Avatar Of Mike In TnMike in TN
Participant
Post count: 301

Worth It?

First, if money is not an issue and these are what you want then go for it.

The idea of a particular tool being “worth it” is highly personal. I have WAY too many chisels, some cheap beaters, Ashley Iles, some Japanese chisels, Stanleys, a Lee Valley set with plastic handles, some old Buck Brothers, a couple sets of Narex, some WoodRiver, a set of Berg Bahco and my latest being some of the WorkZone chisels from Aldi. I normally have at least two sets of some type at the bench and the rest are nearby. My selection for any given task is dependent upon all of the common factors.

Chisels are pretty basic tools, just a sharp (hopefully) piece of metal with some sort of handle and pretty much everything else (length, thickness, handle attachment type, handle type, shape, and material, balance, relief on the sides, hardness, etc.) is driven by  suitability to the task and the preference of the user.

I am sure that the Veritas chisels are good tools but I don’t think that simple edge retention is going to drive me to selecting a particular brand. I haven’t tried them out (anyone that wants to is welcome to send me a free set) but nearly all of my tools keep their edges well enough to keep me happy between sharpening and seem to give me good service at the bench. Considering that all of my Narex chisels and three or four sets of the WorkZone chisels together sill wouldn’t cost me as much as just a couple of the PM-V11  chisels, I don’t think it would be worth it for me.  I will just sharpen my chisels a little more often and save the cash for something else I want but don’t really need.

In case anyone is interested, I bought one set of the Aldi chisels after seeing Paul Sellers’ video. I sharpened them up and tried them out on some hardwood scraps for a couple of hours. I was so impressed with them I bought nine more sets as extras and gifts to friends and relatives. They were consistently as good, IMHO, as my Narex chisels and only cost me about $7.50 per set of four.