Couple of things at Lidl

Good to hear Brian - I brought the same set of hole cutters for "need it one day". There are lot's of good value items at "pocket money" levels at Lidls (that I sneak into the shopping trolley when She isn't looking hopefully) and for most uses they at very good value.

However, their drill press is a complete pile of dog doo's! I purchased one, took it home, assembled it, ran it briefly (it made an unholy noise), found it had a lot more than 'This Old Tony's' 15 thou slop in the quill (didn't need to measure it) it just clunked around when pulled sideways. So packed it straight up again and took it back for a refund (which was agreed with no fuss). I'm sure it's not just Lidls that sell them, this is a generic Chinese product which might (just about) drill a hole in softwood roughly where you want it - but do wear your ear protectors before switching it on!

TOT replaced the motor, made a completely new quill and aluminium pulley, modified the other plastic pulley (re-painted the damned thing - which was entirely optional) and it still wasn't exactly quiet. It seems some here have been lucky with their drills but my view on this clunker is that folk would be best to just avoid them in the first place.

Regards,

IanT

Here you go.....

TOT replaced the motor, made a completely new quill and aluminium pulley, modified the other plastic pulley etc

The ones in at the moment aren't like that.

The motor seems fine, it runs quietly and has three aluminium pulleys and a Grizzly leaflet in the box

I would agree the table is pathetic, it needs support but a block of wood could do that

I broke the deal up into bits, if you say 30 quid for the 500W motor and 3 x 10 quid for the aluminium pulleys (look them up on ebay "3 step aluminium v pulley" ) and the rest of it is a freebie

If I had the time I would test the motor out properly but that will have to wait

Edited By Ady1 on 20/02/2017 10:50:07

Why are small electric motors always cheaper when bought with a free drill press attached?

Neil

I just had a closer look at those pulleys and you get 2 x 4 steps and a 3 step.

The motor has s2-15min class B on it, so not continuous I presume

Edited By Ady1 on 20/02/2017 11:44:18

I suspect you'd struggle to sell motors of that quality as standalone motors, whereas you may be less bothered to find one bolted to the side of something bought from Lidl.

Perhaps I'm a little jaundiced but having acquired such a motor to power my drilling machine (from one of those lathe / mill machines, almost brand new), I was shocked how noisy they had managed to make it - truly a special skill. If I'd bought a new motor like that it would have gone straight back. Its only saving grace was the price and the fact that I rarely use it these days - the milling machine is so much more versatile for drilling.

Murray

Yeah,

And what's more they don't seem to need soft starters to retain their guarantee either...

Regards,

Richard.

Latest in our local Lidl's is a 2 ton trolley jack at £19.99. Long past working on cars but can see a number of lifting jobs that it will help with.

rgds

Bill

Had a couple of those in the family for maybe 20 years or so in red. A bit battered now but still functional. Useful also for when the normal sized workshop trolley jack (weighing close to 2 tonnes) is far too big to fit under a car without having to resort to using the cars own jack to raise the body by a handful of inches. Even better when the jack supplied with the car is housed inside a plastic box clipped inside the spare wheel that is in a cage under the boot floor and that needs a two part tool comprising a wheelbrace and an extension to lower said cage. When the thread on the cage lowering mechanism was heavily rusted from not being greased or oiled by the dealership for half a decade or more the Lidl jack proved very useful. A squirt with ACF-50 and the heavily rusted thread was restored to a usable state in a few days.

Cars seem to have got ridiculously low, I a have a Ford C-Max and a 3 series BMW and both are very low, I bought a low profile trolley jack and I don't think it is going slip under the front to to the disc and pad change, it just made it under the rear a couple of days ago for the disc and pad change. You used to be able to wriggle under a decent sized saloon (well probably not these days being a bit of a FB) but no way these days, perhaps it is a ground effect feature.

Mike

Mike Poole,

have the same problem with a 2 post car lift, we just drive onto a couple of short planks (for the job)....

gives another 60-70mm in height, usually enough to get the tools under......

clogs

Well I finally got a decent look at it and the only weakness left now is backlash in the quill (about 3-4mm) from the actuating lever

That's the most awkward bit to access as well, there's a spring loaded bit on the side if I want in there, another night for that one methinks

The adjustment for the quill itself is inside the emergency stop button box which was easy to access and tweak

I found a pultra 1590 cross slide in the poundbox at Lidl and fitted that to the drill table to make things easier, then tested it with an 8 mm drill in 1/2 inch of steel, it was fine and drilled through very competently

There's an adjustable depthing ring on the actuating handle spindle, so you can't drill through your vice by accident (in theory)

Full depth is 50-55mm, the quill is slightly shaky from left to right and very solid fore and aft

If the actuating handle backlash wasn't there it would have been almost perfect straight out of the box for banging holes in stuff, only a bit of lubrication was required

Will still use the lathe for serious hole creation jobs but all in all I'm a happy bunny

edit: The noise it makes is fine, it just whirrs away like a cheap drill

Edited By Ady1 on 21/02/2017 03:02:58

Edited By Ady1 on 21/02/2017 03:07:50

Got a couple of workbenches for 26 bananas

100kg swl so you can sit on it and have a cup of tea

In my case, so long as it's a small cup of tea ( and no cake)

Rod

Rod,

No problem with cakes, as long as you keep away from the bathroom scales, and tight trousers!

Howard

DIY offers at Lidl in Northern Ireland this coming Thursday (April 20) includes Ady1 benches, magnetic tool strips, etc

http://www.lidl-ni.co.uk/en/Offers.htm?id=998

Popped into Lidl this morning and used a whole £2.99 on a magnetic strip tool holder. It is now on the front of my lathe stand. Good bit of kit. How can it be sold so cheaply...?

I used double sided tape to stick it to the lathe as I didn't want to drill any holes in the cabinet. I'm gonna invest in another couple ....

Gary Lidl

Mike, the cars are not getting lower...... the roads are getting higher.

Colin.

Flash forward to Summer 2017 - what's that fuzz-ball of swarf on the front of your lathe, Gary? You been turning cast-iron again?

Wrap it in cling film before installing, one layer across the front won't be noticed by the magnetism. Remove and carefully unwrap when the fuzz ball, ferrous bits or whatever get too objectionable. They come off with the cling film and can be shaken into the bin.

Cling film or a thin plastic bag also works well when you need to use a mag base in swarf ally. Plastic bag usually easier with a mag base.

Clive.