Lidl has chisels in today

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

Lidl here in the UK has four-chisel sets  in their stores today for £7. These are the same ones that Aldi carries made by the same maker but carrying Lidl’s brand name. They are good lifetime chisels and they have proven to be excellent chisels each year they have offered them. We don’t do this kind of thing very often but feel many can benefit from this.

44 Comments

  1. I finally found an Aldi’s in the Orlando area that offered these, should have bought ( 2 ) sets and they seem decent although i haven’t been able to use them much.

    Steve

  2. Thanks for the heads up. I bought two sets this evening and immediately sharpened one of the 25mm chisels. It really is quite good. Up to now, I have been struggling with a set from a supposedly reputable supplier but I have not been able to get them to take or hold an edge. The Lidl set is so much easier and a joy to use as well as being much cheaper. I am now convinced that my problem has been bad chisels, not my technique, and am resolved to return them as not fit for purpose.

  3. Well I would love to have a set but cannot find them here in my neck of the woods. If someone in the UK could purchase a set for me I would pay for them and the shipping to usa.

  4. I managed to purchase a set at an Aldi store in Massachusetts several months ago. They are in metric not imperial but look very nice for the $7.00 US I paid for them. I haven’t tried to sharpen them yet.

  5. @Kevin Wilkinson Where in Mass did you see an Aldi’s? I never heard of them.
    I live in Lowell,MA.

  6. I happen to have a set of the Aldis. VERY nice chisels. hold an edge well. Have also found an oil by 3in1, for use in air powered tools, that works very nicely as a hining oil. I have Stanleys, some Witherbys, and some by PS&W…..seem to grab the Aldis one first, even for dovetails. My set was $6-95 + sales tax. Not a bad deal at all.

  7. I think I paid about AU $6 for these great chisels a few years ago. I also have a LN which I paid more than ten times that for the smallest 1/8. One chisel! And the back wasn’t flat. Took me a long time to flatten then re polish. Was a waste of time because I never use it. Takes too long to sharpen and seems to never be as sharp as the ALDI. If you like to have a nice looking chisel then go for LN. If you want a true performer go for ALDI and save your money and time. That’s my honest opinion. Was so disappointed with LN after this. I’ll never fork out the cash for their products again. If only ALDI made a 3mm would have saved me the heartache.

  8. The Aldi chisels sharpen and work well, but don’t condemn the LieNielsen chisels based on the 1/8 inch chisel-these are by nature as thick as they are wide, and manufacturing of these very narrow chisels is actually more problematic than wider ones-and I suspect the defect rate with these very narrow chisels is higher. I also have Ashley Iles and Sorby chisels which I like very much. But I have also used Lie Nielsen chisels for dovetailing and paring and they are also great chisels.

    1. Well I’m in deep south Louisiana. until today I had not ever heard of Aldi in the US or UK. Do they have a online store? I have been searching on Google.

    2. Ok If someone in the USA could or can find these Aldi please buy them for me and I will gladly pay you back plus the shipping and would kick in a few for your trouble! Gas etc. if not to expensive that is.

  9. Well if you’re paying that much for a chisel you don’t expect to have to work on it for hours just to get it flat. They are supposed to have quality control for their own manufacturing, it’s not my problem it’s theirs. If you ask me this chisel should never have gone out their door. I’d expect it with something being made in China. I won’t buy them again. Or any other of their over priced products. Not unless they can guarantee quality. Which by the sounds of things they can’t, not with the small sizes anyway. I heard they were considering stopping making the 1/8th, maybe because of this problem. Still for the price paid the quality control shouldn’t let them out the door, end of story. If there is a problem with them then they should sell them at a discounted rate, then I wouldn’t have minded the extra work to make it usable.
    I paid AU$70 and had to wait in line for over 30mins just to pay for it, the payment system they have at the shows here in Aus is very slow and drastically needs improvement as well, it’s been that way for years now. no offence to the guys working there, they are just trying to do their job, must be frustrating for them and they probably loose sales because of it.

  10. Hi John, if no American or English friend can help you I could buy a set of Lidl chisels that are now available in Italy. But I’m not sure about the cost of shipment to USA and if it’s convenient to you.
    Bye
    Giorgio

  11. I think they should be available in most Lidl stores in Europe.
    As I have just came back from the US and they are available here in Romania as well.
    They are available here since Thursday ( yesterday) .
    Will buy a few sets for sure.

  12. I hope they come back to the US (Maryland)! I didn’t want to hoard and so only purchased one set when they were here last, but now need a second set to give to my daughter. They aren’t listed in the local Aldi ads. Are those seeing them in the US also seeing them listed, or are they just in the stores anyway?

  13. LN is great at fixing their quality problems when their customers find them. You could send the chisel back and get a replacement. I’ve never had any problems sending back tools to them if I needed to (once I had a spokeshave I swear I’d use… then didn’t for a few months. Returned with no problems!). Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with your 1/8″ chisel, but I wouldn’t write them off entirely just yet!

  14. hi John just been in to lidl at home and they had 8 sets left i could find out the cost of shipping ,i think i would need your zip code probably,regards david

  15. I have the Aldi chisels from the US. The 8mm snapped about an inch off the first time I used it. Was mortising in Poplar, quite soft and It was the second hit, about an 1/8″ inch deep. Subsequent grinding and sharpening has just led to large chipping every time. I’m not abusing it by any means. It’s junk. The other 3 have been fine. So I’m saying it’s hit or miss on them. I might buy another set at the price point the next time they show up in the US hoping to get a good 8mm. Then again I might just say no thanks.

    1. This isn’t standard at all and I have seen it happen to most narrow chisels by reputable makers at some point and yet of the 30 sets I have used in six years this didn’t happen to these chisels so happy with them until it does. Also, these chisels have been used by 500 students who are not experienced craftsmen and women so that is a pretty good testimony I think.

  16. Paul,
    The Lidl chisels are slightly different from the Aldi ones. Their overall lengths are the same but the Lidl blades are slightly shorter, and with a thinner tang and more side bevel. Handles are hornbeam. Got a set last week (Ireland).
    Neil Carey

  17. Thanks very much for the tip Paul – I picked some up today. Noticed Japanese saws with replacement blade in there too…

  18. No chisels in Lidl Belgium, France, Netherland, Luxembourg or Germany this week.
    I live in Brussels, but crossing the channel for inexpensive chisels without any other reason is too much.
    Sylvain

  19. The Aldi chisels here in the US are great for the price, but comparing them (favorably) to Lie-Nielsen is overreaching. If anyone wants a set I have two, unopened, for sale.

      1. Not overreaching to share my experience with both sets of chisels on my workbench as a daily user. LN are nice to look at but if you want good efficient performance in woodworking I reach for my ALDI’s. Much faster to get that fine razor edge and back to work. I find the LN’s thick, hard to keep razor sharp. They loose that edge almost as quick if not quicker as the brittle edge breaks easily in Aussie hardwoods. Then you have to spend more time on the bevel to get the fine edge back and if you try to go finer at a lower angle it just makes it even less durable. Give me the ALDI anyday.
        I’m not a fan of the thick Pinnacle (Rob Cosman) plane iron I have either. For the same reasons. I can understand why people fork out cash for all this super hard metal when they don’t know any better. I think once they have more understanding of woodworking and experience with sharpening and actual use then they will understand more. But if you just love nicely made tools then go waste your money. I’d rather spend mine on timber and get to the end result faster with tools I enjoy using super sharp.

  20. I have bought 3 sets of the chisels this morning £6.99 each. there were 3 more sets left in Cardiff West.
    Paul I know you provide a charitable place or 2 on your foundation courses, I only need the smallest chisel from one of the sets and will donate the others in that set along with a steel backed spear and jackson tenon saw (basic beech handled mass produced one from the seventies) which you can give towards starting their tool set. Just PM me to arrange things.
    Thanks for all your free tips. I now have sharp chisels and restored my grandfather’s 4 1/2 Stanley plane to leave silky smooth surface and hair thin shavings
    Thanks again.

  21. None in Rawtenstall, but a load of sets in Clitheroe (and yes, I do have to type that just to give folks a chuckle) one of which is now in my possession.. Not tried Ramsbottom.

    Thanks for the head’s up Paul! Much appreciated.

  22. Not sure if it would be appropriate or secure to try to transact business in this context. A forum with a marketplace would be preferable.

  23. Not trying to conduct business just want to up-cycle tools to Paul as a thank you for his free knowledge base

    1. My comment was not directed to Edowain. Just say that this blog comments area is not a place where business could be conducted. I have some Aldi chisels to sell but would not want to put any personal information out. It would have to be in a forum where there is a personal message function.

    1. Bought my set 2 days ago in Portugal for 6.39€. They were 30% off and were the last set.
      In 2007 I bought a set of 4 chisels in a wooden box for 8€ in PLUS, a supermarket that closed years ago. They are very similar to these and take a very good edge, but the handles are smaller. I wonder if the manufacturer is the same.

      1. I was wondering are the Lidl chisels still the same? They have European beech wood handles. I dont know about the steel. It is written chrome vanadium on the steel. I havent seen any closer image on the steel from the previous chisels.

        1. I cannot say as I haven’t seen them but if they look the same I doubt that they would sell an inferior quality after so many years of selling such good ones. Beech also makes a good chisel handle. It seems you can hardly go wrong as they offer a 1-year, no-quibble guarantee or your money back so why the hesitation?

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