Lidl cast steel vice-16.99

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Spotted it tonight on their sheet, on offer from today and IF IT IS cast from solid steel then it’s a bitofabargain

 

4 inch capacity

torque: 250 N·m (180 lb·ft);

 

 

But did some searching about…if it looks too good to be true etc….

 

http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_28311.htm

 

 

Yet the same thing in Eire is described as “solid cast iron” and so it looks like it could be a misdescription

 

http://www.eireshop.ie/products/view/11867/BenchVice.html

 

 

If I’m in there at the weekend one will be liberated from its box and I’ll be tapping it with a little hammer…see if I can get lucky…

 

 

Out of interest has anyone bought one of these Lidl ones?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

[John BaguleyParticipant @johnbaguley78655]

It looks like the same brand as a swivel base one that I bought from Lidl some years ago. I regret buying it. Very poor quality.

 

John

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Hi Ady1,

 

It says available from the 6th Feb on the link you posted. That’s next Monday, so I think it might be a wasted journey this weekend.

 

Best regards

 

Terry

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Unless you are giving a vise a hell of a beating every day, as in an auto garage, even a cheap cast iron vise may be OK for general hand tool use -with a few caveats below.

 

– The moving jaw must be a decent fit in the stock, with no excess play up down or sideways

 

-the screw must be decent quality steel, be an acme style thread with lands between the valleys (must not be a regular 60 degree sharp thread) and run smoothly in the nut

 

-the swivel base must fit decently , not allow any rock, and the screws must lock it securely.

 

A big list for 16.99 UK pounds, but you never know, you might find a good one.

 

I wouldn’t do any heavy bending or hammering on it though. Probably fine for filing or light drilling.

 

Note – I have found a couple of top quality ex-industrial vises for that sort of money at estate sales, flea markets etc. though, but it takes time to find a usable good one amongst all the worn out and cheap junk. Wilton and Record are two good makes.

 

JD

[blowlampParticipant @blowlamp]

The electric cable hoist looks like good value for the money.

 

250kg lifting capacity, swivel arm and 3 year warranty for £59.99

 

 

Martin.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Don’t trust anything from Lidl. Aldi or any of the cheap s%t sellers.

What they sell are budget items which are aimed at the DIY, not a lot of work, weekend bodger. They are definitely not suitable for even the average home shop model engineer. They lack fit and finish,accuracy and longevity, i.e hit em hard enuf an they WILL break, trust me, I’ve tested them!

 

If you want a decent vice, pay the money and get something from a reputable manufacturer that can give provenance to their product and back that up with a guarantee that is truly supportable.

Try taking something back to Lidl or Aldi that costs more than £9.99 and see the hoops you have to jump through to get them to honour their so called guarantee. I will never buy a product from these charlatans again.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

My 4.99 set of three HSS step drills from Aldi have proven excellent. Bought a glue gun there today for £4.99. i don’t expect miracles so I’m rarely disappointed.

 

I smirk again that MY Record No.3 was free from the tip

 

Neil

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I have one of the electric cable hoists over the big CNC mill to lift the vises and 4th axis into place. They do go a bit fast so I have mine doubled up to slow it down.

 

Note it’s only 125kg on single lift, 250 on double.

Been an ace piece of gear for what it’s used for. Took a set of torque screwdrivers back the other week as the small one was missing out the set, just wanted a new set but as it was the last one they had to refund me and I had no problems.

 

I do buy odds and ends there but realise that for the money you are buying consumables, sometimes i feel peoples expectations are far higher than their wallets.

 

John S.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, well I bought a set of ratchet spanners comprising of 8, 10, 13, 14 and 17 mm for £12.99, a while before Christmas from Aldi and have been using them frequently most days on an installation job, and they haven’t failed on me yet. Paid for themselves I’d say, although the 13 mm one fell outa me overall pocket straight down into a wall cavity, but I found a replacement Silverline one at Ally Pally for £3.50, and that seems just as good.

 

Regards Nick.

[WolfieParticipant @wolfie]

Lidl had a plastic compartment box going a couple of weeks back, Brilliant for nuts bolts etc. Under 3 quid too and quite substantial. I bought half a dozen.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

“pay peanuts”
But then sometimes we want peanuts.
Caveat emputure
I think.

[Gray62Participant @gray62]

Can’t agree more, just don’t expect more than you are paying for.

I bought a set of core drills, for next to nothing, used them, did the job, threw them away, but they paid for themselves in the job, ( and I still have the aluminium box left over)

The point I was trying to make, and may not have, is that whatever these stores sell are not top quality and that we should not have great expectations of them. Some will exceed those expectations, some will not.

 

There are bargains to be had however, they should never be considered as ‘engineering’ grade tools etc.

I have a hoist similar to that which John alludes to and probably from a similar source, cheap and functional, but still of dubious quality. If put to the test ( i.e the load limit) the motor gets hot very quickly, I’m not sure how they work out the rating on these items but I’m sure they are over-rated, if you know what I am getting at

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

sometimes what you buy is better and cheaper than engineering supplies…and at least available over counter…. Even as starting place for adaption/modification cheaper than kit castings or even metal stock..

[alan frostParticipant @alanfrost17805]

For God’s sake ,Coalburner,grant us all a little intelligence. Aldi/Lidl prices are about 20-30% of top quality, maybe less. None of us are surely stupid enough to need it pointig out that at these prices the goods are not top quality.

 

 

What they are is quite good , usually sufficient quality, often better than goods costing 100% more, sometimes better than goods costing several 100 % more. personally I have found for the only two items I have ever bought that were faulty (among many items over the years.) I did n’t have to jump through any hoops to get a replacement, both items were replaced by new and satisfactory items ,without question, very rapidly. They took my word for it and never even bothered with picking up the faulty item. I have rarely had this service bettered even when I’ve paid for top quality. Good job Im honest !! Well almost.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I am afraid the world is treating everything as consumable items.

At one time I only bought branded items with a decent warranty. Typical of this were 4 1/2″ angle grinders, I use these commercially and they have a very hard life.

 

At one time I bought Bosch at £85 a pop then one day realised that they last 366 days before going bang – no warranty.

 

So now I buy 5 or 6 at a time for usually £9.99 when on offer, most last about 7 or 8 months before I manage to kill them, don’t bother claiming warranty, just bin it, it’s done it’s job.

 

Still don’t pay out over a year what one Bosch one used to cost.

 

Same with printers, these are sold with 30% filled cartridges and they make their money on new consumables. So now just buy one, run it until it runs out of ink then bin it.

 

Anyone want a Konika colour laser 14 months old, £245 of brand new cartridges fitted but the printer has died. Bought a new one , not Konica for £99

 

John S.

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by John Stevenson on 04/02/2012 00:49:42:

Same with printers, these are sold with 30% filled cartridges and they make their money on new consumables. So now just buy one, run it until it runs out of ink then bin it.

.

..or just refill the cartridges with ink or toner yourself. It’s a bit meesy but much cheaper.

 

Russell.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

The newer ones have chips fitted that monitor the ink / toner left. When it says empty just filling it will also still say empty.

You have to replace the chip.

 

Not cheap and one set we bought wouldn’t work and the seller just ignored us. So from now on play them at their own game. They sell the printer at a vastly discounted rate to get you on the consumable merry go round.

 

Takes a totally different mind frame but you have to accept you are buying a consumable and when it’s finished just bin it.

 

John S.

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by John Stevenson on 04/02/2012 10:32:15:

 

The newer ones have chips fitted that monitor the ink / toner left. When it says empty just filling it will also still say empty.

You have to replace the chip.

Well, since these chips are generally flash-based, they are resettable. Do a google search using the term ‘toner chip resetter’ and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised. The reason for a search, rather than a direct link, is because there are different ones for different cartridges. Have I tried it? Yes. Does it work? A treat on the Epson ones we ‘treated’.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Epson must be different to Konica then, A search found loads of pages for the presetters but only a few with prices.

 

best price was $580 up to $800, buy a lot of printers for that.!!

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I bought my wife a Samsung laser from Morgan computers for about £70. That was several years ago we are onthe third cartridge and it gets almost daily, but light, use. Third party cartridges are £40.

 

So I recommend samsung!

 

The Brother professional 3-in-1 inkjet before that had three new print heads under an extended warranty. According to the net the own brand ink corroded the heads – apparently if we had used cheap ink it would be still going strong. Brother wouldn’t admit this, but extended the warranty period – theye even sent an engineer round twice which must have cost as much as teh machine was worth. Got some nice PGMS bars out of it….

 

Neil

 

 

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by John Stevenson on 04/02/2012 11:34:15:

Epson must be different to Konica then, A search found loads of pages for the presetters but only a few with prices.

 

best price was $580 up to $800, buy a lot of printers for that.!!

That’s true. So I looked on Ebay for Konica spares, and there’s a place in the UK that will sell you new chips for a few pounds each (depending on what model it is) – look here.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Thanks Steve,

Bought a set of these once and they didn’t work. Contacted seller and just got ignored.

 

Anyway now got sorted and bought a full industrial A3 colour laser with duplexing, 3 paper trays for not much more than a decent laser printer.

One years warranty and it comes with at least 60% full cartridges and they also sell part used cartridges as well, no chips needed.

 

Only drawback is this thing is massive 3′ square 4′ high but you could air drop this on Afghanistan it it would still print. When it finally dies they will take it back for spares and I only need pay upgrade price for another one.

[Ex contributorParticipant @mgnbuk]

Don’t trust anything from Lidl. Aldi or any of the cheap s%t sellers

Rank generalisation.

 

I use Lidl & Aldi screwdrivers, spanners & Allen keys for work – no issues with wear, breakage or fit (spanners & Allen keys). Maybe not quite as comfortable to use as “big brand”, but they do tend to stay in my toolbox whereas the “big brand” items grow legs and walk off. Likewise HSS step and cone drills last as well as industrial supplier’s items, but at a fraction of the cost. Digital calipers have checked out within the usual limits for this type of device when checked against slip gauges – no worse than some branded items costing 5 times more.

 

And both Aldi and Lidl have honoured warranties without a quibble or wanting the defective items returning (Aldi multimeter – replacement couriered from Salzburg (!), Lidl laminator element expired after 2 years 10 months – replaced without question).

[Steve GarnettParticipant @stevegarnett62550]

Posted by John Stevenson on 04/02/2012 14:08:30:

Anyway now got sorted and bought a full industrial A3 colour laser with duplexing, 3 paper trays for not much more than a decent laser printer.

One years warranty and it comes with at least 60% full cartridges and they also sell part used cartridges as well, no chips needed.

 

Only drawback is this thing is massive 3′ square 4′ high but you could air drop this on Afghanistan it it would still print. When it finally dies they will take it back for spares and I only need pay upgrade price for another one.

 

I’m surprised that more people don’t realise that they can do this, and save a fortune. We realised here some years back that we wouldn’t really use the colour option, but that having a fast, duplex A3 laser printer that was networked would be extremely useful. So I picked up for a song a HP LaserJet 8150DN with a 2000-sheet hopper, and it sits on the landing upstairs. SWMBO has got completely used to it being there, and when she wants to print anything it just works – no issues at all. It’s dirt cheap to run, and the only parts on it that ever cause problems are the rubber pick-up rollers, and they can be changed cheaply in a few seconds. And even with moderate use, these last several years.

 

 

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