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Thread: Aldis chisels

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Medina Ohio
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    Aldis chisels

    Has anyone here bought the chisels from Aldis

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    Fairfax, VA
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    103
    I bought two sets last year, honed them up to try out. Haven't touch them since. They're overrated in performance but I guess the low price is right.
    That said, I went to the local Aldi's yesterday to find a set to compare to last year--maybe it's somehow "improved". Alas, the store didn't have any in stock.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
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    Kansas City
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    2,652
    They rotate their stuff in the stores seasonally so you never know when they'll be there. I bought a set last year and use them for rough work. They are a good value, but not a substitute for high quality chisels. But for me, they are OK.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, MI
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    1,523
    I have a couple sets that I use for rough tasks and operations that might damage one of my pride and joy Butchers. They seem to hold up OK in rough use.
    Your endgrain is like your bellybutton. Yes, I know you have it. No, I don't want to see it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    12,120
    Have two set...one more for chopping..the other is set up for paring. One set is almost 3 years old, the other is almost 2. Been in use since I bought them. A quick hone now and then, ready to go.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Putney, Vermont
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    The Aldis in my area had the chisels for sale yesterday. Picked up my second set to make some skew chisels like Mike did in the past.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
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    USA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Stanek View Post
    Has anyone here bought the chisels from Aldis
    Oh brother!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Longview WA
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    When they open a store in my area, maybe they will get a test drive.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    DuBois, PA
    Posts
    1,897
    Bought two sets yesterday. Opened one and flattened the backs (about an hour in total, had to use coarse DMT). Did not work the bevels. Took the largest (.940") and the next to narrowest (about .320) to my plant to check the hardhess. Widest chisel test at 57 HRc and the other at 54 HRc. Hardness was check on a computerized Rockwell hardness tester, calibrated just last week by outside vendor (I have two Rockwell testers).

    If you look at a Grizzly catalog, these chisels are identical to the Grizz Steelex brand, but at less than 1/4th the cost. The Aldi's are a bargain at $6.99/set, perfect for a tool box or roughing set. Two of the four have side lands that are thin enough to wiggle into tight dovetail clean-ups.
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by michael langman View Post
    The Aldis in my area had the chisels for sale yesterday. Picked up my second set to make some skew chisels like Mike did in the past.
    Could you expound on that ?
    I would like to make some skew chisels!
    Carpe Lignum

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Putney, Vermont
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    Hi Phil, I am going to take the chisel and cut the tip off at a 15degree angle for a right handed user with a Dremel and cutoff tool. Meaning the tip of the chisel will be leading in the upper left side of the tip. Then regrind the bevel back onto the tip . to follow the tip. I will keep the sharpened angle at about 22 degrees for paring.
    I will use these chisels for cleaning out corners in dovetails and mortices. On my nest set I buy I will make some left handed chisels to go with the right handed set.
    A fellow on the site Mike Brady, made a short video on how he did his chisels the same way.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    I am going to take the chisel and cut the tip off at a 15degree angle for a right handed user with a Dremel and cutoff tool. Meaning the tip of the chisel will be leading in the upper left side of the tip. Then regrind the bevel back onto the tip .
    You might find it easier to use your grinder with the blade held at an angle to the axis of the wheel to shape a new bevel than to cut the tip with a Dremel.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
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    Putney, Vermont
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    I may do that Jim. Appreciate the tip.

  14. #14
    I got a set and am not impressed.

    Knowing what I know now.... Skip them.

  15. RED ALERT!

    Just read a blurb from Paul Sellers that Aldi has changed their chisels, and not for the better. He reports that they may be okay for some roughing carpentry but not for finer work. They have plastic handles now, too.

    Here's a quote from Sellers blog:

    "My wooden handled Aldis are refined to a level I like and they have been truly well proven at my bench over the best part of a decade to date. There is nothing snobby or pretentious about them and I am hoping that Aldi will recant and restock periodically with them as in past years and not consider the ugly plastic handled versions above as a legitimate replacement for the better. Steel capped, they may work for some in the construction trades,but for the amateur they are far from appropriate. I say that without wishing to offend anyone. By that I mean some chisels will be used for hacking out pressed fibreboard and MDF mouldings amidst concrete and brick dust, places where I would not want my Marples chisels to be."

    See https://paulsellers.com/2018/09/whats-a-chisel-worth/
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

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