Lidl Portable Bandsaw

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.

Got a link? Nothing on goggle.

What do you mean by portable? Battery operated? Free-hand cutting? Light enough to carry (ie has a carry-handle)?

Lidl link DIY offers from 01 Nov 20 at Lidl

Martin C

I see the chopsaw is back, very handy for bar work, including aluminium

The only caveat is vice holding flatness, I put a strip of metal under my workpiece to raise it slightly above the base

I need a new grinder and at 20 bananas how can you go wrong

Edited By Ady1 on 22/10/2020 10:17:48

Might be worth a punt for £100, especially for a small, spaced limited workshop. Lidl seem pretty good with their 3 year warranties. I'd like to know if it's suitable for cutting steel and the cutting capacity "with the base".

Thanks for the link Martin, it looks slightly different to my £150 Aldi saw. I wouldn't be without mine, the blade is a bit lumpy but while it cuts I'll put up with that.

I might get one of those little bench grinders to just use the motor for my Stent when I start it...

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.

Years ago I got a Parkside 1/3 sheet sander from Lidl. I've used it for stripping back doors and preparing walls for painting. Last year it finally developed a fault with the trigger switch, it is fully on all the time rather than being progressive from off to fully on. It still works but needs an external switch on the power supply for convenience. You don't seem to be able to get 1/3 sheet sanders anymore which is a pity as they are good for flat surfaces.

Martin C

In a practical world how does it compare with the common 6 x 4 horizontal/vertical saw in terms of jobs it can do.

I've had a 6 x 4 for many years but it is now very rarely used, mostly for angle cutting, since I got a Rapidor power hacksaw for stock cutting and 14" Startright vertical bandsaw. One of those would save me space and the portable ability would be handy for out of shop work but I don't want to loose too much capability.

On a side note has anyone considered converting one to a vertical slide type instead of simple pivot. Looks possible.

Clive

Watch the ‘hype’ with the advertising. My saw cuts an extra inch with a motor power of only a third of the quoted figure for that one. I expect it will do the job it is built for.

Not all Lidl items are long-lasting, if used a lot. The fuel lines on one of their generators cracked or completely disintegrated. It wasn’t even used a lot.

As said previously, Lidl seem pretty good with their 3 year guarantee (for me at least). Our Lidl 3KW generator failed after 21/2 years through oil starvation. The oil level switch had become disconnected. Even though the instructions say to "check oil level daily", Lidl replaced the generator with a brand new one. All shipping costs for returning the old one to Germany, and delivery of the new one (from Germany) were covered. Not bad if you ask me.

You can get fuel line on ebay for buttons

My Lidl genny will have all its fuel lines replaced before I use it because they are not see-through pipe

Long term I want to try and make an electric drill starter for it, those pulley things do my head in

As an aside - like Ray, I purchased the Aldi bandsaw and I'm generally happy with it. I've built a vertical stand for it (which I suspect it will mostly be used with) but not found a suitable bit of plate steel for the table as yet. The horizontal stand included works well but needs 'squaring' up carefully - I've used it to cut steel bar, block and pipe up to about 60mm square.

The only thing I haven't really liked about the horizontal stand is the cam-vice. Most times it holds firmly enough but occasionally it doesn't. As this might well lead to the blade jamming or breaking, I decided to try to improve things.

I have several sub-tables for my mills & lathes and occasionally use them in my McMaster power hacksaw to hold things that are a bit awkward. The McMaster vice is a very solid bit of kit, OK for square bar and such but not ideal for odd shaped and smaller things. So I clamp these on a sub-plate and then grip that in the McM vice for cutting.

This gave me an idea for the Aldi. I removed the 'cam' jaw and cleaned up two bits of hot-rolled plate from the scrap bin, that together fit the available space on the existing vice between the fixed jaw and rear block. I drilled and tapped some M6 holes, originally for my usual clamping sets but it occurred to me to also try some Axminster hold downs, so spaced the M6 holes appropriately. They do work and are quick in use but another problem emerged in that the blade tries to pull the work away from the fixed jaw (which might also help explain the problems with the cam arrangement) - as it's running towards the other end. It's not caused me any real problems yet but I need to experiment further with clamping or perhaps a new (screwed) jaw of some kind.

I've also been meaning to get some new blades for the Aldi (I'm a happy Tuffsaw customer too) which I think will also help improve things.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 22/10/2020 11:41:26

It’s not the buttons - I have a supply of suitable pipe - but the aggravation of doing the job, dfferent diameters, tedious routing (non- gravity), etc is a right pain. This is an inverter type genny, not the usual constant speed type.

I have the Aldi £160.00 bandsaw and I am pleased with it. Mine is branded "Ferrox" and the vice and blade on mine seem okay. I used to have a 6 X 4 bandsaw and the Aldi one cuts as well, including on steel, but it can't be left to get on with cutting unattended as you have to keep the trigger switch depressed. I don't expect very accurate cuts but it seems good of it's type. The Lidl one seems essentially similar to the Aldi from the photo except that the plastic handles are different, mine has mostly hex socket screws rather than plastic handles.

Rod

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 !!

I got the £150 workzone one from Aldi, it came with an M42 bimetal blade, which has now lost a tooth after years of use. I was cutting up some 7m lengths of Dexion free hand and it snagged and chipped a tooth, no biggie.

The vice on mine is not very good, it uses a cam to advance and lock the vice jaw, and if you press the jaw against the part theres no room for the cam to rotate and "grab" and the part can jump out! (You have to set the jaw a mm off the part, then lock it)

Ironically just less than an hour ago, I liberated a fixed jaw and screw type vice off a damaged Makita saw from work, looking at it, thinking this is a much better design! The one coming up at Lidl has the exact same screw type vice design with the quick release nut!!!!!!

What were the chances!!

Edited By Russ B on 29/10/2020 13:15:35

I see they refer to it as being able to cut "pipes & profiles". Presumably it would struggle with solid sections?

Pity if that's the case, it looks like it might suit the hobbyist with a small workshop. The humble hacksaw is OK, but you quickly tire of it.

Well, the Aldi bandsaw doesn't Bo'sun and I'd be surprised if the Lidl one did either. I certainly cut 'solids' with mine. Once I've got the vertical stand finished, I will be trying different blades on it though.

On my wood (INCA) bandsaw, I use a range of different blade types to handle different materials and thicknesses. The Rule of Thumb is at least three teeth in contact with the part, so thinner parts need higher tooth counts per inch/mm. The opposite is true of thicker parts of course and the swarf needs to clear the cut and 'skip' tooth blades are useful on a wood bandsaw.

'Pulling' swarf through a very thick cut may be less of an issue with a metal cutting bandsaw (single directional cut) than it is with a power hacksaw (with a reciprocating cut). I have more experience with the latter, where it can be a issue sometimes.

Regards,

IanT

Edited By IanT on 29/10/2020 14:04:27

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.