Aldi Chisels better than Premium ones????????????????????????????????????

[section1]

https://paulsellers.com/2014/10/aldi...#comment-16165

Have a read of this.

[chook]

https://paulsellers.com/2014/10/aldi...#comment-16165

Have a read of this.

They are not better than premium chisels but they are pretty good. I have some of these Aldi chisels and I have some Narex and I also have used some LN and Stanley chisels. The Aldi chisels will hold a razor edge for sure. Once a chisel is found to hold an edge for a respectable period of time then the ease of sharpening becomes very important.

They are really cheap. The only issue I have is that the sides are a bit fat for really skinny dovetails. The Narex are narrower and hence better. The LN are narrowest of all. The Aldi chisels are good value and are better chisels than I had in my workshop for many years. Anyone who needed chisels and did not have a lot of money would be glad to buy them. When you can buy 4 good chisels for less than $13 you have to wonder why you would not.

[section1]

Amazing that cheap work zone chisels can be that good.

[Robson Valley]

Premium - schremium. The steel quality/composition and the metallurgical skill to do the proper
heat treatment trumps brand name ever time.

The Narex people have that figured out. Anyone else is trying to buy an entry into the market.
Good. Get in there, quick before they figure out how to dumb it down.

I am a real sucker for pairs of skew chisels, I grind them all back to 20 degrees for wood carving.
The so-called "razor edge" is not a "carving sharp" edge.
It's a concept, not black magic, that took me a long time to claim
that I am competent.
Eastern European steel? I'll jump at the chance to buy.
Why? I'll revise the edges and make the carving tools of my choice.

[Pearo]

I guess its like anything tools, if the steel is good then the tool is going to be good. I cant lay claim to much fine woodworking stuff, but if you are like me most stock tools are ground and reshaped to your preference anyway. If the aldi chisels are made from decent steel that is comparable to a premium chisel, then IMO they would be just as good.

[derekcohen]

There is more to a good chisel than simply the ability to hold an edge.

For someone who just wants a cheap chisel and does not care about the rest, then anything can and will do.

A good chisel should be easy to sharpen. In the best chisels, this does not compromise edge-holding.

It needs to be comfortable to hold. Is the handle ergonomic? Does it offer control?

It needs to do the job for which it is intended. For dovetails it will need fine lands. For chopping the steel needs to have decent impact resistance. There is a difference between O1, A2 and PM steels.

How well finished is the chisel? Are the edges rough, the back flat/coplanar, and how much has been smoothed and ready for honing?

Everything is a compromise. Cost vs finish vs design vs materials. Companies like LN and LV provide tools that are value for money for the quality on offer. There are few free lunches. Paul Sellers has a schick - it is being the champion of cheap. That is good to a point - everyone wants a bargain. But cheap is not necessary good. Still, if you are willing to take something that has decent bones, it may be possible to modify it into a tool that is a pleasure to use.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Doggie]

[QUOTE=derekcohen;1815845]There is more to a good chisel than simply the ability to hold an edge. For someone who just wants a cheap chisel and does not care about the rest, then anything can and will do./QUOTE]

Not Aldi. Not new. Not premium. Not expensive. Not readily available. Not to be used. Not to be argued about. Not to sell. But all the same, not bad hey!!

Full set 136.jpg

Yes people, Doggie has another full set. True. Yes. Indeedo. Rejoice with him for he is a Titan Godlet. I'm having a third person day today

[chook]

Compromise? Yep everything is a compromise. Woodworking can be an expensive hobby. I suppose every woodie would like the latest toys from Veritas or LN but that is out of the question for some people. Young men or women on single or low incomes just do not have the choice. Many years ago when I first started out I had almost no tools and even less spare cash. I had a young family and a big mortgage. Money for tools was just not there. I would have been very glad of something like these Aldi chisels then.

The woodie of today has a much better range of choice. The cost of even good quality tools is lower and the internet puts it all in the hands of anyone who takes the time to look.

[derekcohen]

Compromise? Yep everything is a compromise. Woodworking can be an expensive hobby. I suppose every woodie would like the latest toys from Veritas or LN but that is out of the question for some people. Young men or women on single or low incomes just do not have the choice. Many years ago when I first started out I had almost no tools and even less spare cash. I had a young family and a big mortgage. Money for tools was just not there. I would have been very glad of something like these Aldi chisels then.

The woodie of today has a much better range of choice. The cost of even good quality tools is lower and the internet puts it all in the hands of anyone who takes the time to look.

Hi Chook

I have taken beater chisels and built something I really appreciate and enjoy around them. My comments above were aimed at encouraging others to do the same. If the Aldo chisels have decent steel, one could do something with them that might similarly turn our special. What I want to emphasise is that they are not my idea of a useful bench chisel as they stand: horrible handles and lands that you could land a Zeppelin on!

Here is an example. Re-modelled Stanley 750 chisels (ground sides into fine lands for dovetailing, flattened backs, new handles) ...



Here's a cheap (black handle) Stanley that was similarly treated (and heat treated) ..





Regards from Perth

Derek

[chook]

Derek how did you grind the lands. As soon as I got them sharp, doing something about the sides occurred to me also. I wonder why companies make chisels with the sides so thick? Is it cheaper, easier or do they not understand?

[IanW]

..... I wonder why companies make chisels with the sides so thick? Is it cheaper, easier or do they not understand?...

Cheaper, and also sturdier, Chook. I'd think the vast majority of people who buy these chisels neither notice nor care what the lands are like, and given that most chisels spend their entire working lives with not-so-sharp business ends, sturdiness is probably a very desirable property to have! There may be lots of us reading this section of the Forum who use chisels for dovetailing and fine work, but let's be realistic, we represent a pretty small minority, in the scheme of things. The vast majority of chisels out there in Shedland are never going to encounter a dovetail...

If you do a reasonable amount of dovetailing, a good set of chisels dedicated to the job is a boon, but if you don't, then the thickness of the lands is immaterial to a large extent. Horses for courses, as always - thick blades are heavy, to poinbt out the blindingly obvious. If you want a tool for delicate work, it's nice to have one that suits your hand & work style, & a light, delicate blade may be just what you want. Heaviness of itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, 'balance' is more important, imo, & that can be adjusted quite a bit by fitting heavier or lighter handles. Although we often talk about 'balance', it's a bit of a nebulous concept for chisels (& saws), because it is largely personal judgement & also depends on how you hold the tool & what, exactly, you are doing with it. My hefty firmers feel just right when I'm bashing them into a large hole in a chunk of Bluegum, but are not the first tool I'd reach for to do a bit of delicate paring (though occasionally I do use them for a quick paring job, if they are lying on the bench, freshly sharp, & I'm feeling too lazy to take the 4 steps to the tool cupboard for the 'right' one! )

I'm all for making & modifying your own tools, and chisels are a great candidate for getting the 'personalised' treatment. Heat-treating as Derek has done with his Stanleys should be approached with caution, though. My own experience of heat-treating chisels or steel used for making chisels has been very mixed. I suspect it's the particular alloys I've tried it with, as well as incompetence, but I seem to end up with my steel either too hard or too soft, both of which are undesirable, of course. Some day, I'm determined to get it sorted out, but there's a few other jobs to do, first, so in the meantime, I stick with steel that has been hardened & tempered by someone who knew what they were about. Makes for a bit more work (& care) if any extensive shaping is required, but gives me a more reliable end-product!

Cheers,

[chook]

My main chisels are Narex and they are adequately narrow on the sides for the dovetails I cut. The Aldi chisels are variable. The smaller ones are very narrow on the sides;the wider ones are like roads. There are so many things I would like to try that I suspect heat treating steel will end up as one of the many things I will not get around to for a long time. I retire in a few years and maybe then I will have more time. But I will play around with the grinder and some files and see if I can do something with the shape of the Aldi chisels.

[Pearo]

Here is the Paul Sellars vid on preparing the aldi chisels:

[IanW]

Here is the Paul Sellars vid on preparing the aldi chisels:

Another paper "flattener"!!! It curdles my blood to see the way the paper lifts up ahead of the chisel on every stroke he makes. That, plus his side-to-side action will ensure a lovely rounding of the back. I would bet a few good dollars that the "hollow" he shows as a 'good thing' is partly an illusion (de-lusion?) created by cutting away more of the edges. I tend to Like Sellars' no-nonsense approach as a rule, but his back-flattening method is definitely not one I would advocate.

OK, whatever works for you, works. For many applications it doesn't matter if there is a slight curve on the back of an edge tool, as long as the edge is sharp, it's even desirable on some tools (carving tools for e.g.), but in my hands, there are a few tools like paring, mortise & dovetail chisels & the backs of plane irons (especially where they contact the last bit of the frog) that do their jobs far better when truly flat. I find that difficult enough to achieve with solid sharpening media, and impossible with paper....

Cheers,

[Pearo]

Another paper "flattener"!!! It curdles my blood to see the way the paper lifts up ahead of the chisel on every stroke he makes. That, plus his side-to-side action will ensure a lovely rounding of the back. I would bet a few good dollars that the "hollow" he shows as a 'good thing' is partly an illusion (de-lusion?) created by cutting away more of the edges. I tend to Like Sellars' no-nonsense approach as a rule, but his back-flattening method is definitely not one I would advocate.

OK, whatever works for you, works. For many applications it doesn't matter if there is a slight curve on the back of an edge tool, as long as the edge is sharp, it's even desirable on some tools (carving tools for e.g.), but in my hands, there are a few tools like paring, mortise & dovetail chisels & the backs of plane irons (especially where they contact the last bit of the frog) that do their jobs far better when truly flat. I find that difficult enough to achieve with solid sharpening media, and impossible with paper....

Cheers,

The reason I posted that vid, was to show he is not claiming that aldi chisels are better than premium chisels (although he hints the steel may be better than some). He says they are a good chisel that will last you a lifetime and suggest they are a good buy if you cant afford expensive chisels.

Regarding his sandpaper sharpening method, nothing wrong with that. Once again though, he shows it as a suggestion as a cheap way to sharpen a chisel as opposed to expensive diamond stones. This is great stuff for kids who want to enter the woodworking world and cant afford the million dollar stuff.