Member postings for Ray Lyons

Relieved to see that I am not the only one forgetting things but old age does have its compensations. Mid 80's now and when I shop, the young ladies refer to me as "love" or "Darling" and "lovely". A young male cashier at the shop greeted me with "Hello Butty" this morning. I feel accepted at last, possibly because I don't wear shorts , displaying tattoos in the winter so not seen as anything more than an old guy.

I agree that the Lidl model is not very popular. Perhaps a better title would be Portable Bandsaw since there are many makes but most with the same footprint and the ideas for adapting are similar overall.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to give my lathe a thorough "spring clean". Using the dustpan and brush, I cleared all the swarf, and then, taking the suds drain hose out of the tank, putting it into a bucket, used an engine degreaser to to wash down. After that, I cleaned with rags and then polishing cloths to get everything bright and shiny. A final task was to spray over with a light oil to keep it looking good.

Then came that very hot summer with lockdown. Confined my activity to a couple of hours in the garden with a break in the hottest part of the day when I used a fan indoors to keep cool..

After lockdown, a project came up when the lathe was brought into use again. It didn't take long to fill the tray up with swarf but unfortunately, the suds stopped working. Thinking that over the hot weather (and many years of use) the level in the tank had evaporated, I mixed up another gallon and we were back in business but it again stopped working after a couple of hours. I decided that the tank was possibly bunged up with crud and starving the pump. Pulling the tank and pump out, I discovered the bucket behind the lathe with the suds drain hose in it and now full of contaminated cutting oil.

Just had my annual quote for my car insurance. Wonder why it has gone up?.

I had no idea that this topic would have had so much interest. Picked up quite a few useful tips. Like the video of the guy working in his living room. No going out in the cold shed . SWMBO would never allow but we can only dream.

Sorry to all those who purchased the saw and then had to return it because of quality problems. When I spotted it in the flyer, it looked very similar to the Aldi offering. Because of the Fire Break in Wales, we did not see the specials for that week in the shops and when I called earlier this week that event had passed so it would appear that the warehouse never delivered.

Regarding the use of the cap screws to secure the arm, would it be possible to fit studs, using adhesive to lock them and secure using wing nuts?. I too found it a bit of a pain to fit the screws with one hand while supporting the saw with the other. Perhaps a distance piece could then be fitted to secure the wing nuts when operating off the bench.

William, your idea of using the B&D bench as a platform is great . I have to share a garage with my wife's car for all my woodworking gear. I partitioned off a section where saws,,planers etc. are kept. Most are fitted with a piece of 4X2 on the base for clamping in the B&D. I had bought two ladder hooks and was trying to find a place on the wall to hang the saw . Why didn't I think of it before.. It works just as well with metalwork machines as with wood. The only thing is that my bench is almost 40 years old now. Tempted to buy a new one.

Not had a chance to see the Lidl saw yet since it falls into the non essential list of goods not available for sale in Wales during the present lock down so I can only comment on the one I bought from Aldi some time ago. I think it must be remembered that most of the tools from the discount food stores are designed for the DIY market but with a 3 year guarantee are good value for the money.

My bandsaw was disappointing when first used but as Clive mentioned above, a new blade fixed that problem and it is now a very useful piece of equipment in the workshop. There are several things which i feel sure will not present much of a challenge to our own inventive model engineers. I found that setting up the material in the vice fiddley since trying to hold the saw with one hand while adjusting the material in the vice needed another pair of hands. This was easily overcome with a loop of cord slipped over a hook in the wall supports the saw. The vice needs little comment except that I have seen better devices for clamping wood together for the glue to dry.

Other improvements would be an auto cut off at the end of the cut as with the well known 6X4 saw.

I look forward to seeing some articles in MEW describing mods which will bring these saws into the professional standards. In the meantime, I find it great even at the £160 price tag and thinking I could have bought another 6 blades with the extra paid compared with the Lidl offer.

Hi Chris, I use blades from Tuff Saws. I found that the blade supplied with the saw had quite a "bounce" when the joint passed through the guide rollers. A new blade reduced this problem but I ruined it by not checking a piece of steel which appears to be hardened. I have now bought 3 new blades, two fine cutting for small sections and tubes and a course one for solid material. Tried one as they arrived last week and it cut through some solid brass bar in no time.

For those of us living in Wales there will be no bandsaws sold this weekend and I doubt that Lidl will hold the stock for when we come out of lock down. Bought 3 new blades from Tuff Saws this week. On trial cut through a 1 1/2" brass bar in less than a minute so very happy with my Aldi saw but at £60 less this Lidl job seems like a real bargain.

If you look on YouTube there are plenty of people showing conversions for vertical mounting. They hang the thing up on a wall using the top handle and fit a table and then fix the switch to stay in the on position. One had fitted a foot switch for better control. and there is at least one firm who produce a table with a guide fence. I can't find a spare piece if wall !!

As far as I can see it is the same as the Aldi £160 model. When first using,, the "jump" when the joint passed through the rollers was a bit off putting but a replacement blade from Tuff saws cured that problem. I have cut steel squares, rounds and heavy gauge tubing without any problem. Unfortunately, a piece of unknown steel bar destroyed the blade. Looks like tool steel so I have just ordered 3 new blades for stock.

Just seen the latest from Lidl on sale 1st November. Portable bandsaw for £100. That is a whopping £60 less than I paid Aldi earlier this year. The spec looks the same but I found the blade supplied to be less than perfect. A new blade solved the problem and it is now a joy to use.

New out this week. Lidl have a small bench drill with electronic speed control for £150. Aldi have the same thing for £130. Only difference I can see is one is green and the other blue. Looks neat if you are looking for a bench drill.

Sorry Neil, one of my "senior " moments. Don't do CNC or 3D at all , time and cost is against me. Always get a kick out of the magazine.. For instance, the latest edition referred to a book by J A Radford, did not know that one was written. Now bought a copy and it brings back many happy memories of the days when I followed the series in the Model Engineer. I still have the spherical turning tool and the boring and facing attachment. Other parts and casting patterns had to be put on hold when the needs of a family and work took priority.

When I hear the mag drop through the letterbox it is time for my treat, a cup of coffee and a quite read

It used to be so easy. Why change?. I have been a digital subscriber for many years but rarely use the service. Recently tried and failed to even see the magazine so printing articles is out. Ok for computer buffs but for an old metal basher it is useless. Thinking of stopping my subscription anyway when we get to number 300, my shelves are full since no 1.

I went the cheap way of installing a VDF on my Super 7 about 15 years ago. Bought a used Lens controller on eBay for about £5 and a new 1HP 3P motor. A bit of a tight squeeze getting the motor in but just fitted. Fitted the unit on the wall behind the lathe and brought a remote control to the leg of the bench.

Agree with everything Nigel has written about the advantages and would add that in my case with the S7 clutch and gearbox it is a step change over the old drive. The larger motor enables the speed changing to be kept to a minium I put the drive belt in the middle range and have not had to change it for years.

Sounds Good to me. Seen a few on YouTube which provide a decent workshop. There are a lot of new adhesives which can be used to fix the internal cladding.

I had a similar problem with my BH600 some years ago. It turned out to be the forward/reverse switch. It is a cam made of a plastic material operated by the control lever. This had come loose, an easy fix but have had no trouble since.

Not having a newspaper all week made me realise how much I spend on chip paper. This week I saved £10.80 which will now go into a savings box for the shed budget.

A couple of things which I have experienced which might help. I was having a problem of pressure loss a couple of years ago and eventually found it to be a very small leak on the bottom thread of one of the radiators. To fix, this would normally mean a drain down and removal of the radiator but I solved it by getting a bottle of sealer from ScrewFix. It is designed for central heating systems and does not damage the other moving parts . This solved the problem and I have not had any trouble since.

Usually at the end of the Summer, I remove all the radiator thermostat valve heads and using a pair of pliers and spray lube work the pin back and fore to make sure they don't freeze up during the time the central heating is off. If the thermostat top is carefully removed, it can be replaced without loss of the settings.

This lockdown has caused quite a lot of problems. About 4 years ago, I had new triple glazed windows fitted and about two weeks ago, there was a loud bang when one of them failed. The curious thing is that the middle pane is broken and completely crazed where as both the outer panes are untouched. because of lockdown, we will have to wait for a repair. Luckily the window is safe and functional so I will have to wait for the report.

I assume that these people are also the types who do not wear face masks or wash their hands as recommended by the authorities. It seems that the rules do not apply equally across the country.

In a news item earlier this week we saw two women heavily fined for making rail journeys without a valid reason, yet we now hear that an advisor to the Scottish Parliament and a labour MP both made journeys away from home and were only advised of their errors by the police. Surely if the laws are to be creditable and acceptable then they must be applied equally to everyone