Many thanks for the info.

I have just checked their website and it says that the chisels will be available on Sunday 4th November.

I just saw them already in the bins here in Belgium. So if anyone else is in Belgium, now’s the time.
As an aside, does anybody know if they’re actually manufactured by the same company that makes the Aldi sets?

I wonder if Paul has tried new series of Lidl chisels. I started woodworking about two months ago. I was really excited to get the pack of Lidl chisels when they came out because of Paul’s appraisal. But I must say I am a little bit disappointed. Let aside the fact that some of them don’t sit right in the handle, or that side bevels are not the same size etc… But what was particularly bad is that I can’t seem to flatten the underside of the chisel. There always seem to be a patch around the blade where the sand paper doesn’t reach. I have spent three hours trying to initialise two chisels. And what did I get, well… with the bevel down it cuts beautifully, but with the bevel up, not nearly as good, which makes me believe it is because the underside isn’t flat enough. But it seems impossible to get polished until the edge of the blade. I also did a test on the light with a straight edge and it seems like there is a general hollow through the length of the blade, but it seems as if there is a tiny belly just at the edge.
Like I said, I am new and I don’t have experience, so I wonder, am I doing something wrong, or is it the new series of Lidl chisels. Yes they are innexpensive, but if it is going to take me 8 hours to get them ready, it would actually make more sense to get Ashley Isles instead and spare myself the frustration.

Yes, I agree, but what I am saying is, I cannot flatten the back on one for two hours on 80 sand paper, with frequent paper changes. What I am thinking is, that if I was working for those two hours, I would have made £25 for an Ashley Isles chisel. And I doubt that it is me, because I did manage to flatten the back on Irwin Marples chisel.

Ed,

I am sharpening on a thick glass table, with a couple of clamps

Any pics of the chisel back and maybe against a straight edge? Maybe some one will see something, another set of eyes never hurts

I have purchased in the past a set of Lidl chisels for my workshop (the set with the hornbeam handles) and they proved to be great tools after some work on the handle and of course proper sharpening.

On 4th of November I purchased another set (with the intention to transform them a bit, sharpen them and give them as a gift to a friend in a wooden box). Today I have found some workshop time and I have opened the chisel package.

What a great disappointment!

Whatever made in the past those chisels a good value for money, it’s not present any more.

There is always the possibility that I’ve got a bad sample, but with so many faults I’ve found I doubt it.

Starting with the handles (made of beech), they look and feel horrible. The shaping is very crude (you may see the marks in the photos) and the varnish? is not uniformly applied leaving some bare spots and flaking in places.

Regarding the blades, the side bevels are not the same size on any of the chisels and they have scratches and other marks. On the two smaller chisels there was an attempt to polish out the machine marks without great success. On the two larger chisels the blade is not even centred at the handle (especially on the 24mm one).

The only common thing with my current set of chisels is the makers me, and even this is badly printed on the new ones (you may see the old and new chisels side by side in the photos).

Of course I will return them for a refund, but it’s sad to see such sacrifice of the quality in favour of profit to the point that the product is utterly useless.