Tool Review - 'Netto' set/3 chisels in nice aluminium case

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BradNaylor

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Turning MDF into gold in a northern town
Lets get this straight - I don't use a lot of hand tools. I have a lovely set of Bahco chisels in the workshop bought for me by SWMBO as a birthday present a couple of years ago which I keep very nice and shiny (and sharp) by not using very much! My main need for chisels is when I'm out on a job fitting furniture and kitchens, hanging doors etc.

Which is where the Netto set comes in. I picked them up a month or so ago in one of their special offer weeks - I have no idea if they are still available but it is worth a look. They were (I think) £4.99 for a set of three.

The first thing you notice is the metal case they come in. This is a very cheap set of chisels made (no doubt) in China but the storage case is absolutely top notch! It's a perfect size for flinging in the tool box at the end of a day's work, is robustly constructed like a mini flight case, and the chisels themselves are held in place by a quality moulded foam rubber insert. Pop this set open in front of your average customer and they are actually quite impressed!

I carefully honed the chisels by eye on my diamond whetstone (not the one included, even to me that looked a little agricultural) and prepared to do battle.

Test 1 - Pencil Sharpening.

This is where I realised that there was actually some quality here! In four or five gentle strokes my humble HB was as sharp as a needle. I was well chuffed. Even better than a brand new stanley knife blade!

Test 2 - Filling

The 1" chisel performed this important test admirably. From the moment I placed the blade under the rim of the can lid I had no doubts. A firm twist of the wrist and the lid flew a good 5 feet across the room. Who says the Chinese can't produce quality goods?

Mixing the filler with the hardener is always a stern test of a chisel, and the Netto special again passed with flying colours. A nice even paste was achieved in record time, and once applied to the nail holes in the kitchen face-frame I was fitting, the chisel smoothed the filler in beautifully. A quick wipe on the back of my jeans and five minutes later the very same chisel could be used to knock off the excess, now semi-hard, filler to a fine finish. All in all, a first class performance!

Tip - a wire brush attachment to your bench grinder removes dried up filler off your chisels a treat.

Test 3 - Screwdriving

As usual, I had forgotton to take a flat head screwdriver on the job with me. Nobody uses them any more.

Unfortunately, the client now insisted on proper brass screws for the cabinet hinges instead of the brass coloured pozidrives I was hoping to get away with.

The 1/4" chisel did not let me down! Firm, quick, precise. What more can you ask?

Test 4 - Stealability

The final test is probably the most important. I was going off the job for a couple of days as the plumber hadn't turned up. I picked my spot carefully. The box of chisels was left slightly covered but still clearly visible and propped open in the corner of the hallway where it could not fail to be seen by any of the dozen or so tradesmen and labourers working on site.

Two days later - they were still there!!!

Not only that, but no-one had even 'borrowed' them!

That is surely the ultimate in a tool for a working carpenter. Does the job but no-one wants to nick it!


All in all, I can heartily recommend the Netto set of chisels.

Next week, I will be reveiwing the 'Blue Spot' claw hammer.

Cheers
Brad

This review was posted a couple of years ago but I couldn't resist dragging it up again.
 
I can only compare them to my Kirschen's, but the Lidl 4 set (£5) are almost the same quality IMHO.
 
When I started my college course in furniture I used a set of unbranded chisels from my Dad's shop. He was selling them at £4.99 a set of four.

I still have them, lovingly stored away in a cabinet in my workshop, somewhere (I think).
 
If you can't get enough purchase on the screw a quick whack with a hammer will give you more grip too, so versatile I don't know why LN don't add this to that little instruction book you get with their bevel edges

Aidan
 
excellent - we always need chisels to pipper up on signing tasks ( cutting mortices in the field in either old oak posts or in "ecodeck" plastic ) they get wet and rust, they get lost, they get accientally dropped in rivers and ditches, they get used to open tins of paint , they get chucked in an open top pick up truck and left to slide arround with bricks, and other tools, they get used for chiseling arround broken screws etc

this is not the time to deploy anything by lie neilsen or veritas ( or even the stanley set i bought for the workshop) - these netto ones seem abolutely ideal.

if you can find a set of screwdrivers of similar quality our life will be complete. :D
 
Nice one!

Stranger still (possibly) I have this habit of scouring the car boots for old knackered chisels that are specifically blunt as possible. Mind you they have to be reasonably old (shows they can stand the test of time), preferably with a plastic handle and made by the likes of Footprint. They never get sharpened but they do make very good levers/miniature crowbars/floorboard lifting tools and general persuaders.
 
I had a new boiler installed last week - it was a little wider than the old one so the plumber had to chisel a bit of plaster away. He used what looked like a decent 1" bevel edge wood chisel. I had a look at it when he put it down. It was an LN - honestly! (hammer).

Richard
 
I suppose you realise after that posting Richard all of the hand tool community have just commited suicide! :lol:
Oh and great Avatar Brad is it real? :lol:
 
mailee":zk5z5aav said:
I suppose you realise after that posting Richard all of the hand tool community have just commited suicide! :lol:

and in case any of them are tetering on the edge , my freind michael came home one day last month to find that swimbo was doing a spot of decorating - not a bad thing in itself , until he realised she had used his 3/4 LN to open the paint tin :shock:
 
DaveL":79ujor92 said:
I feel cheated, the Lidl set only came in a plastic bag, you got a nice box as well. :twisted:

yerbut there was 4 in the Lidl set ;)
 
I bought the lidl set.

Good value! Was amazed they are not made of cheese - hold edge quite well.

Smallest has been reground into a ring tool hook

Next up was square ground as a scraper

Next up sits on the bench for tin opening etc duties

Largest my neighbour is using ( don't know what for, don't care!)

Every one ought to have a set - they "protect" your decent chisels from all sorts of abuse.
 

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