.

  8. Unfortunately, in Belgium, the Aldi are branches of Aldi Nord which have another assortment then Aldi Süd. I would have to go to Aachen near the German board to find an Aldi Süd.
    It would be a 2 X 2hours train journey.

    Sylvain

    1. Sorry about that Sylvain. I think every country that has an Aldi should petition the store’s buying department to put them in their stores. These are not second rate chisels. In an hour you can add your own labour to them and the out come is a first rate chisel that feels great and better than that even, a chisel that works. I have even thought of buying two sets and making 8mm chisels from 12mm and other sizes too.

    1. I have and they seem to me to be the same. John is testing his set out now and we will let you know if quality has be retained. I have felt they are the same so far.
      Also, well done with the sleuth work there, I am impressed!!

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